Thrusters

[liebermanmarc]

I have an ericson 26 with an outboard in a well with a hydraulic lift and remote controls. The problem is that I can not turn the motor so that it is very difficult to maneuver out of the slip where we have very little room. Pushing out and turning the boat is difficult when there is much wind or current. One solution might be thrusters but I hate to add drag when sailing. I was thinking of maybe a stern thruster attached to the outboard so that it would lift out of the water when we raise the outboard. Is this feasible, or does any one have other suggestions?


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[tenchiki]

One option is to use a spring line to exit the slip. See "Chapman's" or many other boating books for details.

Basically, you loop a line over the end cleat on the finger/dock that you want to turn toward as you back out. This will make your boat back out in an arc around that cleat. When you are aligned in the direction you want to go, let go of one end and pull the line aboard. It works best if you have a midship cleat or chock, but with a smaller boat like your, a stanchion would do.