Thrust, what a lovely word..

Thrust , a word that conjures up such imagery... but enough of that, back to the subject of my post, the Vetus bow-thruster.






Caxton is being fitted with a Vetus 75 in a 185mm bow tube. Below is the techie info found in the Vetus web site.

All Vetus electric bow thrusters are fitted with a specially-designed 6-bladed propeller, which optimises efficiency and increases thrust. The blade profile allows the propeller to achieve virtually no cavitation and reduces operating noise to a minimum. Motor: 4.4 KW / 6hpVoltage: 12v Thrust (12v model) 85 kgf / 850 NTube diameter: 185mmBatteries required: 12V - 1x 120Ah

Now I have come to realise, that there are some in the world of narrow boating, that will scoff at those that opt to fit/use one of these devices. 'It is not necessary', 'the boatmen of old will be turning in their graves', 'learn boat handling skills for goodness sake', they might be heard to say.
They of course, have a point. It is just not a point that I agree with.

I wonder how many hard working boatmen of the last couple of centuries would have turned their noses up at a chance to make their lives easier? Not many I guess.
Just how retro do you have to be?
Those that 'scoff' don't usually opt to use guzunders, wash in a basin, live in 8' by 6' space, have no fridge, have no gas, have no electricity or use a horse to pull their boats. (Actually, the horse-boat does rather appeal to me, but then just being around horses gives me an enormous thrill).

So, we have opted to have a boat with modern conveniences; we will still appreciate and value the historic treasure of the canal system that the industrial revolution has left us, even with a thrust here and there..