I have been researching stern thrusters for my boat, because I hate the winter and want to think about all things boat. I think you can all relate.

I contacted and have been dealing with a rep at IMTRA a distributor for Side Power Thrusters, which is what I normally see on most Carvers. I am sure there are many reputable manufacturers out there, but this is the one I contacted to figure out what would be needed on my boat.

I supplied him with the make/model of the boat I have and his first question was, what is the make/model of your existing bow thruster. I advised him what it was, (QL BP800), and that my plan was not to replace that because it is working, but due to the fact that it is obsolete is a cause for concern down the road, should something happen.

In addition to advising me that I should match the stern thruster with the bow thruster, I was informed that my current thruster was an 80 Kg. thruster in a 185mm tunnel. He then provided me with the part numbers of the required stern thruster and associated parts I would need. If you would like that information please advise.

I would also require a dedicated battery for the new thruster that would be a minimum of 1045 CCA's. I always wondered what size battery was required for a thruster.

But the reason I am putting this out there. I have seen many posts in relation to the QL Bow Thrusters and an equal amount of frustration about what does one do when it fails and there are no parts?

In the future, if I were to have a bow thruster issue that required me to replace it, I was advised that my current bow thruster could be replaced by a comparable Side Power SE80/185T-12V and that I could use the current bow thruster tunnel. To retro fit the new thruster, I would have to glass over the existing holes in the tunnel and start from fresh with the specs of the new side power thruster.

As for the electrical, I was advised that I can use the existing 4 wire harness to the thruster, by cutting off the plugs on both ends and installing the new side power cable ends. He advised this will allow for a plug and play with all side power wiring. If I installed both the new devices I would require a new side power dual joy sticks for the bridge. If I did this, they also have a wireless remote control, which would be really sexy.

So for those of you that wondered if there was a life after the QL Bow Thruster, it would appear there are options.

Greg