The two “ON” buttons that one presses to turn on the bow thruster had gotten “soft”. Sometimes we had to hit them 3 or 4 times before the LED indicator light came on.

Because the thruster is a critical tool for maneuvering and dock landings, we could not afford to have this switch continue to progress to failure.

The new replacement cost about $350 plus tax & ship. These are in-stock at Imtra in MA, and our local dealer had them drop ship to friends near our transient location.

Sleipner – Model # 8960 G (2-year warranty for pleasure boats / 1-year commercial)

So the mounting part of this job was going to require some creativity.

I went to the Inland Waterway Provision Company here in Oriental NC (walking distance from the docks) to see if they had some hardware for me to “McIver” a solution.

Two plastic mixing paddles (for fiberglass resin) and some longer wood screws, the correct diameter (#6), were acquired for under $4.

Cutting the paddles in half made them the perfect length to be backing “nuts” after pre-drilling holes to accept the screws from above that hold the new joystick in place.

I had a choice to simply fill the old mounting holes with caulk, OR to screw the old bezel which coincidentally fit around the face of the new joystick.

The solid “feel” of both the buttons and the joystick itself is superior to the old one! We are very happy with the outcome of this project.

Many Mainship’s original thruster controls were the push buttons for LEFT and RIGHT. The original owner of this boat left correspondence that shows that he replaced the button version over ten years ago. The buttons had become unreliable. His vendor recommended the joystick replacement as an upgrade.

Personally, I would recommend replacing any button controls with the joystick. One can operate the joystick by “feel” and it is very intuitive. You don’t have to constantly look down at the controls to make sure you are about to press the right button!