See I get it…..joy stick easy docking. But the premium not to embarrass yourself no where nears the ROI. I don’t have bow or stern thrusters….. and yes on occasion I embarrass myself. A few laughs with the dock hands after and I am over it…. All spectators don’t say anything because everyone of them has been therePods vs. shafts: Yes, I've researched that tradeoff ad nauseum, and decided to accept pods with the higher cost and rigorous PM schedule. Joystick/skyhook is a choice that drove my interest in the 510DA. The system won me over when I saw it in person…… and on some occasions I have docked in some crazy places where spectators come up and say shafts?…. No bow thruster…. And I say yes….. I get wows
My experience is with Mercruiser gas power and outdrives, but I'm a details geek doing my due diligence. Just looking for some model-specific feedback on the 510.
A broker friend showed me his analysis of 90 past 510DA sales. In his data, only about 25% of the boats had the 600s. One third of the boats had the 526HP engines, and the rest were reported as 550 or 575 HP.
Maybe a 510DA owner will chime in and say "my 526s run just great" or "I'd never settle for less than the 600s" or whatever.
I have done some crazy docking in some really tight spots. I have had other boaters come up and say wow I can’t believe you got in there…. Shafts right?… and I say no thrusters….. now if I had pods they would say “Oh that explains it” which guy do you want to be