Depth Sounders

Has anyone tried/used a depth sounder with an in-hull transducer on a heavy/thick hulled trawler? Mine is a 1987 Marine Trader and the hull is 1" - 1 1/2" thick . This I know from personally intalling*my bow thruster.*The Hawkeye D 10D sounder is what I'm considering? I need to replace my old Hummingbird unit and I don't want to haul the boat right now just for this sounder replacement, and I can't find a working Hummingbird unit that is compatible with the existing ttransducer.

I installed a transducer inside the hull on my ex boat, an old 34 Mainship trawler to replace the thru hull after I kicked the wire rendering it inop. *I am guesssing the hull was about an inch thick. I used the epoxy kit that Humminbird offered with the transducer. It worked out great and I never saw a difference in the sensitivity of the reading. Depthfinder was a inexpensive Platinum ID 600 or something along those lines I forget the exact model#.

I have an old Mainship 34 and I also installed a hummingbird transducer centerline on the keel.* I used silicone to afix it to the hull.* I put a good amount on the puck and smoothed any air bubbles out and stuck it to the deck.* Its been there about six years and works fine.* My other depth finder is a garmin and I used a airmar transducer the comes with a cup that you attach to the hull.* You can adjust it for the angle of the hull, fill it with mineral oil and put the transducer in it.* Works great and it has been there for many years.* Don't want another thru hull transducer, took three out of the old boat.

Tom

I installed a Humminbird digital depth finder. The "puck" type transducer is about 2 feet from the keel. I mounted it (level) shoving it into a blob of toilet sealing wax ring. Been working fine for over a year.
I understand the will not work on a cored (below the waterline) hull.
*
Good luck
Steve W

-- Edited by Steve on Wednesday 3rd of November 2010 12:33:37 PM

OK just to set the record straight it's Humminbird not Hummingbird. Sorry I just had to get that off my chest

Sorry Daddyo, I'm just an old swamp boy.* I'll try to do better on my spelling.

I have two of them. The first is a Garmin, with their own Ducer in a pipe that allows you to get the angle of the hull just right, filled with mineral oil and maint free after 5 or 6 years.
The second is a Hummer, transom mount Ducer, stuck into a piece of 4 inch ABS cut to the angle of the hull and epoxied on, filled with mineral oil and also maint free after 4 yrs.
Both give reliable readings to 600 ft.

"OK just to set the record straight it's Humminbird not Hummingbird. Sorry I just had to get that off my chest"

Ok good, I speeleded it right *Tough job*for an egineer.
Worse is "Cummings"

It's hard for me to believe sounders working at all through a hull much less a thick hull but if they do*** ....they do, however, I can't imagine sounders not working better installed in the traditional way. My sounders usually work well to almost 1000 feet depth. I like to compare the depth as shown on the chart plotter w the sounders. When visibility is zero all those things seem helpful.
I like to have two sounders on my boats. One high end good quality digital unit w large LC display. I like the large numerals so I can flash my eyes on it and get a good reading without having to spend any time looking for it or reading the numbers. In very tight places w lots of rocks or shallow bottoms I consider this a real plus. The run of the bottom as displayed on the fish finder often is very useful as well. And of course having two sounders is good if/when one quits.

-- Edited by nomadwilly on Thursday 4th of November 2010 10:56:50 AM

My sounders usually work well to almost 1000 feet depth. I like to compare the depth as shown on the chart plotter w the sounders. When visibility is zero all those things seem helpful.

You bet , navigation with NO outside help would be worth the wait till the boat IS hauled.

A chart strip depth sounder is a navigation tool of the first order!

FF just curious where you boat or have boated that is 1000 feet deep.
Not sure I've ever seen anything over about 300 ish.

Thousand foot depths are rare but are around in the PNW and up the Inside Passage and into BC and SE Alaska. The depth at the time this photo was taken was somewhere over 900' as I recall.



-- Edited by Marin on Friday 5th of November 2010 12:52:43 PM

jleonard wrote:

FF just curious where you boat or have boated that is 1000 feet deep.
Not sure I've ever seen anything over about 300 ish.

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He was probably driving his truck over a gourge.

Sorry I could not resist. Chuck

Marin:

Lewis Channel?

I don't remember. I just remember being impressed with the depth and decided to take a picture to show how deep it can be up here so close to shore.

"FF just curious where you boat or have boated that is 1000 feet deep.
Not sure I've ever seen anything over about 300 ish."

AS a cruising sailor , we got into the Blue water.


When approaching/departing Puerto Rico its 6000ft.

Much of the East coast , once off the shelf (roughly about 200 miles) is fairly deep.

The use for a depth sounder is to find a line , that can be found on a chart that will allow an estimate of position to be made.

This can be crossed with a commercial radio station , or two for a good EP, Estimated position.



-- Edited by FF on Saturday 6th of November 2010 04:54:09 AM

FF wrote:When approaching/departing Puerto Rico its 6000ft.

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While marlin fishing off of San Juan, PR* I've seen this depth and deeper.

*

There may be a need for accurate depth information in depths greater than 600 feet, but so far, in 40 yrs of boating, I haven't come across it, so whether the sounders I use would achieve that accuracy by mounting the transducer thru hull instead of in hull is of no importance to me whatsoever.

I have frequently been in waters charted to thousands of feet, and occasionally I have seen a reading in the thousands on my sounder. Once I stopped to retrieve a prawn trap that was fishing in 1400 feet, so my sounder told me this one had drifted away. I could just as easily have checked the chart for the same information.

Thru hull requires a fairing block on the outside, in order to get the angle right, and a bronze TH that generally costs $200 or $300 more than the in hull or transom mount transducer. It also requires a haulout for installation.

My boat has 3 thru hull transducers. None are connected to anything, as the failure rate of the electronics caught up with each of them. So now I have a disposal problem that I have ignored. In hull failures can be easily removed.

koliver wrote:

There may be a need for accurate depth information in depths greater than 600 feet, but so far, in 40 yrs of boating, I haven't come across it, so whether the sounders I use would achieve that accuracy by mounting the transducer thru hull instead of in hull is of no importance to me whatsoever.

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If you were trying to cap a blown-out oil well 5,000' down accurate depth information would probably be somewhat handy.* But other than that or things like that, I agree with you.* Once the depth gets more than about 100' I'm not all that interested anymore.* And as you say, you can get any deep water information you need off the charts.* Of course. that's assuming you HAVE charts.* A surprising number of boaters don't.....

*

Marin wrote:

Thousand foot depths are rare but are around in the PNW and up the Inside Passage and into BC and SE Alaska. The depth at the time this photo was taken was somewhere over 900' as I recall.



-- Edited by Marin on Friday 5th of November 2010 12:52:43 PM

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Well, I don't know if it's just me Marin, but I can't read the depthsounder, but by God that Rocna looks the business up there on the pulpit.* Only it would'nt be much good to you in 900 feet.* Not even Eric's chain/rope rode would help you anchor there.....

*

Its not the max Depth that can be recorded that is useful.

Its the depth on a* paper CHART strip, with time notations that allow the chart to be used for "Contour Navigation.

300 ft of depth would be fine as a max , so when you see the shelf come up to 100? ft, you get a LOP.

Depth sounder to keep from running aground?
Perhaps a forward looking one, but thats Iffy.

A paper chart and a GPS (while GPS is operational) or in a shallow spot a 15 ft 1 1/2 inch pole with painted markings works better than any bronze hole in the bottom!

-- Edited by FF on Sunday 7th of November 2010 06:34:28 AM

FF wrote:a 15 ft 1 1/2 inch pole with painted markings works better than any bronze hole in the bottom!

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Yeah, keep it right next to the astrolabe and the tallow for the leadline.

RickB wrote:


Yeah, keep it right next to the astrolabe and the tallow for the leadline.

*

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ROTFL


Reminds me of that story about the old Maine schoonerman who was constantly bragging about how he could tell, when in soundings anywhere on the coast, exactly where he was in a fog by tasting the material stuck in the leadline tallow.

And he was pretty good at it.

His crew tried to trick him one day as they were coming down home in a peasouper by "salting" the tallow with some dry land dirt.

Well, the old salt tasted it, thought about it a minute and shouted: "By the jahysus, we're right dab in the middle of the Widow Gray's herb gahden and we better come about right smahtly".

-- Edited by dwhatty on Sunday 7th of November 2010 03:35:31 PM

dwhatty wrote:
"By the jahysus, we're right dab in the middle of the Widow Gray's herb gahden and we better come about right smahtly".

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Lard tunderin' jahysus garge, dat war a goodun!*

*

*

When one finally does "take the Bottom", 20 brass holes in the boat wont telly you which way the deeper water is , which way is out , which direction to lay out the anchor to get off.

A pole will , I guess some folks would rather pound a few hours , waiting for Sea Tow , than simply get off.

As an ex yard guy , be my guest , shafts , props, struts and rudder flown in by the insurance co. used to Make our $ummers.

Hand held depth sounder is my choice. More convenient than a pole.

FF wrote
A pole will , I guess some folks would rather pound a few hours , waiting for Sea Tow , than simply get off.

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Fred:*

I certainly understand the "wisdom" from which you speak but for the life of
me, having my wife on the bow yelling "Mark Twain" just isn't in the cards.

*

Anode wrote:



Hand held depth sounder is my choice. More convenient than a pole.

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As long as you don't fall overboard trying to use it! Don't they make one*that hangs from a cable? The handheld seemed good for the*dink, but dangerous to use from the swim deck of the big boat. *

Yes. The handheld is for the dink.

SeaHorse II wrote:...having my wife on the bow yelling "Mark Twain" just isn't in the cards.

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If she's yelling "mark twain" you're okay.* With your boat I would think you'd want to start worrying when she started yelling "three quarter*mark."

-- Edited by Marin on Tuesday 9th of November 2010 10:58:39 PM