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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Electronic Depth Sounder

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jsummerfield
1st Mate

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USA
96 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/21/2003 : 20:31:08

I have a piece of lead on a string. However, there are many electronic depth sounders available. Some are multiple function units with digital displays including speed and log in addition to depth. For the other boating community, fish finders appear to serve the depth function with more bottom information. Who know, they might help to catch fish if so inclined.

Of those who have a depth finder, advise what you use for depth on a Catalina 25 and your satisfaction level with that instrument? Does anyone have experiences to share regarding the right or wrong installation? Who has used a fish finder and how does it work on a Catalina 25?

Thanks,

John

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 01/21/2003 : 21:30:54

I have the Standard Horizon DS45 Depth Sounder connected to a in-hull puck style transducer that is mounted beneath the quarter berth. I have found this unit to be very accurate and of the two times that my depth gage said I was in too shallow of water, I hit bottom.

<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b2ce26b3127cce90a2e8a96efe0000001410" border=0>

Don Lucier, 'North Star'
C25 SR/FK
Cradled on the hard, 200ft from Lake Erie

Edited by - on

Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 01/21/2003 : 22:18:26

John,

I have used both the old style three-digit depth readout (on a Hunter 27) and a cheap LCD graph fishfinder on my Catalina 25. I'll never go back! For really seeing the bottom, the fishfinder is just too cool for words.

Mine, a discontinued Lowrance Eagle "SeaView 800", is several years old, and was one of the cheapest available at the time (well under $200 as I recall). A partial list of features includes: 800' depth range, speed, water temperature, about 5 different display modes, night lighting, and simple on-screen menus to tinker with more custom settings than I can ever figure out or remember. (I just use the defaults on all but one or two settings.)

One feature I would like to have is a built in digital volt meter to monitor the boat's batteries. Mine doesn't have that, but I hear at least some of the newer ones do.

Even if you couldn't care less what the fish are up to, a fishfinder makes a fantastic depth indicator.

-- Leon Sisson

Edited by - on

Douglas
Master Marine Consultant

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1595 Posts

Response Posted - 01/22/2003 : 00:04:59

Garmin fish finder. Cheap and reliable. Good customer suport. It also gives bottom composition. Mud, Rock ect. I loved it. it also has anchor drag and depth alarms.

Doug&Ruth
Triska (Alberg 29)
Tacoma Wa.

Edited by - on

lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 01/22/2003 : 00:34:02

Garmin 125 GPS/Sounder. The depth range on this model is not much, 300' in fresh water, less than half that in salt water, but having the sounder and GPS functions combined in one instrument is fantastic. I have the instrument head and the VHF radio mounted on one of those West Marine swingarms on the starboard side of the companionway, so I can use them both in the cockpit, and down in the cabin. This combo instrument paid for itself many times over in the San Juans on the two cruises I have made up there, and may have saved my life on a night passage between Bellingham and Deer Harbor, when I almost ran the boat onto a reef. The depth alarm, which was set to 20', sounded just in time for me veer off and miss the rocks. The GPS is also very nice to have on Lake Tahoe at night, when trying to find the entrance to Emerald Bay. The sounder transducer is mounted on the skeg, not the best location, but I didn't have to drill into the hull below the waterline to mount there.

Larry Charlot
Catalina 25 #1205 "Quiet Time"
Sacramento, CA

Edited by - on

John Mason
Admiral

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USA
687 Posts

Response Posted - 01/22/2003 : 15:26:39

Fish finder. Why just look at a number, when you can get a picture of the bottom composition and all the other info. In-hull puck transducer is the only way to go. No holes in the hull. No appendages hanging off the transom to snag on things.

John Mason - Ali Paroosa
1982 - FK/SR #3290

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 01/22/2003 : 19:17:35

"Why just look at a number, when you can get a picture of the bottom composition..."

Because I'd rather not know what I'm about to hit. <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

Don Lucier, 'North Star'
C25 SR/FK
Cradled on the hard, 200ft from Lake Erie

Edited by - on

John Mason
Admiral

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USA
687 Posts

Response Posted - 01/22/2003 : 19:35:02

Boy, Don, you may have a point there.

Last summer we were motoring along through a shallow passage at low tide (-2.4). I'm looking over the side watching the bottom slide by. My wife is watching the fish finder, calling out the numbers to me, 6 feet, 5 feet, 4.5 feet, 4 feet, 3 feet(I have the 0 depth set for 4 feet), 4 feet, 5 feet, 6 feet. No problem, slid through. Just then I glanced at the fish finder and saw this image on the screen.
<center>
_
||
||
||
||
______||_______
</center>

Grabbed the throttle just as the keel hit the submerged piling. Throttled down, but realized we were still moving, so kept going. It was a glancing blow and we slid on by, fortunately.

John Mason - Ali Paroosa
1982 - FK/SR #3290

Edited by - John Mason on 01/22/2003 19:37:29

Edited by - on

Ray Seitz
Captain

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USA
416 Posts

Response Posted - 01/22/2003 : 20:45:15

John, I have a Standard Horizon DS35 sounder with a in hull DSt55 transducer. Installed it late spring and it is quite accurate; I was able to check it with a tape measure in shallow water. It has a large digital readout and alarms. Still managed to bump the bottom with the CB in Put-in-Bay, funny the alarm only sounds off when it is turned on Duh.<img src=icon_smile_blush.gif border=0 align=middle> Sorry I don't have any pictures of the unit for you like Don.

Ray Seitz C 250WB #628 Sea Major

Edited by - RAY SEITZ on 01/22/2003 20:47:38

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Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2984 Posts

Response Posted - 01/22/2003 : 22:26:19

Larry, finally found someone else using the Garmin 125. While I like this unit a lot... my depth display will occassionaly freeze even though the sounder continues to function and will warn of shallow water...

Shutting down momentarily fixes the display freeze. It might do it 2-3 times during a two week cruise. Has this ever happened to your unit?

The 300 ft limit is in my opinion better for sailboats as it uses less power.

I like the external buzzer. I picked a radio shack one that the only way to miss it..would be to be dead.

I wonder on the newer combo models if the depth data is Seatalk friendly so that it will display on the autopilot remote?

Another change I would like the next time is an obvious difference between the alarm sound for a closing waypoint and shallow water.

Arlyn C-250 W/B #224
R&R N/E Texas and Great Lakes

[url="http://www.cox-internet.com/arlynstewart/"]Arlyn's C250 Mods n Cruisin Stories[/url]

Edited by - on

RoofRoof
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
186 Posts

Response Posted - 01/23/2003 : 11:59:42

I found an inexpensive/older but not used fish finder on Ebay. I think I paid around $75.

It works great, gives me accurate depth, is backlit, and also shows me where the fish are. I've never fished, but hope to now that I see so many fish down there. It shows fish in 3 sizes. Sm, med, large.
The transducer is a puck style that was easily epoxied INSIDE the hull under the V-berth. That way I get a reading of where I'm going rather than where I've already been. (I've actually sailed within the channel by tacking when the deapth got to 4 ft) The transducer 'sees' thru the hull without any problems. I first used some calking to form a dike in a 4 inch round form. Then I poored in some two part slow set epoxy. Set the transducer in the puddle, and put something heavy on top while it set. Works perfectly and I didn't have to haul the boat or cut into the hull.

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 01/23/2003 : 12:24:21

"The transducer is a puck style that was easily epoxied INSIDE the hull under the V-berth. That way I get a reading of where I'm going rather than where I've already been. - Alan"

If you want to see where you are going you will need a forward looking sonar.

At speed, and with the C25's inertia, it doesn't really matter if the transducer is mounted off the bow or off the rudder, cause you won't have time to stop the boat anyway. Even with the transducer mounted just a few feet ahead of the keel, it's only a fraction of a second in travel time.

One thing to remember concerning transducer location is to pick a spot recommended my the manufacturer. You don't want the keel to interfere with the beam pattern and you want the transducer preferably on a horizontal surface so the beam is going straight down and not off to the side.

Don Lucier, 'North Star'
C25 SR/FK
Cradled on the hard, 200ft from Lake Erie

Edited by - on

Derek Crawford
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3324 Posts

Response Posted - 01/23/2003 : 12:35:34

"Even with the transducer mounted just a few feet ahead of the keel, it's only a fraction of a second in travel time."
Remember the magic number: 1 knot = 1.7 feet per second or at 5 knots you go one boatlength in 3 seconds...
Derek

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 01/23/2003 : 20:17:49

"Remember the magic number: 1 knot = 1.7 feet per second or at 5 knots you go one boatlength in 3 seconds..." - Derek

Now if my calculations are correct, this means that a boat, with a depth transducer mounted 5' ahead of the keel, travelling at 5kts would give the helmsman...let's see...that's 8.5 divided by...carry the 3...remove shoe count toes <img src=icon_smile_dissapprove.gif border=0 align=middle>...ought 2...bake the square root of pi for twenty min...and uhmmm........AH HAH! Got it! <img src=icon_smile_approve.gif border=0 align=middle>

This would give the helmsman a whole .58 seconds <img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle> in which to be alerted of a danger and to take evasive action to prevent a collision <img src=icon_smile_blackeye.gif border=0 align=middle>.

Me thinks that, this spring North Star might be getting either seat belts or an air bag.<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

Don Lucier, 'North Star'
C25 SR/FK
Cradled on the hard, 200ft from Lake Erie

Edited by - on

jsummerfield
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
96 Posts

Response Posted - 01/23/2003 : 20:37:17

I do not expect lots of pinnacles although piers and pipes are a problem. I want to know when I can escape out the side of a 12-foot channel. Most of Galveston Bay is about 10-foot deep. There are a few holes where the bottom exceeds 100-foot from collapsed salt domes. I mostly want to keep from getting stuck in the mud. As the bottom gets shallower, perhaps one can increase the time by setting alarms at five-foot and six-foot. Upon six-foot alarm activation, I would begin to watch the bottom to see what’s happening. With experience, I would adjust the values.

Compared to running aground, a bigger hazard is cigarette boats at more than 10X the Catalina 25 hull-speed with an intoxicated helmsman checking out the cuties aboard his vessel instead of watching my sails.

John

Edited by - on

Bryan Beamer
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1038 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2003 : 10:55:24

I have a Standard Horizon MD100. It does depth,speed, mileage log, water temp & average speed. 2 thru hull fittings,a impeller and a transducer mounted in the v-berth storage area, right in front of the water tank on the C250wk.

The bottom display is a Standard Horizon WS150 wind speed/point machine.

<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3df05b3127cce93a987a188c90000001410" border=0>

Bryan Beamer
Daylight Again
C250wk #495

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