Instruments , depth, speed, and so on

[Debra B]

Charted depth wrong after storms

The charts of intercoastal are questionable in SW Florida right now. Probably the same can be said in the Bahamas. You want a good depth meter mounted foward of the keel - to give you some warning of shallow water to come - it isn't fool-proof! May be a different problem in MA.Speed through the water is good to know, since this tells you a little bit about how you are sailing. Tidal currents will alter VMG - which is what your gps tells you.I have to say, I don't use my close-hauled wind vane much, but the new autopilots are supposed to steer to a wind course - will have to give it a try.I don't have water temp or oil pressure guages. I do have alarms on both. Will probably add water temp guage eventually, it is not hard to do. Not sure I will add oil pressure guage. Alarm seems to be OK.

 

[Debra B]

Other things to put in your cockpit

remote speaker for VHF radioremote mic for VHF radioweather proof cigarette lighter socket plugging in 12 volt stuff.Other stuff to go in those 4in holes - autopilot control head. or other instrument control(I think RayMarine uses a 4in hole. probably others too)Chartplotter (would probably need to make hole bigger)

 

[David Underwood]

I had the same instruments as you....

the round holes now hold my cockpit speakers. Think I had to enlarge the holes slightly. New Navman Instruments, Wind, Depth/knotmeter 3100 series.. I am pleased. Plan to attach to your GPS so they can share data, also plan to attach the wind unit to your autopilot so they can work together... It brings our older boats up to date in the navagation department. Oh, I put the two Navman Instruments and the GPS Chartplotter all in the same instrument.Good luck, check out Navman, very reasonable in price too!

 

[Marvin]

Old Nav Holes

I completely rebuilt my H33 last winter. One of the many projects was replacing the dysfunctional nav instruments. After learning the price to replace the instruments in entirety I decided to glass over the existing holes in the exterior and place a piece of teak over the corresponding holes in the interior galley. It worked well. I purchased a combo nav unit from Raymarine for less than $250 on Sailnet which does water temp, depth, and speed. I am without wind speed and direction gauge, and found that it doesn't matter a bit. Good luck and don't forget to take lots of photos to display proudly when the project is complete.

 

[Paul Harmina]

SR instruments

I too was told that SR Instruments are no longer made so I went on Google to see if I could find a source of used ones. What I did find was that SR is indeed alive and well at www.srinstruments.com. When I contacted them I was able to purchase all new instruments from them that fit the same size wholes in the bulkhead plus the new transducers are the same size so you do not have to drill any larger holes.Prices for depth meters were - digital $506.50 with an alarm, and analog was $425.Knot meter prices ranged from $526.50 for digital with log - $405 digital no log - $215 for needle gauge style.Hope this helps. By the wat, it was West Marine that told me SR was no longer made but that West could SELL me what they have at a much higher price. Thanks West but no thanks.

 

[Rich Woodward]

SR will rebuild what you have.

I contacted SR Marine, then sent them my depth guage. They replaced the read out, plus the houseing (which was cracked) and the face. Total bill was under $100 and I have a like-new guage. I also replaced the sending unit which was another $50.00 or so. All the prices are on their web site. That was so easy, I rebuilt my knot meter myself for about $75. I don't know anything about the wind instruments, but if they are SR, I am certain they can help you. Call them up, they are nice people.