through-hulls in bow? Second winch where?

[Jim Lynk, ak_lynks@msn.com]

My 1985 34' had the depth finder using a through-hull right under the cockpit. It has broken and the manufacturer is no more, so I am putting in a new one. They (company making new depth finder) recommend putting depth finder in the bow, so you will see the shallows as you approach them. Is there room up in the bow for two through-hulls? I already have the paddle knotmeter up there, in the dank little compartment under the forward berth. I am worried that the hull might be just too thick at the centerline of the bow. Do other people have their depth finder up forward?Also I upgraded my main sheet winch to a Harkin 46. Now I want to put my old lewmars back so I can use them for the spinnaker and maybe jib changes. Where should I put the second set of winches? The options seem to be forward of or astern from the main winch site.

 

[Steve Dion]

Don't even need a thru hull

Jim:We have our transducer under the v-berth in our H'31. Ours is just epoxied to the hull. It has always seemed to work well. Some tech guy told me that they tend not to work well if the depth is over 400' when they are epoxied in!

 

[Derek Rowell]

H34 depthsounder location

I have both the depthsounder and the knotmeter transducers just forward of the keel, under the access hatch for the keel bolts and the grate in the head/shower. Works well except for the fact that the knotmeter reads about a knot difference on port and starboard tacks. I figure that this is caused by circulation flow around the keel(ie the transducer is too close to the keel and off the centerline), or I didn't get the fore/aft alignment of the impeller wheel right.BTW - Most depthsounders look directly down. I doubt very much that having the transducer in the bow would make a hill of beans difference in avoiding a rock. By the time you see it on the depthsounder it's way too late - at 6 knots you have less that 2 seconds from when your bow passes over the rock until you hear that sickening "crunch". I doubt the alarm would sound in that time. My Signet system (now extinct) claims to be "forward looking" - but all it does is measure the rate of change of depth directly under the boat and project that slope out ahead of the boat to give an alarm condition.Derek