Thru Hull Knot Meter 79 O'day 22

[David S]

I have searched thru several forums and not much helpful for this novice. I looked at West Marine, Kenyon Knot Meters and Speed Transducers. This boat had a thru hull fitting and was capped off and the device with the wheel on the end laying on the hull bottom inside an apparently water tight boxed in area under the v-berth, but there is a hole at the bottom edge of one side of the box I think it should be resealed to be water tight, right?
!st, I want to put a new water seal in the cap, what kind of mat'l for the seal? Would this speed thru the water indicator have come new with the boat? There is a knot meter gage in the cockpit, it looks pretty bad, the boat was sunk by Hur. Charley in salt water at Port Charlotte and salvaged.
2nd, where do I start if I want to have a boat speed indicator.

David S

 

[jibes138]

I think they are more trouble then they are worth. Just get a hand held GPS and use the speed function on that. It gives you speed over ground versus speed through the water. If you race you might want a new knot meter in the boat as it is better for seeing instantaneous changes resulting from sail trim adjustments, but for non racers (cruisers) the GPS is adequate.

 

[HukilauMike]

I'm with Jibes; the paddlewheel knotmeters have become somewhat dinosaurish. The speed function of a GPS may not be as instantaneously reactive (although the gap is rapidly narrowing) as a paddlewheel, but I find it preferable. For your specific questions, it would be helpful to know the make and model of your unit. Even then, I would question if its worth fixing/updating.

My Oday 23 came with a paddlewheel knotmeter that stopped working almost the day I put the boat in the water. It was old then (12 years ago), and not worth fixing. Even if it was repairable, I doubt I would have done it. In order to keep the paddlewheel clean, you had to remove it from the throughull fitting after every sail, replacing it with a solid plug. Of course, this act (and replacing the paddlewheel at the next sail) let a good amount of water into the bilges, which had to be pumped out. I pretty much gave up on that after a couple of times and just used the handheld GPS. This summer, I replaced the handheld with a Lowrance Elite 5S chartplotter/depthsounder/fishfinder. For the cost of a new handheld Garmin, I got a 5 inch screen and all the features. I guess the bottom line is that unless you have confidence you can keep the paddlewheel clean and calibrated, IMHO its not as reliable or accurate as a GPS unit. And the GPS is a helluva lot easier to use.

 

[Joe11688]

A friend of mine set up his paddle wheel on a track and car and mounted it on his rudder. I picked up the track and car for him in a nautical marine consignment store in Newport RI for only $ 4.00. It works like a champ. when he's not using the boat, the car is moved up to get the paddle wheel out of the water.

 

[HukilauMike]

A friend of mine set up his paddle wheel on a track and car and mounted it on his rudder. I picked up the track and car for him in a nautical marine consignment store in Newport RI for only $ 4.00. It works like a champ. when he's not using the boat, the car is moved up to get the paddle wheel out of the water.

Now that's an interesting idea Joe. Although for me, I wouldn't want to have to hang over the stern that far to take the unit in and out of the water, I can see the attraction for someone younger and more limber. I've never seen a paddlewheel unit shaped like that one; it looks more like a transducer than the thru-hull paddlewheels I'm used to. Nevertheless, I'm not surprised that you came up with (yet another) simple, novel idea that works!

 

[Joe11688]

Now that's an interesting idea Joe. Although for me, I wouldn't want to have to hang over the stern that far to take the unit in and out of the water, I can see the attraction for someone younger and more limber. I've never seen a paddlewheel unit shaped like that one; it looks more like a transducer than the thru-hull paddlewheels I'm used to. Nevertheless, I'm not surprised that you came up with (yet another) simple, novel idea that works!

No Mike. That was Wayne's idea. He thought of it. He told me about it several years ago and asked me to keep my eyes open for a cheap track and car if I ever went to any Newport RI marine consignment stores. Actually, Wayne usually adjusts the car while sitting in his Sears Aluminum Gamefisher. He also has a pendant line with a steel cable attached to it for a security lock on his mooring which he also locks and unlocks from his Gamefisher.
Wayne likes to tinker. I've stolen a lot of his ideas through the years including the Gin Pole idea.

 

[skipper66]

I replaced an old and bnroken Electro Data Marine paddle wheel type unit with a new one from Moor, model U25K -- a company that apparently took over all the EDM business. Same size instrument head, same shape and size paddle wheel unit and thru hull hole. Unit is self powered but does require 12v wiring to light the instrument face.

Ordered it online from Defender and paid $208 and change including shipping.......

 

[skipper66]

By the way, anybody out there with a GPS mounted on and O'Day 22? I found a bargain ($200) on a used Garmin GPS and haven't figured out a good place to mount it where it won't be out in the weather but still visible from the tiller. Appreciate your thoughts.....

 

[Golden Road]

A friend of mine set up his paddle wheel on a track and car and mounted it on his rudder. I picked up the track and car for him in a nautical marine consignment store in Newport RI for only $ 4.00. It works like a champ. when he's not using the boat, the car is moved up to get the paddle wheel out of the water.

That's kind of a crazy set up, but what brand is that speedo unit?

 

[Joe11688]

By the way, anybody out there with a GPS mounted on and O'Day 22? I found a bargain ($200) on a used Garmin GPS and haven't figured out a good place to mount it where it won't be out in the weather but still visible from the tiller. Appreciate your thoughts.....

You can always mount it on a swing out just inside the companionway hatch. I took these pics of Wayne's instrumentation. I just don't have the pic of his GPS which is mounted on the Port side of his companionway.

 

[Joe11688]

That's kind of a crazy set up, but what brand is that speedo unit?

I think it was made by Standard. Check out the pic that I posted. One of those meters is a Uniden and the other is a Standard. The gauge marked Standard has the word "Speed" written on it.

I don't know much about their knot meters but their radios are the best on the market. I bought mine in 1987 and it's finally starting to die on me. If I could obtain a volume potentiometer I'd have it fixed. Parts for these radios are no longer available. It really pains me to have to throw this radio out.
Here's a picture of one just like mine;
http://www.swordfishingcentral.com/...E-RADIO--PIVOTING-HEAD-UNIT-161022318864.html

 

[skipper66]

You can always mount it on a swing out just inside the companionway hatch. I took these pics of Wayne's instrumentation. I just don't have the pic of his GPS which is mounted on the Port side of his companionway.

That instrumentation mount looks like a great idea! The bulkheads are already filled with speed, and inclinometer on the port side and compass and a AM/FM/CD unit on the starboard side. All that stuff is weather proof/resistant, but mounting the GPS that way will work great.

Thanks!

Skipper 66

 

[Joe11688]

The only swing out I have in my companionway is for a small bull horn for my VHF. I have a mount on my Port bulkhead for a bell, but my microphone fits it perfectly as well. This works out great for the many times that I need to communicate with a bridge tender.

 

[skipper66]

Was intrigued with the series of mast raising and lowering pictures. I was thinking of fabricating a pole to attach to the trailer for this task. Just tall enough to get the mast past the "pivot point" where it can be pulled up and forward rather than just forward against the step. Think the rudder pintels are strong enough to mount a boom crutch?

 

[Joe11688]

Was intrigued with the series of mast raising and lowering pictures. I was thinking of fabricating a pole to attach to the trailer for this task. Just tall enough to get the mast past the "pivot point" where it can be pulled up and forward rather than just forward against the step. Think the rudder pintels are strong enough to mount a boom crutch?

Myself, I've always wanted to be able to raise and lower my mast with the boat in the water. It was always important to have a mast crutch that I could mount on a stern rail. This way, I could launch my boat with the rudder hung. I can remember one time many years ago when I needed to take my mast down on the water because of a broken drawbridge on the river. It was either that, or wait till the next day when they had the bridge back into operation. About 90% of the time I have raised/lowered with the boat on the trailer though.

 

[Snowman80]

speaking of such bridge, do they have someone that mans old brightman st so it can be raised when needed?

 

[Joe11688]

speaking of such bridge, do they have someone that mans old brightman st so it can be raised when needed?

Yes. I recently called the bridge superintendent at the District 5 office in Taunton and talked to him about getting that bridge shut down. Right now he has seven guys who take turns manning that bridge every week and they need to keep the bridge in operation until their union contract runs out. The bridge is barricaded at both ends with no traffic going over it and they are still enforcing the hour restrictions. Go figure! They are still pulling maintenance on the bridge every week by the same private contractor. Our tax dollars at work.
I went down to see our new Congressman Joe Kennedy a couple of months ago about this and I never heard back from him. The bridge tenders go home at 9:00 PM every night and you need to call them and wait for him if you need to have it open.

I tried to get everyone who uses that bridge to go and meet with the Congressman. It helps if you are in his district. The more people who complain, the better. The very least that they can do for us is to remove the leaves from that bridge.

 

[Snowman80]

I agree just take the damn middle out.it only makes sense. The waste of money is disgusting never mind the pain for boaters

 

[Joe11688]

I agree just take the damn middle out.it only makes sense. The waste of money is disgusting never mind the pain for boaters

I tried to get the ball rolling last year. My club Commodore got in contact with the other clubs on the river about getting the leaves removed on that bridge. Maybe we need to keep up the pressure. The more people we can get to meet with the Congressman and complain about it, the better. Just find out when and where he is holding his office hours and go down there and meet with him.
As a matter of fact, on the day I went down there to talk to him he wasn't even there. He had his Constituency Outreach Director, Stephanie Noguera filling in for him.