transducer

Dec 7, 2012
515
Kittiwake 23, Irwin 43 .. Indianapolis / indianatown, fl
hello all

I have a Kittiwake 23.5 full keel sailboat... I am looking at installing a depth finder in it for when I am sailing... on my old boat (Mac25) is put the transducer under the front V-berth, in a toilet bowl grease ring to hold it in place.... worked wonderful.... but I do not have that option with my kittiwake, and with the full keel, I am not sure where I can put it... I do not want to put it through the hull, I want to shoot it through the hull again.... in the front part of the keel is 1500 lbs of lead, so I cannot sink it in the bilge.... the bilge is very deep in the rear of the keel, but I think the lead will interfere with the readings of the depth finder...

not sure how I can set this up... needing advice or solution to this .... I am using a hummingbird wideeye depth/fish finder on my boat... thanks for any help...

my friend says I should just forget it, it is not worth the trouble to set it up on the boat, as I am only sailing on inland lakes with it.... but I told him I do plan to sail n the great lakes, gulf of mexico and the coastal waters of the US sometimes with it... I like the piece of mind it gives me when sailing close to shore...


sincerely
Jess
 
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
set it off to the side of the keel... 15-20" to the side should work fine, towards the front would be better, but make sure the transducer islevel with the boat, NOT the surface your mounting it on....

what I did..
I used a piece of pvc pipe that the transducer would fit into, then cut a very short length on the angle of the mounting surface... so the top was level with the boat.

then I mixed some epoxy putty and epoxied this to the hull where i wanted the 'ducer located.... after it set, i filled it enough with melted ring wax to make a level wax surface inside... after it cooled for an hour, i poured another 1/8" of wax in and set the tranducer....

a couple of things to make it better... once you have the idea of this, you can make the pvc tube a bit taller so that when finished, the entire transducer will be below the top opening of the pvc... then grind a notch in the top edge for the wire to lay in as it passes out of the "container".... what this does is protect the transducer from being knocked loose or disturbed in any way, and if something should fall on it, the wire in its recessed "cut out" wont get pinched in two...
 
Jul 21, 2013
333
Searching for 1st sailing boat 27-28, 34-36 Channel Islands, Marina Del Rey
If you consider mounting on the transom; using a board for mounting is a good idea.

 
Dec 7, 2012
515
Kittiwake 23, Irwin 43 .. Indianapolis / indianatown, fl
hello

good idea about the board for the transom... I have a Carl Alberg design full keel boat... the transom doesn't even sit in the water.... it is above the water... I need a solution of where and how to install the transducer inside my boat far enough forward so the lead keel doesn't interfere with the transducer signal....

I have posted pictures of my boat, to give a better idea of what I am dealing with in my problem here...

like I said before, I use to have a Mac25, and it was easy to figure out and install.... under the V-berth, in the bow... easy and done.... this full keel boat doesn't have the opening under the V-berth.... under the V-berth is a built in fresh water tank... no place to put the transducer....

sincerely
Jess
 

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Nov 26, 2012
2,315
Catalina 250 Bodega Bay CA
centerline: Your concept would work well for protecting the protruding backsides of the thru hull units as well. You could even slip a pipe cap on. That might even stop a leak by acting as a secondary emergency cap! Chief