Depth sounder
Gary: My current boat, an O'day 28 has a thru-hull depth sounder transducer. My old boat had no depth sounder at all so I installed one myself. It was just a cheap ($100) unit and worked great. The transducer I put up in the bow under the V-berth as close to the centerline of the hull as I could. So, how did I do it? After I ran all the wire to the instrument I cleaned the portion of the hull where the transducer was to be insalled with extreme prejudice. My next step was to cover the transducer face with a very thick layer of silicone sealant and to put a like amount on the hull and press the transducer to the inside of the hull and move it around to get as many air bubbles out of the silicone as possible. I then braced some lengths of wood against the bottom of the V-berth while the sealant cured. It took about 4 hours to get a good set on the sealant. I completed installing the instrument while the sealant cured. After the sealant cured I removed the wood braces and turned the unit on. If you have good contact with the inside of the hull then you will get a good reading. To test it go to a place where there is a known depth and see how close it reads to that depth. Then you'll know the off set for the unit. I have never seen a transom mount on a sail boat so I think that it doesn't work there. As I said it worked just fine. If you have to put it in a place where it is SLIGHTLY angled to the hull it will still work OK. Mine did. Good Luck, Mike
