What type gauges do I need?

[HillbillyWanderer]

Have a catalina 22 and guess what, it's my birthday! Thinking of buying some gauges for my boat. Many choices to choose from and really no idea what I need. I sail on a lake and plan on racing in the local sail club. Also plan to visit the east coast a few times a year. Have NO intention of getting very far from land. All I really know I want is a depth guage and not sure if it needs to be the kind where I drill a hole in the hull or mount the sensor out side the hull or one that shoots a signal through the hull. Suggestions? What other guages do I really need.

 

[KingAirDriver]

This is what I am going to get eventually for the 27.

http://www.buy-marine.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2680


Base model with the transducer, and the charts are good and detailed enough for what we do.

When you add to cart, the price is 278 bucks and change. This company is right near me, and they seem pretty good. So far the cheapest I have seen for this unit.

I would put the transducer in a plastic bag full of water, find a spot inside the hull that gives you an acceptable reading, and then bed it in toilet bowl wax.

It is a real nice chartplotter/bottom machine. You can turn off the fish finder display and just have the depth show on the display. Buddy of mine has it and loves it.

 

[shemandr]

How deep is the lake and how fast does the depth change?
I had one of the thru-hull-less depth units on my Ranger and it worked reasonably well. It would freak out at times and at depths over a certain point it wouldn't work. But other than that (Mrs. Lincoln) it worked pretty well. It did what I needed it to do.
What other gauges do you really need? GPS would be first for me. Then speed thru the water. Wind instruments last - more for entertainment then reality. If you want to know what the wind is - look up from your instruments and see what the wind is. Forecasting tools are good too.

 

[Ray Bowles]

Since you are lake sailing now while learning the boat my thoughts lean toward a nice bulkhead mounted compass and a knot meter. You probably already know the shallow spots and do not require a mapping system to go into areas you know by heart.
The compass is needed to keep a straight course when racing and the knot meter tells you how well your sail trim is working.
This is the basic starter package. When you become more skilled as a competitive racer, or simply a better skilled sailer then you will know the goodies you need.
My birthday is in July but please don't spend over $100 on my gift.
Enjoy your new instruments.
Ray

 

[Perfect Excuse]

My suggestion would be to start with a chart potter/depth gage and use a "puck" transducer. For two reasons. First, no through the hull hole and secondly the puck mounts allows you to take it with you should move to a larger boat. Having recently gone from a Cat 22 to a Martin 29 to a Hunter 410, I have found that you do not get your investment in gages or many items back, but with my Garmin chart plotter/depth sounder that I was able to use it in my Hunter as a back up. In fact, because the radar/chart potter, that came with the boat, uses more power that the Garmin. The radar unit becomes the backup. I'm sure you will enjoy your Cat 22, but after a while, a separate head, standing headroom and a full galley will likely become a must have. If you plan your equipment purchases with a larger boat in mind, you can make use of much of that equipment subsequent boats. Thus preserving your investments. Like you, I started on a lake, this year my goal is 2400 nm. Best luck. Enjoy!

 

[HillbillyWanderer]

Thanks everybody this gives me some ideas to look at for what I need right now and what can wait. I know a depth gauge is a must have. On the small lake do not need a chart plotter but will I need/use one on my trips to the east coast? Planned trips to South Port, Charleston, and the Keys this winter. Like the idea of a knot meter to give me a visual of whats working for a faster sail. Did a little research on knot meter vs GPS, damn too much **** to think about. Was thinking of just buying a multi function instrument with GPS, Depth, and Chart Plotter? What do you guys think. Thinking be cheaper to just buy all in one than buying separately however if it fails you lose everything at once as well.

 

[KingAirDriver]

That Lowrance Elite 4 is a GPS/Chartplotter/depth finder. It is compact, low power draw, and accurate.

Can't beat it for the price. And you can take it with you when you buy/sell/upgrade etc.

Going through the hull bedded in wax will be plenty accurate for your use. If you plan on travelling at all through the east coast and the Keys, you better have a decent GPS/chartplotter. It gets shallow down here in places, and having bottom contours on the map will help you plan where NOT to go.

The speed is accurate too, with a average and top speed readings if you want them.

The Elite 4 or even 5 if you want a bigger display will give you Knotmeter, depth, and GPS. I think it even has a voltage reading too so you can monitor your battery.

 

[HillbillyWanderer]

Thanks Neal, that's exactly what I want. Great price as well. How goes life aboard the cat27?

 

[Perfect Excuse]

Why I suggest a CPS/chart plotter/depth sounder is you get a depth gauge that creates a bottom profile and a accurate knot meter, about all the gauges that you will eber need in one device. My experience with knot meter impellers is they constantly need to be cleared of growies. The puck mount frees you from that task. The chart plotter may not be too useful finding your way on a lake, but sure is handy when racing. One of the joys of lake sailing is the beer can racing league. Personally, I learned a lot when I could compare my decisions on sail trimming and tactics to others. One of the most memorable was when an Olymic skipper sailed passed me in a "slower" boat and while doing so gave me sail trimming advice. Best learning situation ever! Also, we organized races such as 'man over overboard' races where at a specified point one crew member had jump overboard and had to be rescued. Great practise tool and great fun. You learn the effectiveness of the MOB button on your GPS. Some of favourite and well used equipment on my H410, are things I that I bought originally for my Tanzer 7.5 about thirty years ago.