T&T: depth finders

[Rob Zanussi]

Keith, thank you for your input. I wasn't clear in my post about the usage
of the forward transducer. This would be for those times I would be
creeping into an unknown area and the chart just isn't really all that
clear on depths.

I will be doing a lot of my boating in the Georgian Bay area, which is very
rocky and has lots of shoals. While in the main channels depth/shoals are
not an issue, it's when I am heading into "that little cove off to the
right over there" that I would be concerned and would rather have the
transducer more forward than aft. At this point I would moving very slowly,
watching the depth finder, looking for colour change in the water and if I
had anyone on board, they would be on the bow watching the water also.

My 21 ft Monterey has 2 of them, well one is a fish finder, but both are
mounted on the stern about 4" ahead of the leg of the stern drive. Even
idling into places where I am in neutral and letting the boat drift in by
the time it reads zero, its too late to save the prop, skeg or just the
drive itself from a "bump".

Rob


At 04:03 AM 6/1/2007 -0500, Keith wrote:
>The problem is turbulence. If you put it too far forward, air and water 
>turbulence will make the readout useless. After all, at cruising speed, how 
>many seconds does it take your stern to pass where your bow just was? 
>Probably faster than your reaction time unless you're doing nothing but 
>watching the depth sounder!. Follow the manufacturer's directions for 
>placement.
>
>Now, there are forward scanning sonars that can look ahead for you. They are 
>pretty neat, and expensive, but work best in deep water. The geometry makes 
>them useless if you cruise in shallow water anyway, like I do here on the 
>Gulf Coast. When I'm in 8-10' of water, they can't even see to the bow of 
>the boat. Better for boats that are cruising in deep water.
>

Do you realize that in about 40 years we will have thousands of old ladies
running around with tattoos and pierced navels?