On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 22:38:22 -0800, "Evan Gatehouse"
wrote:


If this is an older Nicholson 32 with a solid fiberglass hull, consider
using the transducer to shoot through the hull by embedding it in a blob of
epoxy. One less hole to deal with. You can take the old transducer out and
fill the old hole at your next haul out.

I did this with the so-called "hockey puck" transducer and bedded it
in Sikaflex a short distance forward of the keel. I thus avoided
another hole and the results are great. I caculate the waterline/keel
offset at two feet and set the depth alarms accordingly. I use a
cheapo Eagle fish finder and lead line sounds confirm that it's
accurate to 100 feet within a foot or so.

That's all I need here, and if the "marine" units with simple
numerical readouts weren't more expensive than the "sportsman"
fishfinders (which can with tweaking reveal bottom conditions, charted
wrecks and so on..try it sometime), I would have gone with that.

You will have to experiment to find the "sweet spot" that gives an
accurate reading with a "through-the-hull" transducer, and you may
have to factor in the slight angle element of the rise to the bow
(giving you a marginally forward-looking sounder...not necessarily a
bad thing...).

You may require a longer cord, too.

R.