"Ken Corbett" wrote in
:

I need to replace my sail boat depth sounder. Just want a
straightforward how deep is it with ability to set warning at certain
depth.

Any suggestions on models, prices, where to buy.

Thanks

Ken


I'd highly recommend a simple, monochrome CHARTING "fishfinder". They're
quite cheap and do have the depth alarm you're looking for. I like them
much better than the sailboat depth guage with just number readout because
the fishfinder gives you a "history" of what the depth has been for the
last minute or so so you can see a TREND of it getting shallower and how
fast, or is it getting deeper so you can breathe easier, again...(c;

Any depth sounder that will read to 50' is deep enough. But, WAY more
importantly, is to make sure the new one will read accurately in SHALLOW
water, not just start blinking away at you saying it's too shallow for it
to tell you where the bottom is, like many models do. Who cares if the
depth is 3000' or 300'? You want to care more that it's rising and is 3
feet under the keel!

Also make sure you can OFFSET the reading, too. The transducer isn't on
the bottom of the keel, it's forward of it (I hope). So you want to be
able to calibrate in the depth difference offset from the transducer's
location to the bottom of the keel. Use a tape measure to find out what it
REALLY is while you have it hauled out to install the new transducer.
Measure from the keel to the concrete, then from the transducer to the
concrete and simply subtract. Write that by the transducer mount so you
can't lose it later. Offset is very helpful when you're in panic mode in
the uncared for ICW shallows.