Depth sounder / other instruments in an Inflatable

I want to install a depth sounder on the Inflatable so I have a fighting chance of seeing sand-banks etc before I hit them... (I know I could keep to the marked channel but that wouldn't be as much fun!) It looks like I'll have to make up a little box to put a battery in and mount the display on. I don't suppose these things take much power - anyone know how much is not much?

Anyway, is there any other instrumentation worth the effort given that I will not deliberately go far enough from the shore to need GPS - it is very difficult to imagine getting lost in the Menai Straits! (Or should I bite the bullet with GPS just in case?)

And now the cheaky one! Is Santa bringing any of you nice shiny new instruments that might mean you have some not-so-sexy but still works stuff surplus? Failing that what do you advise at the cheap end of the market...

David

the cheap end...a glass bottom bucket... if you really need to see the sandbars first...:rolleyes:

I take it you haven't been to the Menai Straits? They call it water because it is too runny to plough. It is all the mud that is stirred up by the tides - well best to think of it as mud...

Seriously, before I do the good name of Wales too much harm it is a *lot* better after all the work they've done building sewage treatment plants recently.

David

David

Have you thought about a hand held depth sounder? I don't mean a piece of string and a weight, but something like a Plastimo Echotest II (http://www.seamark-nunn.co.uk/catalog/items/item1181.htm)

It's got to be easier to use in an inflatable than trying to fit a fixed mount depth sounder, and for occasional use should be perfectly adequate.

I would bet that whichever you go for you won't actually use it very much, and that you'll get a feel for what shallow water looks like. You don't need much depth in an inflatable anyway, and if you do go aground it's not difficult to get off!

John

Wow :cool: .

Thanks John, having persuaded THE BOSS :mad: (and that's her in a good mood) that I should definitely, positively and by marine law (well I had to exagerate a bit) have a GPS (Santa is bringing it), I can now pester her to let me have a hand held depth sounder.

Oh, joy, another toy, sorry, serious bit of kit I can have to play, sorry, work with to make me happy, sorry, save my life.

No but seriously folks (is this possible you ask), your comments on the depth thingy actualy do give me more confidence. I think the thing that worries me is hitting a rock.

Now, just what evidence can I gather regarding the necessity of a hand held depth sounder......?

Cheers

Keith (must be quick she's comming) Hart

What about not saying the price ? Maybe "a friend from Greece called Michael" sent it !!!!!
It is not the first time he does that, you know...

Hi David

There is actualynothing to stop you using a standard depth sounder or fish finder. You can set up a transom mount with a quick release clip to remove the transducer when you fold the boat up, and make a simple portable mounting unit in the boat.

Dont forget though that most of these show the depth where you have been - not where you are goin - so you have to read the bottom a few metres behind actual.

If you look in the Quicksilver catologue they have all sorts of goodies to put in your boat - and one of these is a bow locaker that could hold the sort of kit you need. If nothing else you canuse it for ideas and either make things yourself of copy them with similar things ....

:hi:

It's me again, sense of humor restored. It's been a couple of months since I was up in Scotland on my boat, so please excuse me.

As I stated before, my fear is hitting a rock. Which is why I have the charts for the places I explore and why I persuaded THE BOSS (:mad:) to get me the handheld gps (hurry up Santa).

The question is, would a depth sounder prevent me from hitting a submerged rock?

Cheers

Keith (happy chappy) Hart

The question is, would a depth sounder prevent me from hitting a submerged rock? I reckon that you would need a forward looking sounder like the EchoPilot (http://www.echopilot.com/silver.htm) ones, and that you would also need to be going pretty slowly to see it in time. For isolated rocks a normal sounder is unlikely to be much help at all.

John