Thru hull transducer

[rtbates]

You wrote

It is hard for me to understand how a transducer / depth sounder can be relied on in a boat that heels.
A prudent skipper would assign:
Piloting 99%
Depth gauge 1 %
IMHO.
Now a fish finder, that is another story.
Dick

Depends on where you sail. In NE with rocks come up fast from deep water, no way will a depth sounder keep you off the rock. Off the Gulf Coast where the bottom depths change in a very predictable and charted fashion, absolutely. One can follow the depth contours and know where they are in relation to the shore with a great deal of certainty.

As far as heeling, as long as I keep the sounder in the water all works great. Occasionally I'll see it stop reading from what appears to be very turbulent water and it's associated bubbles.

[tartansailor]

Learn something every day. My original experience some time ago was quite different from above; every time I tacked the readings changed uncomfortably. Must have had a narrow cone. Will revisit depth sounders again with the boat we are upgrading now.
Thanks again all.
Dick

[Neil Gordon]

... every time I tacked the readings changed uncomfortably. Must have had a narrow cone.

Depending on where the transducer is placed, it can be blocked by the keel on one tack but not the other, especially when you're way over. Since I reef early, I don't have that problem.

[Carter Brey]

Since I reef early, I don't have that problem.

*Sigh* My hero.

CB

[Oswego John]

Who was it, Falstaff, who so aptly put it in a figurative translation? "Discretion is the better part of valor"

BTW, I'm typing this by generator power. A predicted line squall passed through today with winds up to 70 MPH or so, with higher gusts. A good portion of upstate NYS is without power. You should have seen the massive waves breaking high over the harbor breakwater.

After the high winds are gone, lake effect snow will come. It was 47° F this morning. By tomorrow evening it is predicted to be zero F or lower, not counting wind chill. Weathermen get their jollies with this kind of activity.

Elbows Wychulis, what's going on? Where are you when we need you?

O J