Depthfinder installation?

A

amelia

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First a little background: The boat is a work in progress, an entirely homemade houseboat with catamaran hulls built of 3/4" plywood,(8' long, 4'deep, 3-5 feet wide) trapezoidal 'boxes', with copper roof sheeting glued on the bottom and sides, then bolted end to end forming two 50 foot-long pontoons. It's powered by a pair of Yamaha T-60 outboards, which shove this unlikely craft around quite nicely at 9 knots; we were pleased at the performance and maneuverability, all things considered...

Alas, the forward dock lines broke in a bad storm, and the two forward-most port hull segments were damaged by nearby rocks. Those hull sections have been removed to be patched. While we have them off, this would seem a good time to install a depth-finder. Newbie questions, then: What brand do y'all recommend? How best to install? Will the copper sheeting be a problem for the electronics? Any other thoughts much appreciated!
 
Do you want just a depth finder, as in a display of digits? Or a graphical display fish finder?

In either case any of the name brands should do. Garmin, Raymarine, Standard Horizon, etc. Play with them at your local marine store and see which one you like best.

The copper sheeting should not be a problem as long as you are not trying to have the transducer shoot through it.
 
Thanks, Capt. Bill! Next time I'm in a town big enough to have a marine store, I'll play with them. My inclination is to go with the pretty picture, but not sure how much of a $5 collar to put on this $2 dog yet. Can we start with the digital readout and then upgrade fairly seamlessly to a beautiful multifunction display when we decide this was a good idea after all? And do you cut a hole in the bottom and mount the transducer through it? Cut a hole in the copper only, and put the transducer on the other side of the wood?
 
Normally digital readout transducers are not compatable with other displays.

You have several installation option: thru the hull, in the hull, or transom mount. I can try to swing by to discuss placement options if interested.
 
Oh, great, Paul! Do that... back porch, libations, await. Saturday/Sunday might be a bit zooey, what with Edenton Bay Challenge regatta I'm involved with, but almost any other time- including today or next week -or three - would be lovely.
 
I don't think you'll need a fancy one as you're not going offshore.

The basic Humminbird works for me (they've been in business a LONG time). But you'll probably have to get a through-the-hull transducer for it, as the "shoot-through" setup won't work with wood.
 
You're right, Willie- I'm such a sucker for a pretty display, but there's no need for it, I'm thinking, especially with Open CPN software, laptop, and GPS instead of a chart plotter. Do you suppose if we cut a hole through the wood, installed the transducer with the appropriate glue, and then coppered over the whole assemblage, that would work? (Hoping to make it as leak-resistant as possible.)
 
I don't think you can copper over it. However if you wanted to glue the thing to the outside and run the wire through the hull it might work. You'd have to figure out how to keep barnacles off of it though.

Another way might be to mount it to a piece of pipe, wood or PVC, and arrange to slide the mount and down between the hulls as required.
 
Just do a transom style mount off one of the pontoons and paint it with transducer safe bottom paint. I'd get a fish finder type display. They are not that expensive and give you more information.
 
Great minds... Rob was just musing aloud that very thought. Someday you ought to meet this fellow- I suspect you'd enjoy each other's ways of looking at the world.
 
A transom mount doesn't have to be off the transom, right, Capt Bill? (I'm thinking what the bottom looks like after you've plowed a 40-foot trench onto the sandbar might be regrettable.)
 
Whatever method you choose it would be a good idea to have it removable while the boat's in the water. You don't want to have to haul that beast just to paint the transducer!!

Agree on the fishfinder type display, and they're probably the cheapest anyway as you can get 'em at Big Box. A basic unit is under $100. With the digital displays you're never quite sure what the thing is seeing, but with the fishfinder you can interpret the picture yourself.
 
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