depth sounder dillemna

[chuckg]

I sail a C&C 25 in and around Buzzards bay and keep my boat on a mooring from May till the end of October.I recently outfitted her with a Signet Marine MK172 depth sounder as an upgrade from an older Signet model.All the instructions say to not get any antifouling paint on the transducer or it will not function. The problem is that soon after putting the boat in the water, the largest barnacle ever seen in Buzzards Bay latched directly onto the transducer rendering my new depth sounder totally ineffective. Short of hiring a crack team of Navy seals to bottom scrape the hull or hauling the dang thing 3 times a season, how the heck do all you folks keep your depth sounders working all season?

[paulk]

Scrub brush and a new bathing suit should work well enough. On a boat that size, you may even be able to reach the transponder with a long-handled brush from the dock, and keep it clean that way.

[RichardElliott]

In-hull transducers bedded in epoxy are the only way to go. Just make sure that the rough fiberglass roving in the hull is sanded smooth for good contact and to remove any resin wax. Dick Elliott, I28 "specialK".

[Leon-T]

I''m not a fan of bedding in-hull transducers with epoxy because epoxy is rather messy, and it''s hard to get rid of all the bubbles (and bubbles will render the transducer useless)

I dumped my old system (Navico) and put in a Uniden QT-206 depthmeter w/ in-hull transducer for around $75, I think from www.defender.com.

Be sure to test the site: the hull where you mount the transducer cannot not be cored or it won''t work. You can test it out with the transducer in a plastic bag of water before permanent installation.

Sand the surface smooth, caulk the supporting "tube" onto the hull, fill with mineral oil, and insert and secure the transducer. I also like that I can adjust the sensitivity of the unit as needed.

[RichardElliott]

I certainly don''t disagree with the need to keep bubbles out of the epoxy but after fighting years of mineral oil leaking onto the carpet and the depth sounder quitting in spite of numerous efforts to seal the tube, I''m delighted with the epoxy. Dick Elliott.

[jmormile]

I paint mine, always have.

[clayton]

Couldn''t have been the biggest barnacle - they are always on my boat,(in Marion). Go to West Marine and get their anti-fouling transducer paint. I use it on my Signet DS and it works - no barnacles.