Depth Meter

[rogerschwake]

  I ended up aground more than once last year. With our mud bottoms the center board gust rides up and before I know it were hard aground. Don't think I want a fish finder, just something to tell me where the lake bottom is. Looking for something that's not to expensive but work good. Anyone have something on there boat that fits the bill.

[capt_nemo]

On my 17' Sun Cat I use a homemade lead line marked in 2 foot increments with different colors of plastic tape to measure water depth before deploying my anchor with proper length of scope.

Otherwise, I study the local charts and rely on my eyes to read the water as best I can while sailing to stay out of trouble, depending on the amount and direction of sunlight.

And, by the way, it is OK to "take the ground" (as the Brits would say) in a centerboard boat once in awhile. It means you are OUT THERE, SAILING. Just don't make a habit of it!

capt_nemo

[mikew]

I bought an Eagle LCD unit for my Cp-16 awhile back. It was about $80 and I glued the transducer inside the hull, so no holes. OK, it is a
"fishfinder" unit and I don't fish off the boat, BUT what I do like about these units is that you can see a " trend " in the bottom scan,either
up or down as it records and lets you know even with looking at the depth numbers if your getting into troubled waters. Also after some use you can read the ''grey line" and tell if the bottom is rock, mud or weeds which may help when anchoring. 
I have seen name brand models in Walmart and Dicks sporting goods now for about $80. Even these basic units have features like a shallow water alarm. The trick on the Suncat is to find a spot on the hull you can "shoot" through and get good results. Use some dense " putty " material to try the transducer location first, I used Ducseal electricians putty.

Mike