[Rhodes22-list] Depth Finders

[Bill Effros]

Ben,

There's a lot of silting in Long Island Sound.  Also zillions of 
uncharted rocks.  If you look at charts around here there are lots of 
areas labeled "hen and chickens".  Meanwhile, we have a 9 foot tidal 
variation four times a day.  So the locals know exactly when they can 
scoot over the hen and chickens, and when they can't.

Other people, watching the locals cutting corners, try it themselves 
three hours later, and rip the bottoms off their boats.

I get around this by never cutting corners.  I've got a picture of our 
local ferry full of old people sitting on the rocks at an odd angle.  
The captain had been here for 19 years or something like that, making 
four trips an hour, eight hours a day, eight months of the year.

In my view, you're going much too fast, even in a sailboat, to make a 
correction based on information transmitted by a depth sounder.  The key 
is situational awareness, not electronic gadgetry.  People become so 
focused on their depth finders that they T-bone other boats.

Needless to say to anyone who sails a lot, I've still hit plenty of 
rocks, and I've grounded.  I pull up my centerboard whenever I sail 
shallow, and use the rudder as my depth gauge.  Since my hand is always 
on the tiller, I know immediately when I'm in water with the potential 
for problems.

My rudder is set to both kick up, and then pop out if I hit something 
big.  Those kick ups really get your attention, and you never have to 
take your eye off the water.

Bill Effros

benonvelvetelvis at theskinnyonbenny.com wrote:
> I haven't sailed nearly enough.  My last trip out was in some rough weather, and I ramed something in the water.  I'll send the details because it's a worthwhile story, but the punchline is that I lost the centerboard.  So we're on the hard, in the process of fashioning a repair.
>
> Meanwhile, we've had a couple of other big projects taking up our free time.  But it's starting to feel a lot like spring, and the plan is to be on the lake nearly constantly, Including a couple of overnights.
>
> I'm adding a depth sounder while Velvet Elvis is on the trailer.  Since Katrina, what used to be deep might be a sand bar (actually, a mud bar here), and old mud bars have completely disappeared.
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From:  R22RumRunner at AOL.COM
> Subj:  Re: [Rhodes22-list] Rummy, was Retracting IMF
> Date:  Wed Feb 21, 2007 11:57
> Size:  677 bytes
> To:  rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
>
> Ben,
> Glad to see that you made it through the winter. Been sailing lately?
> Slim wants to mount a cleat on the boom like I have and wanted to know how  
> to cut the plastic block I gave him. He obviously doesn't understand the  
> opportunity that has been afforded him to purchase a new tool.
>  
> Rummy
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