Depth Sounder Installed

Today Arnold and I completed the installation of the Raymarine ST60+ depth sounder. Today's task was first to thread the wiring from the communications locker behind the navigation station to the instrument panel above the companionway. This required removal of part of the cabin ceiling. Then we had to unscrew the display panel and replace the defunct Brooks & Gatehouse water speed display at the extreme right with the new ST60+ display.

The hole for the B&G instrument was too small for the new display so we telephoned John to explain our problem and see if he could help us with some tools. Within 30 minutes he was at the gate with a jig saw, hole cutters, and various hand tools; and while he was at it he loaned us his truck for the afternoon. It was the jig saw that solved our problem. We managed to lay the panel flat across the companion way while the other instruments were still connected and Arnold held the panel down while I did the jig sawing.

We fitted the display, connected it up, and it began to function as soon as we powered up the chart plotter. We then replaced the panel on a good silicone seal, calibrated the unit, and I reorganized the chart plotter to display vessel position, heading, course & speed, wind direction & speed, and depth.

We started up the Navman depth sounder while the new Raymarine unit was working and we discovered that they do not play nice with each other. The Raymarine continued to accurately report depths of about 4.5 meters while the Navman was reporting depths of over 100 meters, We shut down the Raymarine sounder and restarted the Navman and it then worked fine.

We will sail with the Raymarine depth sounder because it will report the depth situation at the navigation station, which will be extremely useful. It also has a handy facility for setting minimum and maximum depth alarms when at anchor. The Navman will be our backup sounder.,

The first photo shows the new chart plotter display at the top. The navigator can now see a comprehensive situation picture from his station.

The second photo shows the new depth sounder display at the far right. Note the big numbers for these frail 66 year old eyes. Next to it to the left is the Raymarine wind display. Next to that is the backup Navman depth sounder. Next to that is the defunct B&G wind speed display. At the far left is the man overboard alarm base station.