MacGregorSailors.com

OK, Thanks to all for the advice.

Shoot Through the Hull loooks like it might be the better option, Where would be the best place to locate it on a

Also I liked the idea of the Maretron wind instrument, I like the idea of no moving parts.. I was worried about compatibility which was why I was going for the Garmin one. But that looks the better option as compatibility is not an issue..

Now for a pen and paper for that letter, what was Santa's address again......

I was just reading up on the Garmin 546S I own (and that died yesterday) and it stated the shoot thru transducer worked on hulls up to 1 inch thick. Has anyone drilled thru the hull in the bottom and measured the thickness on a ? I know that under the aft dinette seat my hull was nearly an inch thick.

RobertB wrote:I was just reading up on the Garmin 546S I own (and that died yesterday) and it stated the shoot thru transducer worked on hulls up to 1 inch thick. Has anyone drilled thru the hull in the bottom and measured the thickness on a ? I know that under the aft dinette seat my hull was nearly an inch thick.

Really? Your hull is nearly an inch thick?

The Mac is a very light weight boat. I've never drilled through the bottom, but I can see light through it. It's not cored and seems to be about 1/8" - 1/4" inch thick to me. I would be very surprised if it where thicker. My Hunter 34 wasn't that thick if I remember drilling for the knotmeter.

It's super easy to test your transducer location. Get a ziplock bag with some water and put it where you want to mount and sit the transducer on top of the bag. Of course this works with the boat in the water.

RussMT wrote:Really? Your hull is nearly an inch thick?

The Mac is a very light weight boat. I've never drilled through the bottom, but I can see light through it. It's not cored and seems to be about 1/8" - 1/4" inch thick to me. I would be very surprised if it where thicker. My Hunter 34 wasn't that thick if I remember drilling for the knotmeter.

Seriously, I do not have the plug with me now but when I drilled about 6 inches outboard of the water ballast channel for a washdown pump inlet about at the location of the batteries, the plug was over 1/2 inch thick. I do not know if this is normal hull thickness or due to fairing the water ballast channel to the hull. I can measure the plug tonight.

This all is interesting since I called Mike I at factory sales and one of his people who recommended the location said I would need a spacer to make up the required thickness for the thru hull - I did not need a spacer. Wonder If I have one of the special ice breaker hull editions ?

Hull and deck thickness on the Mac varies constantly based on the stress load calculations that were made during design. The entire hull is five layers of fabric thick, which is about 1/8th inch, and then it's bulked up everywhere that stock hardware is mounted. I was told by Mike Inmon only to mount new hardware next to existing hardware since the deck is not guaranteed to be able to support stresses except in those locations.

RobertB wrote:Seriously, I do not have the plug with me now but when I drilled about 6 inches outboard of the water ballast channel for a washdown pump inlet about at the location of the batteries, the plug was over 1/2 inch thick. I do not know if this is normal hull thickness or due to fairing the water ballast channel to the hull. I can measure the plug tonight.

Interesting. That spot under the batteries seems extra thick. If that's where you drilled, I can see it being that thick. Probably a good place to drill a hole. Most of the rest of the hull seems much thinner to me except where the ballast tanks are formed.
Since I hate drilling holes, I have a short intake hose I toss over the side for my wash down pump. At the end I attach a cheap RV water filter to strain small junk before going into the pump.



Now, back to transducers.....

I made good use of the washdown pump yesterday fishing - an over the side solution would have been a little bit more difficult to use on the move.

I added a second drain valve to a mid size (about 50 qt) marine cooler at the handle location to make a fishing baitwell. I run a short length of hose from this upper fitting to the motorwell as an overflow. I ran the supply thru a hose-end valve to spray on the top of the water adding fresh water and oxygen (I had intended to supply thru the bottom fitting but need a female to female connection to do so). Placed the cooler in front of the pedestal (I have a platform over the footwell here to cover a 6 gallon reserve fuel tank) and the bait fish we caught stayed healthy for hours.