FishFinder Questions

I have a 2014 TI which I used extensively last year, love the craft. This year I would like to add a FishFinder and see it that increases my fishing success!

I added the eVolve motor last year and wired that last year, so I am comfortable drilling holes in the craft.

Two questions here
1. any suggestions on model? I don't mind spending upwards of $500-$600
2. the part that actually does the work, I believe is the transducer? I am not sure if I am comfortable drilling through the hull (where the boat actually meets the water). I've seen online tutorials about mounting the transducer inside the hull and just keeping it secure. Is that enough? Would I get MUCH better precision with an in-the-water transducer?

You can get a good quality finder for a lot less than $600. I've used an inexpensive Lowrance Elite 4 for a few years and have been happy with it. Just depends on what bells and whistles you want.

From my experience the only drawback to mounting the transducer inside the hull is temp is off by a few degrees. I would NOT drill any holes though the hull below the waterline. There are several store bought and homemade options for scupper mounts out there if you want the transducer in the water.

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2015 Hobie TI Dune

I have been using a Garmin GPSMAP 441s Chartplotter/Sonar for 3 years and have been happy with it. The transducer was mounted on the hull under the back seat with Goop. As RN_Shark points out, this method does decrease the temp sensor's performance though mine seems to get an accurate temp after about half an hour.

I rigged up a scupper hole mount - didn't like the hassle of having to install/remove it each outing. I tried an over the side mount - created too much noise ripping through the water when sailing to suit me.

I have just replaced the 441S with a Garmin echoMAP 50dv. It has "DownVu" and the 441 did not. I saw pictures of the DownVu readout and the 25% larger screen and got upgraditis. I again have mounted the transducer in Goop but haven't been able to try it out yet so can't comment on whether the DownVu works OK this way. If this mount doesn't work out, I will do a "Wet Mount" though I like the "install and forget" simplicity of the Goop method.

The 50dv normally was $500 though cheaper prices could be found, but none nearly as low as West Marine's current 4 day sale of $349.99.

I'm thinking about the garmin 551dv, it's around 300 and looks to be a really nice entry FF. I don't care about the temperature so much as I do about the images I am getting. If the transducer can see through the hull, than I am find with installing it there.

Do most FFs come with all the required parts (except a mount of course) or do I need to buy things like waterproof fittings etc.?

I fitted a Lowrnce Elite4DSI on my TI, and used the Lowrance scupper mount for the transducer. The latter tucks up in the groove of the hull vin the rear scuppers. While this location means that the depth reading is from about 1 feet from the bow, this location keeps it away from my trailer. Lowrance makes some really neat fittings to allow very professional handling of the wires (into the hull near the transducer, and out of the hull at the instrument head)

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

Like I said, I am thinking about getting the Garmin 551 dv. I do have a few questions, one of them is mounting the FF on my TI. Take a look at the base of the unit


The owners manual talks about drilling three holes to secure the circular base. The base seems a little large to mount on the TI. I would like to use one of the RAM mounts or something similar. Any ideas?

Here is how I mounted mine using RAM Mount products:



This piece is mounted on the gunwale.




This piece is attached to the base of the unit (holes are already there for this).




This piece is attached to the balls on the above pieces giving infinite adjustability.

So the above should work for the Garmin as the hole layout is standard? thanks, I appreciate the response.

It did on both of mine (gpsmap 441S and echomap 54dv). I think the pattern is a standard.

I originally bought this for a handheld http://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-B-138-GA14U so I'm not sure of the part numbers, but - I *think* these are the ones included in this kit (I used the RAM parts from this kit to mount the above units):

http://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-B-202U

http://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-B-238U

http://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-B-201U

Sweet, thanks a lot. I just pulled the trigger on the Garmin with those 3 parts you listed. I purchased all off of amazon since I have prime...

Now I have to figure out what battery to use.

I hope you checked with RAM on those part numbers - I am not postive those are the correct part numbers thus why I put "I *think* these are the ones included in this kit" in that post.

As far as a battery, there are quite a few methods here on this forum if you search for them. Mine is here and I am still quite happy with it: http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=46073&p=197701&hilit=battery#p197701

I like your method. did you cut a hole in the Pelican box? did you use some grommet to seal the connection? Is this the box?

http://www.amazon.com/Pelican-1150-Case-Camera-Desert/dp/B0019U7B5W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1427915893&sr=8-3&keywords=pelican+1150

and this your battery?
http://www.amazon.com/Powersonic-PS-1250-F1-PS1250F1-12V/dp/B0002ILK2C

I'll go with both if you have had good luck with that setup.

Yes to the box and the battery.

I drilled a hole large enough for the wire to pass through and used a grommet. The cable I used wasn't round so it didn't seal in the grommet so I slathered on some silicon seal inside and out to make sure it is waterproof.

As you can see in the picture, a smaller box will do but I went this route to use the extra space for supplies and my registration. Put in the rear hatch and slid forward to the foam flotation, the back end ends up about even with the front of the hatch.

I mounted my Humminbird 386cidi (decent enough unit, base map is useless though) on a railblaza tilting extension arm, with the railblaza base port mounted just forward of the rear rudder control on my TI.

I originally had the battery in a dry bag tethered to the mast, but have since switched to using the rear hatch with the hobie battery box. It's a better solution, in my opinion, since I'd never open that hatch underway for anything, and if the hull ever filled with water up to that level I'd have bigger concerns than the battery getting wet.

Ram and railblaza are both great systems, I just prefer railblaza. I did end up getting the navionics charts and sonar maps for my unit, which are amazing, but with a single sd card slot you do lose some functionality as the navionics card takes up the slot (hence you can't save certain data such as tracks).

-RH

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2013 Tandem Island "Victory Lane"
Oahu, Hawaii
www.rotorheadsblog.blogspot.com