Cruising Helmsman – June 2017

53

http://www.mysailing.com.au

LEFT: Electronics flush

mounted at the helm are

great if you’re steering,

but can’t be seen from

forward of the wheel.

BELOW: Our Mk.1 dodger-

supported chartplotter/

sounder could hinge away

from the compass, but not

swivel horizontally.

BELOW: Mk.2 swivelling chartplotter/sounder. Really useful

on a passage to be able to monitor it from anywhere in the

cockpit, including underneath the dodger.

sounder transducer, intended for transom
mounting on a trailer boat, but I fitted the
optional through-hull transducer well forward
of the yacht’s keel. This Mk.1 arrangement was
stiff ly hinged, so the unit could be swung back
away from the compass, avoiding the need
to brace it fore and aft and providing some
viewing angle adjustment.
Once I had learned the hard way not to
hit it with my head when ducking around
the wheel, I was pretty happy with this
system through several years of continuous
cruising, during which we completed an
Australian circumnavigation.