2020 Upgrades Depth/speed Meter & Rudder indicator.

                                                      Depth/speed Indicator

The , I presume original speed indicator was broken, looking over the internet and even at the second hand market in the USA where the meter originates from I was unable to find the required part to get the meter operational again. Additional the installed Garmin fishfinder started to leak around the hull support beginning of the year. The plan was to remove the fishfinder/depth meter and reinstall it and to buy a new speed sensor. When the boat was out of the water and trying to remove the depth meter this was not as easy as expected, I presumed that the unit was placed with caulking into the hull, unfortunately this was not the case , the unit was installed with epoxy therefore I ended up with drilling the unit out of the hull, small drill around the shaft of the unit placed in the hull. The thread was damaged but not beyond the point that the system could not be used anymore. 

Since the speed indicator was broken as well I bought a new system where I had the speed and depth in one unit. I'm not into catching fish.

The holes in the hull of the original units were closed with a plug and the new units were installed.

For the speed indicator this was rather simple drilling a hole of the correct seize and fitting the new unit flat against the hull with caulking, although under an angle the wheel will be rotated by the water flow. This unit was placed under the small hatch I have in the main cabin for easy access incase the wheel would be blocked due to growth or dirt. One can then remove the shaft with wheel and place a temporarily cap on the unit fitted into the hull to perform maintenance on the actual speed pick up, wheel.

The advantage of this unit, Manufacturer Clipper , is that the actual speed indication can be adjusted , this way, even if the speed indication is not correct after installation it can be corrected on the display unit. These days there are apps. available on the telephone where one can check the actual ships speed and the speed indicator can so be adjusting to the correct value. 

The depth meter was a little more work since it needs to point straight downwards otherwise you would not get the correct measurement under the keel. To compensate the angle from the hull a small piece of wood was installed inside to fit the depth meter straight into the hull pointing downwards.

On the outside an original, from the manufacturer supplied, under the same angle, housing for the depth sensor was installed as well. The wooden block was pre drilled with the holes in the same position as the outside unit. The wooden block was placed on the hull and the holes were drilled through the bottom of the boat.

All was then degreased and was installed with caulking. Afterwards the inside hull was painted again.

On the outside as can be seen from the next picture both units are close together and close to the keel so that no damage can be expected to the units when the boat will be lifted out of the water the next time . by means of a boat car or slings.

The actual  display unit was placed next to the maneuvering stand in a small wooden case.

                                                                        Rudder Indicator

Since the speed indicator in the center of the maneuvering consol was removed I ended up with a big hole. To make sailing and maneuvering with the boat a bit easier I installed a rudder indicator.

                                                                     Pick up unit 

This is not a difficult installation a support needs to be made on the right height  a connection between the rudder stock and the pick up and last but not least some wires to be ran between the pick up and the actual rudder indicator in the console as well as a power supply. Following the manufacturer's instructions this whole installation did not took more than a few hours.

                                                                Rudder indicator