Swing out depth sounder bracket

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Summersdawn
Skilled Systems Installer
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2005 6:34 pm

Swing out depth sounder bracket

Post by Summersdawn »

Hi Peter,

Here are some shots of the depth sounder bracket I made. It was made out of scrap stainless steel (lid of a broken alcohol stove), and some scrounged teak (broken autohelm bracket).

It is basically an oval shaped piece of stainless with 3 holes drilled in the bottom an one in the top. I bent the top and bottom 90 degrees. It is mounted on a piece of teak, which is attached to the rear bulkhead, just off to the side of the companionway. The arm itself is a piece of teak, with stainless strips on the top and bottom. I used some threaded stainless rod as the hinge point - it goes through the top of the bracket, the arm, and then the bottom. There is a little vertical slack in this. On the bottom of the arm is a pin - this pin fits in the 2 holes in the bottom to lock it in place (one for the folded in position, one for the extended out position).

Here are some photos:

Image

Image

Image

It is a pretty simple design, and could easily be adapted to better suit a particular boat, or the material on hand. It would have looked really good with brass/bronze instead of stainless steel, but that would have required constant polishing. Aluminum would have also made a good choice. Since the wood is inside your boat most the time, you could use whatever type of wood you have inside your boat, or you could use spruce/pine/fir or whatever and paint it.
Rick
Summer's Dawn
24 San Juan #380
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Peter
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Post by Peter »

Rick:
Nice job! That's exactly the kind of idea I need to adapt to mine ... and the price is right, too.
Thanks!
Peter
==================
Victoria BC Canada
Albin Ballad 30

http://www.mostlyaboutboats.ca
MQMurphy
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Post by MQMurphy »

Neat rig, Rick. Nicely done.
- Mike Murphy
S/V Ikey Boy
1968 Westwind 24
Summersdawn
Skilled Systems Installer
Posts: 279
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2005 6:34 pm

Post by Summersdawn »

I think the trickiest part was determing where to mount it, and how long to make the arm. I wanted enough room to be able to use the companionway while the arm was out. Peter, is this for your Vega or San Juan? If it is for your San Juan, I can take some measurements if you would like.
Rick
Summer's Dawn
24 San Juan #380
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Peter
Boat Obsession Medal Finalist
Posts: 580
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2004 11:23 pm
Boat Name: Pagan
Boat Type: Albin Ballad 30
Location: Pedder Bay (Victoria), BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by Peter »

Rick: It's for the Vega. The San Juan has an "in-dash" Norcross digital gauge on the port side.
Peter
==================
Victoria BC Canada
Albin Ballad 30

http://www.mostlyaboutboats.ca
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