How to minimise the water inrush when you pull the log for cleaning?

Concerto said:
It seems to me the OP does not have a flap in the through hull fitting for the log. Talking about and showing the videos of this is not what he wants to know. He is like me with a large hole through the hull until it can be blocked by a blanking plug or cap. I find I get about half a bucket of water removing the transducer and another half bucket replacing it. To be honest there is little that can be done to reduce the quantity without changing the through hull fitting.
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Our ingress with a non-valve log used to be about one saucepan for the two operations out and back in combined with the sponge method.
 
It seems to me that the best arrangement would be to have two transducers, one plugged into the instrument and one standing by, with its plug wrapped in plastic; quickly swap the dirty one for the clean one and then swap over the plugs at the instrument end, clean the fouled transducer and leave it standing by until the next occasion.
 
johnalison said:
I quite like to know that my boat is moving through the water and not just drifting with the tide.

Seriously, it is a help in several ways even when cruising. Firstly, it allows me to judge accurately how well the engine/prop is working and gives me notice when they are fouled, especially the prop. Secondly, I can sail more consistently to windward rather than having to just judge on wind angle, but maybe this is something you don't do. Thirdly, it gives me a basis for dead reckoning if the plotter or GPS fail.
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Perhaps a little conceit on my part, but I do like to think I can make an assessment of whether the boat is moving through the water or not.

Secondly, god no, never sail to windward. How would I even know I'm doing it without wind instruments?

Thirdly, well yes, but if you lose power you'll also lose this kind of log,. Perhaps before you lose GPS even as that's available on battery devices. Besides, like most of us, I'm usually in sight of land.

fisherman said:
...which is good sound seamanship.
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Oh I don't doubt that, I'm terribly unsound.
 
What you do is put the screw on cover seal into a plastic bag. Put the bag over the log housing and secure it with a big rubber band. You can then unscrew the log through the bag and then screw on the temporary blanking cover. The only water is what is in the bag. Clean up the impellor and then refit using the same system. Works very well as long as you slacken the log screw a little before doing the bag trick.
 
tudorsailor said:
Do you mean Echo antifoul as I found here: http://www.marinescene.co.uk/produc...UEXgY8c4DmuS42yewaETI2ezrsAeu83xoCn3QQAvD_BwE

Thanks

TudorSailor
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Yes that's the stuff. Sorry I missed the h out, although I believe it is marketed abroad as "Eco". Looks like the price has gone up a bit since I bought some about 3 years ago. The 70ml pot looks tiny, but you use so little it should last for ages. I did find this year it had thickened, so I thinned it a bit with water. The instructions say it should be applied above 20C, that isn't that easy in early Spring. I assume it's to ensure it dries fully before use. You need to make sure there's no lumps to cause the log to bind, otherwise you're back to pulling the transducer out whilst afloat. Learnt that from experience!
 
C08 said:
What you do is put the screw on cover seal into a plastic bag. Put the bag over the log housing and secure it with a big rubber band. You can then unscrew the log through the bag and then screw on the temporary blanking cover. The only water is what is in the bag. Clean up the impellor and then refit using the same system. Works very well as long as you slacken the log screw a little before doing the bag trick.
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Thanks, I'm going to try this next time I'm at the boat as my NASA Log has stopped working
 
We keep ours out, with the blanking plug in place, when not sailing. This way there is never any fouling, so rather than fish it out, clean it and put it back we just have to swap over at the start of a sail. It is mounted quite shallow so there is not much ingress.

And for a short sail you can always just not bother.
 
The flap fell off my Airmar DST-800 smart transducer. It was pretty flimsy so I wasn't too surprised. Is this not a common occurence?

The first time I removed a transducer, the water hit me in the face and blew my glasses off. My scuttling attempt was finally bought under control.
 
Porthandbuoy said:
That's a joke surely. The boat must be in slings, bottom barely in the water for that much ' seapage'. Take my paddlewheel out and the jet is over a foot high (strangely enough, the precise immersion depth) :rolleyes-new:
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I think that that skin fitting has the flap bit in it to restrict flow. With my old Stowe kit I had the blanking plug ready to put in even if only for a few minutes.
 
Flyingscampi - yes, had just the same thing happen. The flap lasted one trip. Very frustrating. I called Airmar and a very helpful chap advised that it would be too difficult to replace the flap in-situ. Instead a new hull fitting would be needed. Now waiting for end of season crane out and hoping for better luck with the replacement fitting.
 
LiftyK said:
Flyingscampi - yes, had just the same thing happen. The flap lasted one trip. Very frustrating. I called Airmar and a very helpful chap advised that it would be too difficult to replace the flap in-situ. Instead a new hull fitting would be needed. Now waiting for end of season crane out and hoping for better luck with the replacement fitting.
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My Airmar has been in since 2009, and I take the transducer out every time I leave the boat...
 
Update: It is likely that the flap-valve in our Raymarine log skin fitting (actually an Airmar) is not "flapping", hence the jet of water (about 12-14" high) when we pull the log.

A stand-alone replacement skin fitting does not seem to be available and we will need to buy a new combined paddlewheel/depth sounder sender unit as well, at about £110 plus £180 for fitting (if we chose to have it done rather than DIY) plus lifting the boat.

Now definitely a winter job. Sailing yesterday, the log was slow to get started - AGAIN!!
 
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