Purpose of sea temperature gauges?

RobF

RobF

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I've noticed that a few of the depth / log instruments have a sea temperature gauge as well. Whilst I understand the immense value of knowing how much water is under my keel and how far I've gone / what is my current speed over the water, I fail to see the value of a sea temperature gauge.

Is its purpose to let me know how long I can be in the water before I get hypothermia or is it a replacement to butter (sail south until water is 18deg c, then turn to starboard)?
 
The melting butter bit is closest; there are places in the oceans where currents' locations are pretty well known - such as the Gulf Stream - and sea temperature will tell when one has entered or indeed left such a current, important info' as it will probably be affecting progress, good or bad, as well as possibly leading to different, more drastic wave formations etc.
 
Most instruments are made to sell to a worldwide market, in which the USA is a very major consumer. And it's almost impossible for us, in the UK, to comprehend how obsessed americans are with fishing.
And for sport fishermen, sea temperature is an absolutely fundamental piece of data.
 
timbartlett said:
Most instruments are made to sell to a worldwide market, in which the USA is a very major consumer. And it's almost impossible for us, in the UK, to comprehend how obsessed americans are with fishing.
And for sport fishermen, sea temperature is an absolutely fundamental piece of data.
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Fred Drift a bit,
My old man used to take me fishing and I must say I used to enjoy it BUT nowadays I find it as boring as watching paint dry!
Stu
 
If you know the sea temp and air temp you can make a prediction about the chance of fog. Also, SWMBO likes to know when it's OK to swim; we got up to 27.9C in the Baltic this year.
 
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RobF said:
, I fail to see the value of a sea temperature gauge.
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Tell that to the the Sydney to Hobart sailors !

As others have said temperature can help locate currents.

Its also useful fishing, swimming and for and watermaker performance.
My current instruments will not display temperature, but it would be nice to have. For some reason it seems a common failure in transducers, but if you can get accurate sea water temperature its a useful piece of information, at least in some waters.

Does anyone know a circuit that can be used with the B&G H3000 to convert the Linear input to temperature?
 
RobF said:
I've noticed that a few of the depth / log instruments have a sea temperature gauge as well. Whilst I understand the immense value of knowing how much water is under my keel and how far I've gone / what is my current speed over the water, I fail to see the value of a sea temperature gauge.

Is its purpose to let me know how long I can be in the water before I get hypothermia or is it a replacement to butter (sail south until water is 18deg c, then turn to starboard)?
Click to expand...


Used one sailing off west coast of Florida, in days before GPS. For DR for when in Gulf stream. Made about 2kts IRR.
 
try using it to monitor the currents around the Channel Islands, or out near Bermuda and the Gulf Stream (sorry, North Atlantic Gyre). The temp can vary by several degrees, depending on whether you are in it, or still out of it.
 
skipper_stu said:
Fred Drift a bit,
My old man used to take me fishing and I must say I used to enjoy it BUT nowadays I find it as boring as watching paint dry!
Stu
Click to expand...
I'm not into fishing either... but maybe I could be if we had Marlin and Mahi-Mahi instead of Mackerel and Whiting!

A couple of months ago I went out on a 36 footer with three 300hp outboards, two 15-inch screens (one for the sonar, one for the "bird-finding" radar!) and all sorts of strange bits of kit such as a cylinder of helium -- used for inflating a baloon to keep the bait up near the surface but a long way downwind of the boat!
 
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I have been across the Gulf Stream a couple of times, sailing from Bermuda to Newport, and the water temperature gauge was very useful for finding out if we were in one of the eddies of the stream or not.
And Herb's Net provides good information for the location of the stream - although you soon know if you are in (or out) of it!
There was a dramatic change in air temperature each time as we went across the southern edge of the stream - from shorts and tee shirts to fleeces and jackets within a few hours.

The Longliner fishermen here use temperature gauges at different depths, I think to look for bands of colder water where the tuna might be feeding.

PS - For Tim : Did you catch any marlin or mahi mahi with all that fancy kit?
 
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Bajansailor said:
PS - For Tim : Did you catch any marlin or mahi mahi with all that fancy kit?
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No! I'm told that's why they call it "fishin'" not "catchin'" ! But it was a much more fun way to spend a few hours than trudging round a boat show (which is what I was supposed to be doing!)
 
The family look at it to know if it is warm enough to swim.

I leave it in the bilge were it stays nice and warm, convincing the first person that the water is warm enough to jump in.

However, his screams seem to put off the rest of the family.......
 
Tuna longliners actually shoot away their lines along the edge of temperature change using real time online temperature charts.

The Sydney Hobart race has been mentioned, the warm current here at the moment is running South at 3 knots. Boats heading North and home to Sydney will be keeping close inshore in the cold water with often a North running edge of an eddy.

Water temperature is as important as wind indicators if your going someplace. Plenty of other indicators apart from a guage of course.
 
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