window fogging and shallow water alarms

C

colobear

New member
Well, we took C-Cakes out today into the waters around EQ, moderate chop 2-4 ft extremely low tide, rain. We wanted to do a little learning in other than best conditions and we learned. I managed to do a very soft slow speed grounding :oops: :oops: in mud for less than a minute. Oh well. Good lesson, newby error. But, I have a C80 and am wondering if it is possible to set a shallow water alarm on the depthfinder. And, we had a lot of window fogging what do you more experienced hands do about that?

Boy am I embarassed.

Colobear
 
Congratulations!
Colobear
"we had a lot of window fogging what do you more experienced hands do about that? "
Cut out the heavy breathing.
:smilep
 
In your C-80 reference manual, check 7-20 and 2-8, you will see an explanation of the depth alarms. Having used these on sailboats for years, you may still find some shallow spots and have the alarm come on after the bow has "made contact". :wink: Assuming you have charts for where you're boating, you can check the soundings in that area. If you're gonna be where the water is skinny, go slow and easy. When I first started sailing in south Texas (known for lots of skinny water), an old salt gave me this advice: "Watch the birds. If they're long-legged birds standing in the water, you may be OK. If they're short-legged birds standing in the water, don't go there." At the time, I thought he was just being a smart-ass; turns out it was pretty good advice. We have always set the shallow depth alarm at 10 feet to give us advance warning with the trimaran (fast for a sailboat). Which leads to one of our family rules (set by the Blonde): "The speed in knots shall not exceed the depth in feet." :wink I'm thinking we may be able to get around that rule with the C-Dory.

And the window fogging situation: crack open a window and get a fan to blow on the windshield. Just like you would with the defroster in your car.
 
dogon dory":269a9m0l said:
Regarding being embarassed about grounding, no harm no foul. Chalk it up to a cheap lesson that you're not likely to forget.
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In the shallows of the Gulf Coast and Laguna Madre, there are two types of boaters: those who have stuck it in... and liars. :wink
 
Thanks, everybody.

Regarding the grounding; I had charts and chartplotter going, I was going very slow but failed to pay adequate attention to the tide/time. The waters we were in, SE of Cornet bay near Dugwalla Bay and the channel to La Conner, are generally plenty deep but have some extensive mud shallows to the West. I paid too much attention to another boat we were passing and not enough to where I was, saw the depth rapidly decreasing, got just about dead slow and to neutral and felt just the slightest change in motion. I think I could have gotten off without even losing any paint on the props by raising the motors as I'm not sure the hull itself ever touched bottom. At a higher tide I would have had plenty of depth to go :shock: and never touch. As DogonDory said, no harm no foul but a good lesson. I looked in the C80 manual as JamesTXSD suggested and will set a shallow water alarm but the best alarm will be between my ears (better than it was, I turned up the gain there!!)

Thanks for the window fogging suggestions, appears there are lots of ways to reduce that.

Colobear
 
COLO: That is why we buy C-Dory boats... :mrgreen: they can take those occasional groundings. Yes, there is an alarm on your electronics...but, even at 5'...you will get tired of hearing that alarm... :amgry your boating habits will change, and slower and shallow will become the norm. You will go places others can not....simply because you can...and ya wanna know what is there. As long as you are finding mud/sand instead of rock... life will be good. Rocks still win over fiberglass...or more accurately, over the lower unit and props. Nothing like letting high tide to allow you into a spot, low tide leaving you there to enjoy the area until high tide lets you go home.... :thup or... wait for another round of tides. As far as air flow... my best buy was one of those cheap $10 range 20" range box fans from Wally-World...or similar shop. Yep, they are large on a 22' boat, and on the 16' boat, but once ya get use to where to hang it with bungee cords or straps....ya kinda get use to clear windows again. Hang all your wet clothes on the aft section of the boat, away from the windshield. Go ahead and crack both the front windows a bit. And...just like a beer bottle, the warmest side of glass will have the moisture on it.
I like the long legged short legged bird thing too.... :teeth I guess that is why my family of Byrd's like shallow water stuff. Enjoy!!
 
Rain-X makes and interior, anti-fog solution; it comes in a black bottle vs. the yellow for exterior use. We've used it on occasion, but with limited success. There's just no substitute for adequate temperature and ventilation to prevent fogging.
Al
 
Gosh, Sea Wolf Joe told me he used to swipe a bar of Ivory soap across the front windows of his car and wipe it off (and around) with a dry cloth. He said it kept the windows clear during those steamy evenings at the local Drive In movie back when he was in High School.

Worked for me too. I don't think they had Drive In movies when Dusty was in school though :shock: so maybe he has a better solution.

Don
 
Sneaks":1wopmkez said:
I don't think they had Drive In movies when Dusty was in school though :shock: so maybe he has a better solution.

Don
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They did have gallop-in picture shows though. Best thing is, the horses didn't fog up when a fella' kissed his gal.
 
We use a couple of the West Marine fans that run off a D cell battery. With the Wallas on, a window slightly open, and the fans, it seems to do the trick.

How do you like the C80 depth sounder? I have been thinking about adding the FF/DF option, but don't like the price. Currently using a Lowrance X16 that I moved off the Arima for that function.
 
One thing I have learned is keep the wet stuff out of the cabin. If you can store your wet rain gear/clothes outside the amount of moisture in the cabin is greatly reduced. Less moisture in the cabin, less moisture condensing on your windows.
Get a couple fans and mount them under your shelf, crack a window, get a squeegee and run the wallas.
 
Dave-

Good points! I've learned it step by step, too. Finally gave up trying to troll in the rain because of the wet raingear copming into the cabin. Would have to do it with a camper canvas on. Joe.
 
Sea Wolf":mgkuo20o said:
Dave-

Good points! I've learned it step by step, too. Finally gave up trying to troll in the rain because of the wet raingear copming into the cabin. Would have to do it with a camper canvas on. Joe.
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Not trolling in the rain would reduce my fishing opportunities by about 75%! I'd rather crack a window and wipe the fog off than NOT FISH!!! That's heresy!! I did however pick up a 12V oscillating fan that I can clip to the electronics shelf or mount permantly depending on how it works. It was a little over $10 at Shucks auto.
 
Down here in Fl. we have a saying

If it's blue go on through

If it's brown run aground

If It' white stay all night

YOU might want to look at the water color ,also ask for local knowlege when going in unfamiliar water's
 
We are doing an experiment with an anti-fogging agent we bought for our glasses. It says it will keep fog off the bathroom mirror, so we thought it might do the same for the boat. I treated one window with it, but we haven't been out in the boat since I did that. Next weekend at Lopez should be a good trial. I'll let you know how it works.

We have also found that keeping the Wallas on, a window cracked and the fan blowing on the windsheild works well, but sometimes even that can't keep up.
 
Thought I'd ressurect the window-fogging problem. On the way home from Catalina last weekend had to close up most all windows due to heavy seas. While my son was driving he said, "hey dad, why don't we try our diver's mask anti-fog stuff?" 2 drops covered 1 window easily spred with my fingers then wiped with a cloth to even it out. Guess what -- FOG GONE the rest of the trip! Don't know if I'll have to reapply next trip, will see.

So I searched and found this thread and found Sea Wolf's suggestion in April:
Has anyone tried any type of anti-fogging compound on their windows, such as might be used in diving masks? Joe.
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Joe, it works and BTW, exceptional results compared to anti-fog sprays I've tried before!
 
I've thought about rigging a fishfinder/depth sounder with the transducer on a pole that would clamp to the bow rail. We have alot of skinny water here on the coast. When moving into these areas exploring or fishing, something at the front of the boat seems like a good idea.
It wouldn't have to be high dollar. If it was easy to clamp on and remove, and plugged into a 12v recepticle in the cabin and a guy did a little experimenting to establish installed height and its relation to water under the hull, you would know how much is under both ends of the boat.

It would be something I'd remove when leaving the shallow area.

I've rigged one of the Hella fans that can cool me or defog the window when needed. I tied into one of the cabin lights overhead for power.
In cooler weather run the Wallas and crack a window or two along with the fan as has been suggested.
 
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