1977 Irwin 30 - In Hull Transducer?

[upstateny]

Last fall I purchased a 1977 Irwin 30 to be used this year for sailing on Hudson.

This boat has never had a transducer. Anyone have experience with in-hull (shoot through) transducers for depth?

I am not sure if the hull has wood or solid fiberglass.

Also any suggestions for the interior teak wood restoration?

Thanks in advance.

[Bill O]

A '77 Irwin will be a thick solid fiberglass hull.
Use a 3 or 4" PVC tube cut to the angle of the hull so it sits vertically and a fix to hull. Fill with water and put in probe. Can cap it if you want to slow down evaporation or just fill it occasionally. Remember to remove the water during winterization.
We did this on our boat and it can shoot through our 2"+ hull thickness no problem.

Fairly vague request in terms of the type of teak restoration needed. I fi tjus dried out and lack luster, clean the surface (solution of Murphy's oil soap) and then oil to help rejuvenate the wood. The bulkheads (if teak) are only veneer so take some care w/veneer.


Bill O.

[Montanan]

So your baby is to be called Irwin, I hope she'll be good with that.

[JimsCAL]

Firing though the hull only works on solid fiberglass hulls. Won't work on cored hulls. I am currently using a transducer epoxied to the hull of my 1985 Cal 33. Works pretty well, though I'm sure it can't read as deep as thru-hull transducer. I suspect your hull is not cored, but do some research to confirm.

There are a number of YouTube videos on the this subject. Several ways you can test various spots to see which works best. Here's a good video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22SzRXa21hg

[Montanan]

The Irwin hulls were made of very thick layups of solid fiberglass, [strong but heavy] no issues as to core material below the water lines that I am aware of.
Irwins commonly have core failures at deck level, i.e., leaky teak but you aren't ducing to your salon and galley.

Make sure there are no air gaps between the device and your hull and align it to be vertical, well at least as vertical as your boat's bottom will ride in waves and swells and heeled over.

Good luck and happy sailing days.

[GordMay]

The typical Irwin hull, of that era, was a light weight (minimal) lay-up of fibreglass mat and
woven roving. The deck was a conventional balsa core sandwich.
The hull should be suitable for the proposed "shoot-thru" depth transducer.

[Ken Z]

I have installed hawkeye in hull transducer, mounted as far forward as possible. I make a mount of slow set epoxy, must be slow set, mix it slow to not create bubbles in the mix. make a level form of cardboard and duct tape slow pour to level , mount on top.They have good tech support if needed.

[PuttingDoctor]

UpStateNY, glad to hear you picked Irwin for your sailing adventures.
Many of your questions can be answered on the private 1275 owner/member forums of the Facebook group Irwin Sailboats. We are strictly Irwin and an extremely knowledgeable group. There are no “stupid question” or asked and answered replies. I think you’ll be surprised. I tell folks we are the most civil of Facebook groups.

Cheers,
Glen

[wanabe sailor]

not sure if this is helpful but I have an endurance 35, I had no depth finder there was a wet tube installed in bow for tranducer, I was equipping the boat and got a good price on a dragonfly 7 , this was mainly a fishing boat chartplotter fishfinder. but the price was great and had us can navionics installed, also the display was sunlight viewable, it came with a 6" long transducer to put on the stern of a powerboat, also had bottom imaging. I was tired of prepping my boat for water and wanted a quick solution , my bilge goes down to the bottom of my keel with approx. 1" fiberglass to water, since I always have some water in bottom of bilge due to pump not removing last inch of water I thought this is the same as a wet well for tranducers. my bilge is about 5' deep so I attatched the tranducer to a 1x2 wood stick 5' long so I could place the tranducer on the bottom and keep it there, it shoots through the keel just fine and gives me true depth under my keel since it is on the bottom of it, this has worked fine for two years as there is always some water in my bilge this was an easy solution and reads down to 600' if your bilge goes to the bottom of your boat this will work