forward looking sonar, garmin panoptix

[mpstan]

Hi friends,

With our haulout next month we are hoping to add a transducer to complement our Garmin chartplotter. My research leads me to conclude that forward looking sonar may be useful when slowly probing anchorages but not so much when traveling at speed. Or for in areas in Northern BC where charting is not as accurate. The Garmin PS51-TH ($1500) appears to be the best for this in their line. My mechanic has recommended a $450 GT21, which is more mainstream.

Looking for opinons and experiences from those that have actually used the PS51.

We are relatively inexperienced cruisers. I'm constantly resisting the temptations to overcome inexperience using expensive technology.

Thanks

 

[rsn48]

I completed a refit on my boat and it was splashed this past August 2020. Included in the refit was the inclusion of Garmin's forward looking sonar. Most of my cruising since then was shorter then longer sea trials and other than turning the sonar on to make sure it works I haven't had a chance to use it.

When I asked for feedback I learned to ignore criticisms, almost ridicule from East Coasters. The ICW and the like, probably even the great loop isn't a challenge in terms of challenging inlets (fjords) etc. I'm speaking about uncharted areas, incomplete or wrong or missing obstacles in the water such as you find in coastal BC and Alaska.

If you are planning to cruise mostly Puget Sound et al. then I don't think you need it. But if you plan to come up into BC and SE Alaska, it will suit you well. Firstly, I don't believe it really works above eight knots. Some East Coasters seem to focus in on that stat, but that isn't what it was primarily designed for. Having said that, if you are into an area with lots of logs in the water, then you will be proceeding at slower speeds and then you have extra eyes on the water in locating logs. The East Coasters don't appreciate how much crud is in our local waters, trees felled and swept into the ocean from brutal extended rains, logs escaped form log booms, and debris from king tides and very high tides that picks up deposited debris along the shore only to move them back into our cruising waters to make our lives more difficult.

Secondly there are definitely locations where you want to creep into and have the ability to sort out what is going to be beneath you. Some will use a dinghy to take a look before bringing their boat in but with forward looking sonar you don't have to do that. The more further north you go the more this is true. In areas in Alaska and the Broughtons and further north in BC waters, there are definitely more area to be concerned about.

Imagine an machine gunner strafing right to left, that is how I will move my boat when entering some questionable anchorages. I will stop the boat, aim the boat right and with the sonar on, use the bow thruster to swing the bow left. Thus getting a wider scan of what is ahead. Its only good for about one hundred yards but in these locations , you can proceed at one hundred yard increments or go slowly in a straight line and you will be good to go. Once I find the location to anchor I will do a machine gun strafing procedure to check what is all around me.

Once you get into these questionable areas, you will be happy you have your forward sonar to reduce stress.... lol!

PS: love your boat.

 

[boomerang]

Hi friends,

With our haulout next month we are hoping to add a transducer to complement our Garmin chartplotter. My research leads me to conclude that forward looking sonar may be useful when slowly probing anchorages but not so much when traveling at speed. Or for in areas in Northern BC where charting is not as accurate. The Garmin PS51-TH ($1500) appears to be the best for this in their line. My mechanic has recommended a $450 GT21, which is more mainstream.

Looking for opinons and experiences from those that have actually used the PS51.

We are relatively inexperienced cruisers. I'm constantly resisting the temptations to overcome inexperience using expensive technology.

Thanks

The PS51 is your only real option if you're going to install it on the OA in your profile pic. The gt21 is a transom mounted transducer with no forward looking capability.
I've used them (Garmin forward-looking) but not owned one. They work ok looking for bottom structure but the display can be a little hard to interpret while underway. They don't seem to reach out real far, due to the high frequency. The fishermen I've installed them for love them and they do a real good job of defining fish around structure but while moving very slow or stopped. I really feel that's what they were designed to be used as; a fishing tool.

 

[SDTugs]

I completed a refit on my boat and it was splashed this past August 2020. Included in the refit was the inclusion of Garmin's forward looking sonar. Most of my cruising since then was shorter then longer sea trials and other than turning the sonar on to make sure it works I haven't had a chance to use it.

When I asked for feedback I learned to ignore criticisms, almost ridicule from East Coasters. The ICW and the like, probably even the great loop isn't a challenge in terms of challenging inlets (fjords) etc. I'm speaking about uncharted areas, incomplete or wrong or missing obstacles in the water such as you find in coastal BC and Alaska.

If you are planning to cruise mostly Puget Sound et al. then I don't think you need it. But if you plan to come up into BC and SE Alaska, it will suit you well. Firstly, I don't believe it really works above eight knots. Some East Coasters seem to focus in on that stat, but that isn't what it was primarily designed for. Having said that, if you are into an area with lots of logs in the water, then you will be proceeding at slower speeds and then you have extra eyes on the water in locating logs. The East Coasters don't appreciate how much crud is in our local waters, trees felled and swept into the ocean from brutal extended rains, logs escaped form log booms, and debris from king tides and very high tides that picks up deposited debris along the shore only to move them back into our cruising waters to make our lives more difficult.

Secondly there are definitely locations where you want to creep into and have the ability to sort out what is going to be beneath you. Some will use a dinghy to take a look before bringing their boat in but with forward looking sonar you don't have to do that. The more further north you go the more this is true. In areas in Alaska and the Broughtons and further north in BC waters, there are definitely more area to be concerned about.

Imagine an machine gunner strafing right to left, that is how I will move my boat when entering some questionable anchorages. I will stop the boat, aim the boat right and with the sonar on, use the bow thruster to swing the bow left. Thus getting a wider scan of what is ahead. Its only good for about one hundred yards but in these locations , you can proceed at one hundred yard increments or go slowly in a straight line and you will be good to go. Once I find the location to anchor I will do a machine gun strafing procedure to check what is all around me.

Once you get into these questionable areas, you will be happy you have your forward sonar to reduce stress.... lol!

PS: love your boat.

I'm looking into the Garmin Panoptix PS51 for our boat, and since it has been a couple years since this post have you developed any opinions about it? The plan would be to primarily use it for anchoring in tight spots in Mexico as the charting is not amazing.

Thoughts?

 

[mpstan]

I posted this mid-Covid, and we've never ventured into BC very far since then. The traditional transducer we installed has been all we've needed, and I don't feel like I regret our choice.

cheers

 

[GoldenDawn]

I have an InterPhase forward looking sonar on my Krogen 42 (note InterPhase was bought by Garmin and then discontinued). I rarely use it for forward-looking because I don't trust it. Returns are not very strong and are often scattered. What I do use A LOT is my Humminbird side-scan sonar, which is a transom-mounted, palm-sized transducer. I can swing parallel to the shore or shallow water and shoot in there without going there. This technique also has the advantage of showing bottom conditions (rock vs sediment) and hazards (seabed cables or stumps). I generally stay outside of the 10m isobath until I have done a sonar scan - serves the same purpose forward looking sonar but resolution is much better.

Photo 1 stumps and logs on the bottom
Photo 2 bedrock outcrops show a shadow due to high relief
Photo 3 bedrock patches pocking up through mud on the seabed

 

[DDW]

Garmin buying stuff and then wrecking it is pretty standard for them.

I have the Raymarine version of side scanning (3D Vision) and use it similarly. By strafing the area of interest with close side passes you can get a pretty good view of the bottom without going as it head on. It has been quite useful for that.