We have been going on mini shakedown sails to check out systems and ensure everything is in proper working order for the last few months leading up to our departure. A couple weekends back we sailed across to Silva bay in the Gulf Islands, a great trip across until it was time to navigate a narrow pass entering the bay. It was at this time we realized the depth sounder was definitely not functioning correctly. …..depth sounder reading 600ft……. hum that’s odd, since when we look over the side we see the bottom. Depth sounds not working properly, no problem I will just pull the sensor from the thru hull and check it once docked. I know some you are thinking “it’s going to dump a lot of water into the boat with a 1 ½ hole open 3 ft underwater”. Nope, it has a cool little flap on it that slams shut as the sensor comes out. So I check the sensor and sure enough it was painted over during our last haul out/bottom paint. Cleaned it, reinstalled, checked it, sounder reads 11...
