www.iFourWinns.com

Today I got temporarily stranded twice at Patoka Lake, hitting bottom in shallow water. It is a frightening thing to deal with. Fortunately I was going very slow each time. Also each time I was at least 20 yards away from marked buoys. Not saying it wasn't my fault but they ought to expand those buoys. I just pushed off with a pole a bit and shifted weight, trimmed up and watched the depth. Churned a bit of mud, but I could find no evidence of damage afterward(other than to my ego). Will really inspect the props tomorrow. Didn't notice any evidence of impeller problems either, thankfully. I have heard that if you boat long enough you will eventually have this happen-I hope it is the last.

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2005 Horizon 250

You have to be careful if you chrun mud. You run the risk of mud entering your cooling system and nuking your impeller.

Like you said, luckily you were going slow.

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-Tony
2016 Robalo R200 w/Yahama 200!

Previous boats:
2003 Four Winns 248 Vista - sold
1994 Sunbird Corsair 200 - sold
1980 Checkmate Predictor - sold

WOW! It must be nice to boat in water with more than 6" visibility! Xavid, I churn mud EVERY time I take the boat off the trailer. Just watch your temps. If the muck is really bad, I run the boat on the muffs as soon as I get home (idea being t-stat is still open) to flush the system out. I also replace the impeller every 2 years, keeping a spare t-stat (never needed yet) and impeller at the house. Otherwise, don't sweat it, and watch your gages.

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Walt B
"Debt-Charged"
Black '07 H210SS
6.2L Bravo One turning a 21P HIFive
Wakeboard Tower with Perfect Pass Stargazer version
Missouri River; Kansas City, Mo.

Would a fish finder help? It would show you the contour on the bottom.

You were on the right side of the bouy? Old saying "red right return". So you stay on the right side of the red bouy upon return.

Red bouy on lake? I haven't seen any reds on lakes I have been to....I thought those refer to channel markers?

Sounds like lake level dropped since bouy placement as he mentioned. No prob...just flush and monitor temps as usual....honestly the terms sem to stick opened causing low temps. Just Change impeller on schedule.

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08' H210SS
VP 5.7Gi

I never boated on a lake. On the ocean, there a basally red, green & red and green cans or nuns.

On "I was at least 20 yards away from marked buoys" It sound more like channel marker than anything else. If there not green or red, then how do you know what side to stay on so your not in the mud?

You stay on the lake side....they usually will follow contour of land. Other boys mark no wake and swim areas......seldom do they mark hazards here. Even at bay they will stick a PVC at leading edge of reef, but u will not know where clear side is unless you know area. Guess once you hit it once then you remember:-)

They may have colored ones in lakes elsewhere...that's why I asked.

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08' H210SS
VP 5.7Gi

Well, on the ocean and in harbors its much different. Not that everthing is marked, but most. So that were your charts, GPS & fish finder help you stay off the rocks.

Our virgin voyage this past mothers day, ran aground on a sand bar doing 15 or so. No one went flying, but it was the fastest I have ever stopped in a boat. Had to get my fat ass off the boat and pull it off the sand bar. Thank heavens didn't have to ask the Admiral to get off on Mother's day or that would have been the end of my boating season.

I now have a depth finder, plotter, temp guage and am much more careful in unknown waters. I go online when we take it to new lakes, to find depths even before we go, so I have at least a little idea

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1994 235 Sundowner w/351 Ford

If you just have the depth gauge in the dashboard, I'd consider getting one of the better depth finders or even a combination GPS/fish finder if you need GPS. The good units give much better information about contour of the bottom and give more warning. You have a depth alarm that you can set to go off at a certain depth (like 5 feet or whatever you are comfortable with).

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

That's something I wanted to ask about actually. I have a depth sounder in the dash, that works, and I also have the depth function on my gps but its not hooked up to a transducer. Do I have to add another transducer or can I tap in to the one I already have?

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2001 298 Vista
Lagoon city lake Simcoe

Only if the one on your dash and I don't think it is, NMEA 2000 or NMEA 0183 connections.

Your GPS would also need the same connections. This would ONLY display depth not contour. What GPS unit do you have?

Standard horizons cp180

(Sorry to high jack the thread)

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2001 298 Vista
Lagoon city lake Simcoe

You guys crack me up..."shallow water"...lol.

Most of you would crinkle up and die on Lake St Clair. Heck, the canal I live on - the water at my seawall right now is maybe 18" deep. The water is down this year, but generally speaking Lake St Clair is a very shallow Great Lake with random shoals to boot.

Use charts, talk to locals, get to know the lake you are boating on. Invest in a good depthfinder (mind reads down to 1.5') because the one FW gives usually stinks. Buy a chartplotter with the correct charts for your area. TRIM YOUR DRIVE properly.

In all the years Ive been boating, Ive never hit bottom. Excuse me now while I go to knock on some wood...lol.

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1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

All good points!

To Iamwildman, here is a link to your GPS. http://www.standardhorizon.com/indexvs. ... Archived=0

It has 2 NMEA 0183 inputs & outputs. NMEA 2000 would be better because of the easy connections (plug & play)from unit to unit. Better from the same maker! I would think you already have your GPS hooked up to your VHF so your position is always updated in case of a emergence. My piont is, that would be using NMEA 0183 port on your GPS.

You would need to do one of to things. Install a NMEA 0183 transducer or a fishfinder with NMEA 0183 outputs to send your depth to your GPS.