yamaha 242x water depth

[Boots008]

i just purchased a 2019 yamaha 242x. Question i live in Long Island right off the Bay where the waters are horrible with sand bars. It goes from 10 feet to less then 2 feet really quick in most areas of the bay. I was in 1.8 feet of water and i know i can suck up rocks and sand but it didnt get stuck or caught on the sand bar. Does anyone know the true depth so i can properly set my depth finder . At 3 feet it just constantly goes off, but i dont want to set it to 2 feet if i am risking anything
Thanks guys

 

[swatski]

i just purchased a 2019 yamaha 242x. Question i live in Long Island right off the Bay where the waters are horrible with sand bars. It goes from 10 feet to less then 2 feet really quick in most areas of the bay. I was in 1.8 feet of water and i know i can suck up rocks and sand but it didnt get stuck or caught on the sand bar. Does anyone know the true depth so i can properly set my depth finder . At 3 feet it just constantly goes off, but i dont want to set it to 2 feet if i am risking anything
Thanks guys

on plane it is less than a foot, but going over rocks that shallow it would be suicidal.

I run stupid shallow at times but it is in a river where I know it has muddy/silty bed with no rocks. I routinely pass thorough a narrow "connector" between the river bend and a large cove with maybe 6" of water (over soft silt/clay mud bed). But - in parts of the river anywhere where I can find small /loose rocks or pebbles I my engines are off in less than about 3ft.
if it is just sand, hard to tell...

--

 

[DJMattyT]

Good to see another Long Islander!

 

[I_squared_r]

We don't really have rocks on the south shore of long island. Last week I was running in 1.5ft of water. I am probably going to set my depth finder to 2ft because the buzzing is crazy annoying.

 

[Cambo]

Set it at 2 ft it’s 2 feet from the bottom of the hull you are typically in 3+ water depth when floating not on plane if it’s reading 2 feet . Just get familiar with your area at low tide look for shallow spots then go over them at high tide and if they are 5+ feet your fine. If any sand is exposed at low tide stay away from those areas . I don’t think our boats have the keel offset feature that can be programmed to compensate for the actual mounting depth of the sensor . Every time I go out I look at the tide charts to know what the water is doing at certain points of the day and will adjust my daily boating activities and locations based on the tide and wind. That bay gets nasty at the end of the day with strong south west winds but if you plan your trip to come home with the wind at your back it makes it much more tolerable. The other issue with the Great South Bay is the eel grass when you run shallow it will pull it off the bottom and you can start to notice cavitation . I have run in the flats south of fire island from moriches to ocean beach and have seen the tops of crab traps exposed at low tide not comforting seeing that and started to get cavitation from sucking the eel grass in just needed to stop at the dredged boat channels to clear it out then back up on plane into the shallows . 20 years Jet boating on Long Island and still exited each time to get out and explore. There used to be a great boat party near Sag harbor it still goes on just no barge with a band there is a Suffolk county boat ramp off North West landing rd I’m heading out August 4th

 

[scubasteve87]

I'm all around on the Island as well with a 195. From what I can tell the depth finder is pretty close to the actual depth of water (+/- 4") so I don't mind the alarm going off at 2.5' (which is what mine was set at by default I believe). Your 24' might draw a bit more water both stationary and on plane and there might be an adjustment within the connext system for depth.

Honestly, while the alarm is annoying, it does help with the narrow channels and to know if you are getting outside of them. Really anything less than 2-3' you do run the risk of something being sucked up into the pump. Luckily the south shore is mostly sand and seaweed so its not too detrimental but really experience and setting way points or notes on a GPS usually do it for me.

 

[jamesk]

Sounds like 2 different opinions whether the depth is true water depth or the depth from the transducer.
If your draft is 19" that number could be different by + or - 1 1/2 feet.
My last garmin unit on my boat let you set the "keel offset".
Any other opinions on this?
18" matters when you are in 2-4 feet of water, I would just like to know what it actual is......