I am the new owner of Inua, a 1983 26’ currently located in Forked River, NJ.
First, a thanks to several folks on this list who steered me away from a different 26 which was in need of too much work. Inua is in reasonable shape for its 41 years, which is to say there is enough stuff to address to keep me occupied.
My request - does anyone have a Datamarine depth display sitting somewhere in their basement awaiting a second chance at being of use??
Inua’s electronics consist only of two “classic” Datamarine instruments. The Depth gauge has decided to flake out, sometimes reading correctly but then giving either an E1 or E11 error. A search has yielded nothing about Datamarine except that DMI is in transition to nowhere. In the very near future I am planning a three day trip to bring Inua home to Kingston, NY. An electronics upgrade is planned for Spring. Using C-MAP on a tablet will work for most of the trip but I would be much more comfortable with a working depth gauge, especially getting thru Barneget Light and the marina stops along the way.
Hi Jonathan.
Hope this info might be helpful. My 1983 Nonsuch 26C had the same instruments, displays were failing on both and within a couple of years after I got the boat (2001) I replaced them with new Raymarine depth and speed, networked to a C-80 MFD. I later added wheel pilot and wind instruments.That system worked well for years and is now due for another upgrade.
More recently, in 2016 I bought a 1980 Niagara 35 with exactly the same original Datamarine instruments. Hoping to salvage the depth sounder for short term use (until I figured out the whole boat refit, which was significant) I sent it to DMI for a rebuild, as I recall that cost about $200. While the display worked and was readable, turns out the transducer had failed so it was of no help and a waste of money. If you are planning to install new electronics soon I wouldn’t spend any money on the old DMI equipment. In the meantime, as a depth sounder only gives you information about where you are, for your home-bound trip, navigating with a good chart and GPS app like Navionics (I am not familiar with C-Map) on a phone or pad should give you pretty good depth info. In a well travelled area such as you will be sailing the Active Captain Community (in the Navionics app) will likely have good contemporary info on depths and hazards, etc. If you are anchoring, use a lead-line to measure the actual depth. There are many choices today for new electronics and you should take time to research what will be best for your usage.
Here is the contact info I have on hand for DMI from 2016: 52 Center Street, Middleborough, MA 02346 tel: 774-213-9744
Congrats on your new-to-you Nonsuch. Hope you get much pleasure from her.
Greg Silver
Misty Cat N26C #121
St. Peter’s, Cape Breton