Originally Posted by
vinvaite
Koastal if you must know this is my fourth boat, look about these parts for my previous build thread.
When you do research into the cost of big plate trailerboats you will find such a sonar is in the vicinity of about 15% ~ 20% of build cost. Some guys wouldn't or couldn't spend up to that ratio on fish finding gear but to me it's one of the most important components of the boat; why?-- I do 600hrs+ a year trolling off Sydney, we do not have concentrated bait grounds here. I assume you know what the sonar is about... so that should answer your question.
If that's not enough -- dummy up a spreadsheet and factor in BMT depreciation + maintenance + fuel costs over say three years (i've done about 20,000nm in my sailfish) it starts to make your eyes water. Then think about the tow vehicle, what do you reckon that costs? The depreciation alone on that over three years far exceeds the sonar cost. Put all this into context and the sonar doesn't seem so crazy.