Answers to some questions posted:
- Yes it is the Miller tug, owned by Cracker Miller's Dad;
- Collisions: Avoiding drilling the sonar towfish into the bottom is a constant issue if the depth changes alot. If it is drilled into mud it generally is not a problem but into rock(s) is a huge issue.
I have several techniques to avoid this including flying it high off the bottom (much higher than a normal scan should be run at but adjusting for overlapping lanes accordingly to account for the nadir-the blind spot in a scan), dropping it into the the deep area and scanning at a speed of perhaps 2 mph so my depth finder has a chance of warning me of shallow water ahead, checking the general depths in the area first with the Echosounder (fishfinder), and studying a bathymetric chart showing depth contours in color)
- Visibility: When I first found the tug wreck I was amazed at the viz; I was descending into approx. 58 feet of water when at a depth of only 20 feet I stopped and hovered because to my amazement I could see the wreck on the bottom from that depth.
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