After hitting the ocean the other day, my fish finder was acting up at the end of the day.  I had noticed a sale at West Marine for a last generation EchomapUHD 63CV with GT24 transducer for only $250 so i snagged it in case I couldn't resolve the issue with my current lowrance.   Turns out it was just a battery issue with my current finder, but between it being a lower end Hook2 unit and the temp sensor in the transducer acting up, I am considering keeping it.  That being said there are a couple unknowns hoping the group could help me with:

1 - Transducer fit - The GT24 is clearly bigger than the current lowrance sensors I have. I watched one you tube video of them adapting the GT24 to fit the Hobie pocket, but has anyone here done it? Tips or tricks to gettign that particular Garmin transducer or any of the others to fit right?

2 - Mapping - I should probably just call Garmin on this but first hand experience is good too.  The 6" UHD series is a bit "neutered" compared to the rest of the UHD line and cannot use the Garmin Navionics Mapping.  It is still stuck with LakeVu and BlueChart.  This particular unit comes with LakeVu which I understand wont have any charts for the ocean.  For those who have a Garmin with the pre-loaded lakevu, does it have ANY detail near shore or do you get only the worldwide base map if you arent in a lake or inland river?    To get ocean maps, which bluchart did you purchase?

In general, does anyone else have this unit (or the 64cv) and have an opinion on it? I know its not as powerful as the 7" and 9" lines of the UHD and cant use some of the nicer transducers, but for 250 it seems like a good buy.

Thanks Mark!

What was the reason for changing to a gt23? Higher power and better deep water performance?

What are you doing for maps?

Yeah the mapping thing is confusing but near as I can tell it’s another 200 for the ocean mapping chip and the 100 options are just upgrades but my god Garmins website is confusing. I keep meaning to call them tomorrow