Make my FF portable

If you know me, I end up traveling a fair bit. So, I end up fishing from rental yaks a fair bit. Usually these aren’t fishing yaks. So, my goal is for a:
1)   Totally portable FF and rod holder set-up
2)   Not dependent on yak having hatches
3)   Able to easily move between yaks
4)   Small enough for the whole set-up to fit in my small waterproof“orange box”, along with at least one plano box of lures, etc

Here’s my pass at the FF set-up.

Materials:
•   Plastic Cutting board
•   Outdoor PVC junction  box (single hole)
•   End-cap
•   FF mount
•   6” of 1” PVC
•   8x AA battery holder
•   2x AA battery holder
•   3 deck grommet attachment things (what do you call those?)
•   Bunch of stainless nuts & bolts
•   Old tennis ball

I decided to use a junction box for the battery box, as it is almost a perfect fit for the 8x AA battery holder, is already “weather proof”, and has the attachment points to screw it down.
I started by laying out the FF mount, and the junction box  on a scrap of cutting board I had. I left space for the GPS receiver on my Matrix 17- just in case.

Next dry fit the FF and junction box. I wanted enough space between the battery box and the FF mount to do things; 1) allow the wires to run under the FF mount without pinching, 2) be able to thread a 2” wide strap between them in case I had a yak that had a front hatch.

Next was to assemble a “new school power supply Lite”. See Sean’s article on this.
The junction box has a ¾” hole in it, so I used a ¾” end cap, with a hole drilled into it the same size as the wire. Thread the battery wire through, and you can then goop or PVC glue the end cap. Make sure you have enough wire inside the box to pull the battery holders all the way out. Seal with some marine goop.

Finally, added those little attachment grommet things in 3 places, and screwed everything down.

Next I worked on the portable transducer. At first I thought I was going for the suction cup idea- but ChuckE convinced me that a scuffed yak didn’t hold the suction cup well. So,  I took a clue from a San Diego guys (my bro in law), and used a piece of PVC, a stainless bolt, and an old tennis ball. Drill out the PVC at one end to the diameter of your stainless bolt.  Attach the transducer.  Now cut to ‘x’ shaped slices on opposite poles of the tennis ball.
You can now thread the PCV through the scupper, and ram the tennis ball down to tighten.  I’m kinda anal so I also thread the transducer wire through the scupper.

Nice.  Let us know how it works for trip to Baja next month.

Pretty slick!

Very nice indeed.  The tennis ball is a nice trick.

3 deck grommet attachment things (what do you call those?)

Pad eyes?

Very cool.
I've got a hummingbird portable unit, with the suction cup transducer, and although I haven't had the unit very long I really like it EXCEPT for the #$@! suction cup . It seems to constantly fall off the hull & I have to restick it about every 10 minutes until it finally grabs.

Now, I could go with a mounting option similar to the pvc/tennis ball, my only concern would be pounding it during a rough (or botched) surf landing.

You've given me something to think on, so thanks!

you pull and stow teh transducer for launches and landings -- easy as pie

I would be careful taking this stuff through security at an airport.  Although all of it is legal to carry with you, I think it might be risky.  I can only imagine how it would look on an x-ray screen going through inside one of your carry on's.  Hard plastic box with a battery and a bunch of wires coming out, you might find yourself in the back room being questioned for hours..

was perfectly fine coming and going through SFO and san jose del cabo.  Included in my carry on:
FF 'head'
FF portable you see here
VHF
four reels

Just don't put hooks, or batteries those are a no-no