Fixed hole and FF install, long post w/pics

I spent part of the weekend and some time after work each night working on my yak, doing some of the final pimping. But, before I could pimp, I had to fix a hole I discovered 



Working with OK's warranty dept was great and I got the needed supplies in two days from them! Here's the finished product. The weld rod was dark orange, so the fixed area is obvious. It was easy to do with just a heat gun and a spoon to sooth it out. 



Next I moved on to the fish finder. Like several folks on the site, I went with an Eagle Fisheasy 245 DS and chose to go with the new school power supply and the foam block mount for the transducer. My power supply is identical to Backcountry's thanks to a generous donation of a 10 AA holder and trailer plugs. Thanks Backcountry! 



Next came the transducer mount. I couldn't find a pool noodle that would work, so this transducer mount is brought to you by the letter "O" 



The ring is a foam letter "O" I bought at Michael's for $0.99. A little trimming and it fits the transducer great. I also chose to flare the bottom of the "O" so that it will be less likely to interfere with the 120 degrees of sonar. I don't know if that has been an issue with anybody else, but during the dry fit it looked like it may cause an issue. Either way, it holds the transducer tight! 



I glued the "O" down and began work mounting the FF stand at the left footwell. After a dry fit, I drilled the holes.



My biggest concern was how I would route the wires from the inside to the outside. While At Michael's I came across a bag of closed cell foam marshmallows that looked like they would be perfect! I cut one in half, drilled two small holes through them for the wires, routed them through the 'mallow and jammed them in a hole I drilled at about 3/4 the diameter of the foam 'mallow. Perfect! The foam expands to fill the hole completely, and the pressure keeps the foam tight up against the wires. I pulled it out, added a little goop to the holes for the wires, and around the outside of the foam and jammed it back in the hole. Now it's a nice water-tight fit! 


Test fit


Dry fit


Sealed

Now I was thinking about how to keep my batteries from sliding all over the place. What I came up with is velcro! My wife found at Hancock fabric a small package of super strong, waterproof velcro. A few strips on the battery holder, and a few more inside the boat. And it was good. Lastly, I mounted the fish finder bracket on top, and I'm done! 








I know a lot of folks prefer their transducer on the side, but since this is my first ever FF, I though t I would try to install it in the most ideal position for the transducer. Anyhow, I don't like to go out with more than one or two rods at the most, so I guess I'll just have to be real careful when I stow them.

Looks great Jay!  I'm hoping to make it to BAM III and I'll drink any beer that's cold!

Cheers, Backcountry

Nice job on the install. Real clean.

CHEERS!

Nice work!

I think your wife and mine shop at the same places! 

Beauty of job Jay, I agree with Mahi2 that it's a real clean. That's probably the best place to put the puck, but if you do alot of camping out of your fishin yak Like I do you may want that space there.

Thanks for the kudos! I was thinking about the camping thing too, and I figure that I'm not likely to need my fish finder while paddling to a campsite so I can just pop the transducer out and keep it off to the side if I need to stow gear in that area. I guess the real conflict would be if I were taking a river trip. That's about the only time I could picture wanting to use my FF and storing gear at the same time.

Actually, I've been considering a river trip along the Colorado River from Blythe, CA to Yuma, AZ...

Very clean and simple 

smooth work on the repair too

Jay if your considering doing that river trip you should read a book by Valerie Fons Called "Keep it moving". She chronicles her trip around the Baja peninsula with my early mentor the late great Verlen Kruger. Anyways  the very end of the trip was a paddle from the sea of cortez north to Yuma and then on up the colorado where Verlen Eventually made his way back to Lake Michigan using North america river system. A frickin great read but hard to find.

Very impressive. I hope I can duplicate such a clean and neat setup on my Trident.