FF/GPS install with no holes drilled

[J.A. Veil]

I own two 11' paddle kayaks. I decided to sell the Falcon 11, but wanted to first transfer my Lowrance Hook2 FF/GPS from that boat to my Manta Ray 11. I looked for a way to mount the screen unit without drilling any holes. While I was at it, I decided to add a new storage bin. Here is what I started with and the easy no-drill steps I followed. I already had everything I needed in my basement and garage.

Over the years, I have installed FF/GPS units in at least 6 different kayaks. I always used a shoot-through-the-hull method for mounting my transducer. This involves making a flat patty of Duct Seal electricians putty and placing it inside the hull on the bottom. I then push the transducer into the patty and make sure I have firm adhesion. This gives me adequate sonar and down scan. This method does not work well for side scan or to get an accurate temperature reading. But I do not need those things. The photo shows the transducer on my Falcon 11.

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Duct Seal is a good choice since it adheres very well to both the transducer and the hull surface. But if the owner wants to remove it, 10-20 seconds of prying with fingertips gets the patty unstuck. I did that to this transducer and transferred the patty and transducer to the Manta Ray 11. I made sure the interior hull surface was clean and dry, then pressed it into place.

The screen unit on the Falcon 11 was bolted through a console hatch cover.

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The area in front of the Manta Ray 11 seat had a flat surface that was wide enough to mount the base for the screen unit (the area by my name plate).

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I did not want to drill holes into the top of my Manta Ray 11. I found a piece of 1" thick white PVC planking in my basement. I cut a piece to match the size of the screen unit base and attached it to the base using 4 stainless steel screws. The I used Goop to attach the PVC pad onto the flat area on the Manta Ray 11. It holds tightly but can later be removed if necessary.

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The screen now sits just in front of my foot pedals where I can reach the buttons from my seat. The Manta Ray 11 does not have much built in storage. While I was attaching things with Goop, I took a small plastic tray from the garage and used Goop to mount it in front of the screen unit. This is a great place to store a few lures or a spool of leader line.

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The battery sits inside the front hatch on the floor. I used black corrugated plastic tubing to cover the power cable and the transducer cable as they run back to the screen unit. The system works fine. I am pleased with the installation of zero cost and about 1 hour of work time.

[dsaavedra]

I am a big proponent of using duct seal to mount transducers. Prior to buying my Hobie Outback, which has an integrated retractable transducer mounting system, I used duct seal to install transducers in my old kayaks. Whenever I recommend this method to anyone the first thing they ask is "won't the image clarity be affected?". The answer is no... as long as there are no air bubbles between the hull and the duct seal, the duct seal and the transducer, or within the duct seal itself (avoid folding it and kneading it, which can introduce air bubbles), the image clarity is not affected. I have seen my 1/16 oz crappie jig on the screen while fishing vertically beneath a duct-seal-mounted transducer. It is very convenient having the transducer inside the hull always at the ready - just plug in the head unit and you're fishing. No need to deal with setting up/breaking down a transducer arm each trip, no need to worry about running the transducer into the bottom or hitting submerged obstacles with it. Plus, as John demonstrates, it's easy to remove if you upgrade your fish finder or want to swap it to a different kayak.

It's true that the method simply won't work with side scan, and that the temperature reading is not always accurate. It takes a while for the bottom of the hull and the transducer to equilibrate to the water temperature, and in very warm or very cold temps the air temp inside the hull usually trumps the water temperature and the reading from the transducer is skewed. If you're okay with this, and if you don't have a side scanning transducer, then you can't lose when using duct seal.

I was not aware that Goop adhesive was removable... that's interesting. Do you have to use any solvents to remove it?

[J.A. Veil]

Dave - When I have removed Goop before, I had to do some scraping to get the residue off of the surface. For example, I had to remove my black and white name plate in order to install the FF/GPS base last week. I pried off the name plate in pieces and was able to remove any Goop adhesive (from several years ago) residue under the name plate easily. That kayak is already 9 years old with plenty of scratches -- I was not worried about making a few new scratches. I never tried using any solvents.

I also considered using stick-on Velcro pieces (one side on the PVC block and the other on the hull surface). But I did not have any Velcro around the house. The Goop makes better adhesion anyway.