One thing I wanted to do, was take it out a few times without any mods at all and work out where to put what.
I've done that, and gone out a few times and last weekend I bit the bullet and decided to start drilling holes and fitting it out. Was very nerve racking drilling holes into my brand new yak ! The story goes something like this:
I went out last week and went on a shopping spree purchasing a whole heap of goodies from CH Smith, including a whole host of railblaza gear from side ports to star ports, to whip flag, rod holders, ram adjustable arm for Lowrance unit, Lowrance 4x HDI (new model), anchor cleat to name a few:
They sat in my shed for a whole week while I sat in the yak, took it out and just had a play around with where I would think would be the best position to put everything. As the rudder is due to be installed this week, I wanted everything else installed so once the rudder was on, I was free to get out amongst it !
First up, was to get rid of the centre gear bucket and make a hatch liner to suit. I used a flexi tub from Bunnings for some pocket change. While I was at it, did the front too ! and this is the result:
The transducer fitout was probably the hardest job, as the grommet behind the seat where the transducer wiring enters the hull is very fiddly and required some extra hands. This is where the bulk of my time was spent. For those of you who don't know, the 2014 model Hobie Quest, Outback, PA 12 and 14 and Sport all come LOWRANCE READY - this means the holes are pre-cut and the grommets are there for you to run the wiring. I would have thought they would have placed the grommet behind the seat in a much better position. It was an absolutely pain in the ar$e to get the transducer cable into there and reach the washer from the other side but managed in the end.
