I decided to install my Raymarine Element fish finder on my Kilroy HD, so here is the installation process that I decided on. The Kilroy HD is my first sit inside fishing kayak as I have always used a sit on top kayak. As most sit on top kayaks have a transducer scupper and an enclosed hall with one or two access points to the inside of the hull; a sit inside provides a challenge for how to install the transducer, wire harness, and the battery.

Since the Kilroy HD does not have any transducer scuppers; there are two methods of installing a transducer in my opinion. One is to used the method of installing the transducer to the inside of the hull by using a pool noodle and some clear marine goop. However the location needs to be flat. With the Kilroy HD having a secondary floor that allows you to stand on a flat surface; this eliminates the opportunity to attach to the hull. I guess one could cut a rectangle shape out so that the transducer can be glued to the bottom of the hull or you could try to install up in the bow or stern of the kayak. The other issue with this installation is since the Raymarine Element has SideVision and can read the water temperature both of these elements of the Raymarine will not be functional.

The option that I opted for is to install the transducer by using a transducer arm. A transducer arm is a device that attached to the top of one the gunnels near the location of where you will secure the fish finder display unit. These arms can be used to deploy the transducer from a stowed position to into the water. The transducer arm that I used is the YakAttack Switchblade Transducer Arm. The standard Switchblade arm is very long as it has it is comprised of three sections. I installed the arm initially with all three sections with the transducer attached. In my opinion the transducer would be far down into the water; so I decided to remove two of the sections; this looked about right to allow the Raymarine SideVision to provide a satisfactory display on the Element. Depending on how you opt to install your transducer you might have to adjust the transducer offset in the operating software of your fish finder so that the transducer is reporting the depth of the water to the unit’s display.

How the location for the Raymarine Element; one location could be on top of the gunnels on the same side of the transducer arm but the other location could be the gear track that runs down the center of the secondary floor. I decided to use another YakAttack product the Rectangular Fish Finder Mount with Track Mounted LockNLoad Mounting System. I placed the LockNLoad Mounting attachment just behind the Kilroy HD Foot Brace for the location of the Raymarine Element. This location allowed me to place my neatly coiled wire harness and my Nocqua Battery in the bow of the kayak.

Taking the Kilyroy HD on the water to check out the installation of the Raymarine Element in this method looks great. One negative point that I would like to point out that the center line on the display unit will not represent the center of the kayak but the center location of the transducer. The one feature that is great about this installation is when I go out to target sheepshead the display unit will not rub against the pilings as it is located inside the Kilroy HD.