# 2014 Revo - Work in progress



## imnotoriginal (Jan 13, 2008)

Recently sold my 2008 Outback and bought a 2014 Revo.

The upgrade was in the name of speed and versatility. While the outback had been a great craft, I found I was spending much more time offshore and the slower speed was holding me back.

I've now started rigging up the revo. My main aim is to be able to switch the kayak between offshore, creek or dam rigging with a minimum of effort.

I currently have some of the Geartrac GT-90 rails with backing plates on order from the Yakattack website. I've also ordered a mighty mount, rod holder and universal base plate for a sounder. Currently waiting on USPS to bring these goodies my way.

I've already received my Humminbird 386 combo and hobie fish finder three kit. Transducer and battery installation is complete. Pictures below.

The Lowrance Ready system Hobie have in these new kayaks is excellent. It's saves someone like me (a desk jockey with no clue) a lot of effort and trepidation. Transducer install was easy once the adapter kit for Humminbird was fitted. Getting the grommet sorted was easy too, however reaching the hole from inside the hull to secure the grommet and transducer cable in place was had work. I pity anyone with short arms :lol:

The battery kit is excellent. I love that I can keep the battery and connection up above the bottom of the hull. While I'm not expecting any large amounts of water in the hull, I'd prefer not to take a chance.

I've also used Command hooks inside the hull to keep the cabling raised where possible. I'm not sure how well thus will hold over time, I may elect to silicone these in place if I find the glue fails. For now, they're keeping everything tidy and making it harder for any gear I store in the hull to be tangled.

More pics to come once the gear trac and other goodies are installed.

Joel

Transducer and power cables in position.










Transducer cable










Rear hatch ready for the battery










Battery in the bracket, cabling looped underneath. Not sure if that's what the loop was meant for, but it works










In position. Nice and neat. Command hooks in the hull keep everything together. One is also just behind the rear hatch for holding the lead which connects to the battery in place when the battery is removed.










Coiled transducer cable held in place under the seat behind the middle hatch using command hooks.










Apologies for photo quality. iPhone is meh


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## Lewie15 (Feb 20, 2008)

Looks good. I'm about to pull the trigger on a new revo 13 myself. Is that a Hobie battery tray? I like the look of having the battery stored in the rear hatch, above the water line. What size geartracs did you go with? I've just ordered the 12" geartracs for two ram tube rod holders and eventually a sounder.


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## imnotoriginal (Jan 13, 2008)

Lewie15 said:


> Looks good. I'm about to pull the trigger on a new revo 13 myself. Is that a Hobie battery tray? I like the look of having the battery stored in the rear hatch, above the water line. What size geartracs did you go with? I've just ordered the 12" geartracs for two ram tube rod holders and eventually a sounder.


Hey mate,

That's is the hobie fish finder pack and the battery tray came with it. Makes for a very tidy package.

I went with the biggest gt90 geartracs and the backing plates for easy installation. I've got one rod holder and mighty mount for the right side and the sounder mount too. I'll get another rod holder eventually.

Just waiting on the Geartrac to arrive and I'll be ready to finish installation.

Joel


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## Geoffw (Jan 23, 2011)

Joel, how does the ride compare? I have the outback and love it. Stable, roomy and dry but heavy and sloppy in surf. I don't really have a prob with the lack of easy speed and can push it fairly hard when i want to but do acknowledge it is easier to push a revo. I would be interested in your comparison though as you have made the change. Do you find it wet? Enough deck?


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## imnotoriginal (Jan 13, 2008)

Geoffw said:


> Joel, how does the ride compare? I have the outback and love it. Stable, roomy and dry but heavy and sloppy in surf. I don't really have a prob with the lack of easy speed and can push it fairly hard when i want to but do acknowledge it is easier to push a revo. I would be interested in your comparison though as you have made the change. Do you find it wet? Enough deck?


Hi Geoff,

The revo is a lot smoother once you're on the open water. Nowhere near the same hull slap as I got in the outback. You could always hear me coming when the outback was out wide.

The stability is not as good as the outback and there's less storage space, but it's worth it for the extra speed. I have the larger rudder and st fins fitted and it makes for much faster travel and much better tracking.

The ride is a little wetter because the revo sits lower in the water. It's easier for a little side swell to push up into the seating area. Funnily enough though there is less water in the footwell area. Still definitely satisfied with the change.



Bertros said:


> Sexy looking boat Joel. I love my Revo and is definitely the one for me that gets on the water most due to weight and versatility. The mods look great too, though having had my fourth SLA battery fail recently, I'm coming around to the idea of those blue Chinese ebay alternates.


I sure hope that won't be an issue for me. I wanted something that would keep a fair bit of charge as I'll be taking the yak on a week long trip to Moreton this year, I don't want to be having to charge the battery after every trip.

Joel


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## imnotoriginal (Jan 13, 2008)

nezevic said:


> Joel I use a 15ah sla for my garmin 300c and find I can get at least 24hrs continuous run time out of it. I usually charge it every three or four trips. I keep reading the blue brick thread thinking I would like the weight savings but I can't get away from the shortened run time...


Exactly! I don't want to have to charge after every session. And this way if I want to upgrade to a larger sounder it's not an issue


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## whiting (Oct 6, 2011)

Where can I get an explanation of the "venturi scupper mod" - I'm keen to know more

Lex


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## imnotoriginal (Jan 13, 2008)

Geartrac has arrived!

Looking forward to getting it installed shortly.

I've hit a stumbling block in the mounting of my sounder.

I ordered this mount when placing my order for the tracks

http://www.yakattack.us/CBO_SB1_R107BU_ ... r107bu.htm

I wanted to be able to remove the sounder head unit at the end of each session and just leave the cables.

However, the 386 transducer and power cables plug in vertically at the back of the head unit (photos below)

The sounder comes with it's own bracket and the cables are meant to feed internally through this mount which is problematic (photo below).

Any suggestions on how to get around this?

Joel


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## imnotoriginal (Jan 13, 2008)

Bertros said:


> Any chance you can mod it to run of a RAM mount Joel? Might take modding the existing mount but looks like the easiest approach, thought am having trouble seeing what you're trying to do from the pics.
> 
> If it helps:
> http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=53363&p=555058#p548808


I'm trying to run the wires external to the mount and then attach the mount to the ram adapter off the Geartrac.

I may be able to tilt the mount back sufficiently to run them in front instead of through the mount, I'll give it a go once the geartracs are installed and see if there's enough room and free play for use.

Joel


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