Thanks all...
One final thought for anyone doing a similar install- In retrospective, I think that for my boat (Opsprey 245) the port side was really the only option for two reasons:
1) There just was not a great location on the starboard side with the location of the factory raw water pickup. Adjacent or aft was ruled out due to the proximity of the pickup and risk to clean water flow. Forward of the intake caused me the same concerns (clean water flow) when on plane at speed or in rough water since the spray from under the hull starts to come from that location when I am at ~30+ mph and trimmed out. I could not imagine the frustration of having to move this unit due to the lack of clean water flow when running. Bad.. very bad thought! Did I say BAD! Yes- thought I did.
2) It's true, the smaller of the two hatches is not the easiest to use but really I only needed to drill the pilot hole from there and hand tighten the nut. In addition and since the unit has to be held from the top to prevent twisting when the nut is tightened (two tools/ two hands needed) to final torque this hatch also provided access for my neighbor to hold the top of the unit with channel locks while I accessed the ducer via the larger hatch (starboard side) to tighten the nut. The reverse would have been dramatically more complicated even with two people since convincing my neighbor to climb down in the bilge would have cost me more grouper than I had in inventory! All Joking aside, would your neighbor climb down in your bilge through that hatch?? ;)
Hope this helps out another member prepping for the same upgrade.
As always, tight lines..
B
