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Mike: that's a great boat ... the classic Montauk 17. The Montauk hull was redesigned in 2002, which many people felt made for a better ride in chop (the V was extended?), but others still like the original. As far as a light, sprightly, easy to manhandle decent sized boat ... the classic Montauk is really something!

Holes aren't the end of the world ... there's about 1000 different ways to fix them when you relocate the transducer. Here on this website, you're going to hear all 1001 of the right ways to do it!

But seriously, these guys have been there ... and let their mistakes be your guide. That's one of the great advantages of being here.

Finally, gchuba got the port/starboard thing right. The downstroke side is the one which produces less turbulence at the transducer. The splitting the difference advice is also what I used, and mine works great. The owner's manuals all say to do that. What's hard is actually lining it up right. I used a straightedge and was surprised to see where I really needed to be lined up ... my eyes deceived me, but the straightedge never lies ...

Of course after you mount it, you should have a little up/down play on the bracket (slots) and a little tilt control on the transducer unit (adjustment bolt). Fine tuning is often necessary, though sometimes you get lucky.