Non Invasive Chart Plotter mounting on speedboat

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QBhoy

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Hi all,
Looking for some advice or clever ideas on mounting a combined chart plotter/fish finder onto a campion (similar idea to bayliner/rinker/maxum etc) bowrider. Don't want to drill holes into lovely dash and nowhere obviously useful to fit a flush mount. I was thinking of using the drivers side cup holder in some way, therefore making it non permanent ? I was thinking of filling the cup holder with some sort of silicone or similar and installing the mount into that ? Or machining something to fit snug into it ?
Anyone done this before ?
Thanks
Allan
 
I'd drill. Of just about all materials you can think of, grp is perhaps the easiest to invisible repair. My boat's dash and several other non structural mouldings are full of handmade cut n shuts and shape alterations in grp and I specced all that from new. So you can easily remove the screw holes and restore the dash later if you don't want them.

But if you don't want to drill then a plug to fit in cup holder is a neat idea. Not sure where you'll put your beer so have you really thought it through? :)
 
jfm said:
I'd drill. Of just about all materials you can think of, grp is perhaps the easiest to invisible repair. My boat's dash and several other non structural mouldings are full of handmade cut n shuts and shape alterations in grp and I specced all that from new. So you can easily remove the screw holes and restore the dash later if you don't want them.

But if you don't want to drill then a plug to fit in cup holder is a neat idea. Not sure where you'll put your beer so have you really thought it through? :)
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the quick reply !
I had thought carefully about drilling, but the idea of unesessary holes on a boat in any location doesn't sit well. Apart from that, the likely places where I could mount it would all most likely get in the way of the instruments. The dash is also curved, not helping matters.
You raise a valid point with the beer holding issue sir !?? luckily I have a second, third and fourth mate to assist, all with their own cup holders to spare !
My other dialemar is that I use the boat in Loch Lomond and at the risk of jinxing myself, would like to think I know the place pretty well, so have no REAL need for it. Just that it's an expensive toy to have sitting in a drawer in the garage.
 
I helped a mate with the cupholder idea a few years ago, and it did work perfectly.

We used Polymorph and moulded a Ram mount into it, then purchased the relevant Ram fittings to adapt to his (Hummingbird) fishfinder.

The Polymorh moulding ensured a perfect fit into the cupholder, and didn't bounce around at all.

Link here to Polymorph
 
I would also just drill the small mounting holes for the bracket (I assume?). You are either going to leave the plotter installed/mounted-so you can't see the holes anyway, or remove the plotter and leave the bracket- in which case, same situation !
 
I don't know if this will help.
I have a tablet on my interior helm dash which is held in place using velcro .
The velcro has a self adhesive backing.
This works really well for me but I do have a flat section on the dash which suits the flat tablet.
I had previously tried a suction mount which was not successful.
 
QBhoy said:
...other dialemar ... have no REAL need for it ... expensive toy .
Click to expand...
Haha! :encouragement::encouragement: You can say that about lots of GPS/electronic set ups on boats owned by folks on here. I have about 50 kilos of electronics on my boat and am looking into installing two new radars, yet 99.9% of the time I can navigate with mark 1 eyeball :encouragement::encouragement: Garmin, Raymarine, Simrad et all think they're selling nav gear, but actually they're selling toys
 
Water level is most important gauge in Loch Lomond lots of strange things appear in a drought if you can remember that far back!
 
I'm on Loch Lomond as well and the best chart coverage I've seen is on Navionics (with updated Sonar charts).

I've got a full Raymarine MFD, but I use the Navionics App on my mobile phone for the freshest and most accurate data (from the Sonar logs updated by all the other users).

So, can I suggest you install a magnetic phone holder (or similar) on your dash - very inconspicuous, and then buy/fit one of these:

http://www.sparesmarine.co.uk/websh...xilar-sp200-sonarphone-t-box-and-spare-parts/

Then install the Navionics app on your mobile and there you have a completely mobile solution, compact for a sports boat, with an excellent Chartplotter/Sounder capability.

Then sell your Chartplotter on EBay.
 
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