You have to drill a hole in the arch and through the cockpit floor under the arch if there isn't one there already. Removing the arch from the pedestal makes this much easier and also pulling the cable through is easier.
I ran it through the engine compartment and to the depth sounder diplay. The cable was not long enough to go directly to the instrument breaker. But this way the NMEA wires can also be hooked to the depthsounder.
I had the garmin clamped to the top of the arch but this always looked bad and got in the way and was too high. I made a nice bracket with my rp machine that holds the GPS sort of inside the arch out of the way. I'll send a photo when I go up this weekend. Your unit is larger so this may not work. Downside is the compass does not work because of magnetic interference but I never use the compass anyway.
Tom
26C #28 North Star
Penetang
I recently added a Garmin 741xs which was a relatively straight forward project. With just power connection alone it will
serve you well. I went further adding connection to my Standard Horizon 2200 so to enable AIS display on my Garmin too.
Simple put I made a Starboard shelf to mount the 741 bracket on my pedestal guard. Drilled holes in the pedestal guard just below the shelf through which the power cable came up from under the cockpit sole through one tube of the guard. The hole is just big enough to accommodate a second cable (radar) too.
The other end of the power cable is threaded back to the circuit breaker panel.
I can offer better pix if needed but these are all I have this evening.
Ed Strazzini
s/v PELICAN N33 #36
Deltaville, Va
I installed the much smaller Garmin 540s and my JRC Radar display side by side on a SS bracket above the Ritchie compass. I did not connect the NMEA wires to the radar but added another small socket for NMEA route access from my ancient (1990) nav app.
Dick Lane
NS26c #35 SWOOSE
Port Townsend, Wa.
FWIW, I’m struggling with where to install a Raytheon multi-function display which I impulse-shopped from Defender. The instructions say that the ideal distance from a compass is at least a meter, but they admit that’s unlikely to be feasible on a small boat. The attached diagram shows the nearest they recommend that you get from different relative positions. I’d guess it’s probably similar for other instruments as well.
Anyone got ideas on mountings that will keep the compass accurate?
– Bob
Solar Wind, Nonsuch 26C #143
I’ve had my chart plotter mounted on the pedestal guard for 3-4 years. A picture being worth 1000 words, I’ve attached an enlarged view of it. The installation is much the same as Tom’s, cable run thru the deck and up thru the tube . Actually down thru the tube after a hole was drilled, as the connector would not fit in the tube. I drilled the exit hole on the underside of the tube to minimize the entrance of rain water into the engine compartment. The bracket that slides over the guard is available from Edson and others. It rests on the drink holder, similar bracket, and both are easily removable at the end of the day. It is close to the compass but I haven’t experienced any magnetic interference issues. The compass matches the GPS compass reading while under way. I installed a terminal strip under the cockpit and made all the cable connections there.
Since it is lower than the top of the pedestal guard, it is somewhat protected from being damaged by loose lines, reefing lines, staggering sailors, etc. (My first GPS was mounted on the top of the pedestal guard, using a bicycle handlebar bracket. It is now at the bottom of Mt Hope Bay, lesson learned.)
Good Luck. its worth the effort
Al Donaghy,
EllenM, 26C, #19
Do you remove the plotter and store it below decks when not aboard, for security?
Ed Collis
ORION VII
NS30U
Toronto
I attached my chart plotter to the pedestal with a bracket arrangement. I did that so I could set the plotter off to the side and not block my view looking forward when sitting. I know it’s a big plotter but that’s another story. The cabling runs through the pedestal guard and all connections are made below the cockpit floor. Running the cable took a bit of cable grease to pull it through as I have some other wires running through there as well.
It works absolutely great in this location. A real joy to have plotter and radar at the helm. The radar is wireless so no cabling issues. I’ll really miss it when the sheet hooks it and tosses it over the side. (I have a stern roll bar and bimini that prevent the sheet from entering cockpit.)
I rarely use the compass but haven’t noticed any deviation when the chart plotter is in place. It’s easily removed for storage so any deviation would be corrected when the plotter is removed.
Jamie Morrison
Dexterity II
30U 225
Halifax, Nova Scotia
HI Robert
My chartplotter is a ‘legacy’ Raymarine C-80. It interfered with my compass when placed atop or anywhere high up on the binnacle guard. You can see in this photo that I mounted it on a swing-arm inside the cockpit on the port coaming, adjacent the helm. The double-arm swing arm allows me to see it from the helm with lots of variety for angles of view, and also extend it so I can really see and touch it from anywhere in the cockpit (at anchor, under the dodger plugging in tomorrow’s waypoints, for example…). It was also very easy to wire this - the mounting bracket for the swing arm is an aluminum plate (bolted thru the coaming wall) with a wiring port - so the bundle of wires (radar, power, Seatalk bus) have an easy path through engine compartment and up to the coaming. I had a local machinist make the bracket for me - all aluminum construction - for about $100, that was 14 years ago. This bracket accepts the usual ‘stirrup’ bracket you get for deck or bulkhead mounting most chartplotters. I am very happy with it for the flexibility it gives me - or any crew member - to access the chartplotter at any time from a variety of locations in the cockpit. Also very easy to disconnect and remove for security and/or winter storage.
In this photo you can also see our wind and autopilot instruments on the binnacle guard, housed in ordinary grey plastic electric junction boxes (with pipe clamps to fasten to binnacle guard, and wiring grommets for the data cable entries via the binnacle guard through cockpit sole).
On the stbd bulkhead are recently upgraded depth and speed/temp+ instruments (i50) replacing the original DataMarine units. These are all now on the Seatalk network, so all data is avail at chartplotter too.
Happy to answer any questions. Misty Cat was launched on Wednesday and is now at her home dock - hoping to lift the wishbone tomorrow with teenage nephew for muscle.
Greg Silver
Misty Cat, 26C, #121
St. Peter’s, Cape Breton
Images of the RPed mount. It works very well.
I want to thank everyone who made suggestions on this topic. Everyone’s comments were very, very helpful.
Although not the originator, I too was trying to figure out where and how to place a chartplotter on my 26C. The criteria were to not affect the compass, while still being reachable but also somewhat protected from klutzy skippers and flogging lines.
It took six weeks to make decisions (4 weeks), collect parts (2 weeks), and do the work (1 day). In case anyone’s interested, I’ve attached some pictures of what I ended up doing.
I very much liked Greg’s swingout concept, but couldn’t find an affordable way to duplicate it. Plus I was worried about tripping hazards when moving around the boat, and wanted to maximize space available for passenger seating (mostly for resale value, since I mostly sail solo).
What I ended up doing was building a stainless steel frame with a crossbar to mount the instrument, thus ensuring it was protected on four sides. I originally wanted to mount it on the coaming, but decided that it was too hard to reach up into that space for fastening bolts, so I made it a bit higher and put it on the side deck between the coaming and the rail.
My design required two stanchion bases, two T-connectors, and two L-connectors, which I got from MarinePartDepot.com for a little over $60 US (notable because this would have cost almost $200 had I bought them at West Marine). I used six feet of 1" OD 316 Stainless Steel tubing, which I got from a local supplier for about $10 US per foot (notable because six feet of lesser quality 304 stainless at West Marine would’ve cost about 30% more). I searched every marine parts source I knew, looking for a good way to fix the plotter to the crossbar, before realizing I could do the job by screwing the trunnion bracket into a flat piece from my scrap pile, which I then fastened on its underside to the crossbar with a couple of UV-protected plastic outdoor conduit straps (5 for $1.19 at the local hardware store).
I ran the wiring through the coaming using a $15.99 Seaview Cable Gland from Defender Industries to hook into a breaker panel and Raymarine SeaTalk network that I’d already put in the port cockpit locker when I added my autopilot.
So, total cost for my fixed mount solution was about $135-140 in 2018 dollars, vs. Greg’s more elegant swing-mount solution at $100 in 2004 dollars.
– Bob
Solar Wind, Nonsuch 26C #143
Marina del Rey, California
