Swing out mounts are very popular and though not positive one will suit my sailing requirements, I've decided to try one this coming season. For many years, the gps has been mounted using an in/out mounting technique which is simply a bolt through a hole in the cabin bulkhead that allows mounting the unit either side of the bulkhead. The gps is stored inside and even used inside some during foul weather and remote auto piloting. This has worked reasonably well, with the single inconvenience the need to remove the plastic wing nut to move the gps from one side of the bulkhead to the other. The three gps wires don't require disconnecting to switch locations.
There are at least two advantages of this system over a swing out mount.
We will see... I've not sealed up the hole at the previous location and will leave the ability to move the gps from the swing out mount back to the bulkhead.
- With the stud mounted location, the gps is framed with the white background of the bulkhead and very easy to visually pick up whereas a swing out mount, the gps may get lost in the background.
- The cruising sailor sometimes runs with the hatch boards in place and will yet need the gps in view. On the other hand, often when the hatch board is in place during foul weather, I helm remotely from within the cabin.
Unsure that a permanent swing out mount was really wanted, I decided to invest time rather than money. The following design resulted from discussions on the Trailer Sailor forum about good ways to lock the swing arm, and I proffered the idea of using ball stops and decided to test to see if the idea had merit.
Construction was quite simple using a combination of high density plastic for the mount and a teak strip for the swing arm. Ball bearings and springs are used to form the position locks. Bearings and springs were used in two holes and 180 degree swing stops set, though any stop positions are possible.
The ball stops work as expected and allow either placement of the arm without need for a tensioning nut.
