Kayak manufacturers seem to be pretty slow to evolve to changes. I’m sure there’s some people diggin’ the built-in bow compasses and map to navigate because its oldschool, but I personally find a GPS indispensible and well worth the slight detraction from being one with nature while using an electronic GPS. Especially in areas nearby like Georgian Bay where there’s literally thousands of islands and is quite simple to get lost – even with good map and compass skills. I also like it for finding my put in and take out points and even use it for finding local pubs, places to eat or LCBOs in areas I am not familiar with.
That said, fixing your GPS to your kayak can be a challenging task. Many kayaks have a built in recess to accommodate a bow compass but virtually none, even today have a mounting system for a GPS even though many people that kayak use one.
When I first got my kayak I just used the carabiner clip to attach my GPS to the deck rigging, but it’s not accessible or visible hands-free and flops around rubbing on things on the deck. So just a few weeks after getting my kayak I looked around for a kayak mount for my GPS. At the time I had a Garmin Colorado. I could not find any aftermarket mounts at all at the time, not even the suction ones. Nowadays there are a handful of aftermarket GPS mounts but all of them are the suction cup type. I don’t find the suction cup ‘ram mount’ type of mount ideal or acceptable – they are all way too heavy and I don’t want to rely on a suction cup to hold my GPS on my kayak either – especially on a rotomolded kayak.
I did find an OEM Garmin ‘marine mount’ for my Colorado GPS, which is also compatible mount with my newer Garmin GPSMAP 62s, but it seemed to have a three screw mounting pattern, which I assume is a common type of mount in the boating industry, the marine mount . I bought one online and figured I would attempt to mount it to my kayak instead somehow when it arrived. It turned out to be quite a simple and awesome solution for a kayak mount.
When the marine mount arrived, I saw what it actually was – it has a round circular base plate that is intended to be fixed to a surface with three countersunk holes, and the upper part attaches to the base by a single thumb screw. It has adjustments for yaw and pitch so it can be positioned just right for perfect accessibility and view. So the trick was to figure out how to mount the base disc onto the kayak top surface in front of the cockpit. I could have simply drilled three holes and mounted it with screws but I didn’t like that idea, since I didn’t want to add more screws and nuts to the underside of the cockpit to scrape my knees on, and I didn’t want to drill holes in the boat in the first place. So I figured I would attach it with an adhesive. After all, the disc is quite large (about 4” diameter), so even if an adhesive had moderate adhesion it should be OK. But the top surface of my kayak is curved slightly not flat and didn’t match the disc quite well. I ended up contouring the bottom surface of the mounting disc a little with the nose of a belt sander so the contours matched well. I mounted the mounting disc to the top surface of the kayak with silicone caulking, after lightly sanding the kayak surface to roughen it and cleaning both surfaces with rubbing alcohol to maximize adhesion.
Just a note – the type of caulking that adheres best is actually the cheap kind, the one that smells like vinegar. It also sets up the fastest. The more expensive types I have used need 24 hours to set up and I have found they actually don’t adhere as well (but might make up for that with mold resistance). After installing the baseplate several inches in front of the cockpit, leaving a bit of space for my skirt pull handle and using the mount, it was perfect for what I wanted. I could even remove the mount easily, for transport or when I don’t want to use my GPS – leaving only the low profile mounting base on the kayak.
Really, I find this a pretty awesome lightweight solution for a kayak mount for a GPS, even better than any other aftermarket ones that exist.
I did have an incident where the GPS popped off along with the upper mount from the lower base when I whacked it with my paddle shaft while frantically flailing around trying to paddle upstream. I managed to find my GPS on the bottom of the icy cold fast moving stream after wading around the stream for an hour and a half. Another time I lost my Garmin Colorado GPS, when I got caught in a strainer on Bronte Creek. I had the upper mount tethered, but not the GPS itself since the Colorado didn't have any holes in it to be able to tether it itself and it popped out, still resting to this day at the bottom of Bronte Creek under a train bridge. This only happened twice, but since I got my Garmin 62s have tethered the actual GPS to the rigging with a piece of paracord and a carabiner in case that ever happens again, if you are wondering what the cord is all about.
Fortunately most Garmin GPSs have marine mounts available for them, and this can be the solution for you if you are looking for a GPS mount. I have been using this for about 3 years now and it is perfect for what I want out of a GPS mount for my kayak.
Fortunately most Garmin GPSs have marine mounts available for them, and this can be the solution for you if you are looking for a GPS mount. I have been using this for about 3 years now and it is perfect for what I want out of a GPS mount for my kayak.
A couple related links to kayak GPS mounts:
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