I just purchased a 19" HDTV for the boat which I think will be mounted on the forward bulkhead. I was going to mount it permanently but I'm not sure it could survive the pounding waves on the Great Lakes. I found a bracket which allows the TV to be attached to the bulkhead when you want to use it and quickly detached when you are not using it. The only thing that would be mounted to the bulkhead would be a small part of the overall bracket. Has anyone else done something like this? If so, how do you like it?

Here's a link to the one I'm looking at if you are curious: www.amazon.com/Level-DC30SJ-Articulating...splays/dp/B001LK6VTW

The following is a copy of the posting I made on the Yahoo site. I'll try to upload photos here but if unsuccessful, you can find them there.

Here are some specifics of my TV project. Let me preface this by saying that I tend to over engineer a lot of what I do on the boat, so I’m sure this could have been done better and easier. If anyone wants additional information, I’ll be glad to provide with the proviso that I really don’t know what I’m doing and (look closely at a couple of the photos) am only fair at hiding my mistakes! Still, it works just fine, looks fairly good and, most importantly, is secure underway.

This TV mounting system isn’t by any means perfect, but it works just fine for us and does give us multiple viewing positions. FYI, since I was having all new electronics installed as a result of a lightning strike last year, I had the guys put a return cable to the TV from the cockpit chartplotter so I can keep track of position when below.

Supplies:
TV: Sharp 19” LCD. 18” wide by 13” high by approx 3” deep, purchased at BJ’s.
Mount: Sylvania Plasma TV articulated wall mount for TV’s up to 40 lbs., purchased at BJ’s
Sliders: Heavy duty drawer slides, 16”, purchased from LOWE’s. The bottom slider is approx. 2 3/4” from the bottom of the cabinet.
Mounting Plate: 1/8” thick aluminum 16” x 8 ½” purchased at LOWE’s, cut to size with my Dremel tool (indispensable boat item!)
2 16” long teak strips to mount the sliders on, thick enough to allow the vertical drawer to slide by the “flange” of the cabinet. Teak trim strip for facing part of the vertical drawer.
Assorted SS screws/bolts. I through-bolted both the sliders/mounting blocks and flat aluminum plate to ensure security. I used an aluminum shelf holder screwed to the back of the cabinet “flange” to secure the TV in place. One of the photos shows more detail.


My next project is to get louvered doors made to make this look like all the other cabinets on the boat…not a do-it-yourself project!

I mounted a 26" LCD with built in DVD on the bulkhead using an inexpensive fixed mount bracket($19 at Best Buy). We through bolted the bracket, hiding the bolts behind a large mirror in the forward head. The mount comes with four posts that screw into the TV. After the unit is engaged into the bracket on the bulkhead there is a locking bar that holds all in place and I secure that in place with a large twist tie. (yes a twist tie - its hard to get your fingers back there)

Now I was a bit nervous as well considering the cost of the mount, the twist tie and all, but I sail on Erie and this thing took a pounding last year. We beat 9 hours from Pt Stanley across to Fairport Harbor. We did 14 hours from Port Dover in 6 footers all the way and it never budged. I bet you could hang off this thing (but I didn't try).

I also ran VGA and RCA cables from the nav desk to the TV and bought a wireless keyboard. With the lap top in the old TV location above the nav, TV & laptop wired for sound through the stereo, we sit at the dinette surfing the net with a 26" bulkhead monitor. Very nice set up. Guests love it and we play sailing and music videos not to mention viewing the large scale weather radar shots and web cams large as life on the bulk head.