The challenge
The Discovery Islands are a maze — Quadra, Cortes, Sonora, Stuart, the channels between them. Cell signal bounces, drops, and lies to you here: three bars at the rapids entrance, nothing fifty meters inside. It's the worst kind of coverage — the kind that looks fine until you actually need it. I've done tower work for the Coast Guard — I've stood on the steel your bars are dying behind.
Why the mount matters here
In open water the dish just needs sky. In the Discovery Islands' narrow channels, your own boat becomes the obstruction — mast, boom, and rigging swinging across the satellite arc as you maneuver. This is installer territory: dish placement, mount height, and keeping the arc clear through a turn matter more here than anywhere else on the coast.
The honest setup
- Radar-arch or masthead mount to clear your own rigging.
- Mini for sailboats (power + size), Standard for powerboats with the battery to feed it.
- Test the arc at the dock with the app's obstruction checker before committing to a mount point.
Based in the islands or passing through? Get a proper survey →