New Cobalt flag pole kit installed...

[NautiWeasel]

Upgraded from the Sealux flag pole kit, and it's an improvement for certain.
A little background. Our '14 242 didn't come from the factory with a flag pole mount on the port side, like a lot of the Cobalts do. Flying Old Glory is important to me and my family, and I've always flown the American flag (and many other flags) when we're enjoying the lake. Even when we're only camping, the American flag is flying at our spot. Over the past few months, or really, this entire season, I've been having issues with the flag pole mount/kit that I installed about 2 year ago. The Sealux flag pole mount/ kit is a good product, but I think the socket that I have was beginning to wear out, or there was some part broken internally in the socket. Back in June, on the 5th or 6th day in a row on the lake, after an hour or so of boating, my flag pole just decided to jump out of the socket, and into the lake. Stainless steel, 12"x24" flag, so no going back to get it. She sank fast. reluctantly purchased a new pole, flag, and stainless links the next week, thinking that I must have not seated the pole correctly or something, thinking it was human (mine) error.
Move forward a month, and we are enjoying beautiful Table Rock Lake, and after we were out tubing and cruising for an hour or so, we stopped to cove. While coved for 30 minutes, the flag pole again decides to jump out of the socket, and into the lake. Luckily, my daughter was on the boat getting a snack, noticed it, and acted quickly and jumped in after it. Due to the lake being so clear, and her quick reactions, she saved Old Glory from the depths. We put the flag away, and I figured I'd try again the next day, and make SURE it was seated correctly in the socket.
Move on to the 2nd day on the lake. We get up early, and hit the lake before it gets too choppy with traffic so we can ski and wake board. After installing the flag pole into the socket, and triple checking that it was locked or seated correctly, we went on our way. Cruised quite some time at 30+ mph, then while slowing down for a now wake zone, I heard the dreadful sound of my flag pole once again, jumping from the socket, and into the depths of Table Rock. That's the second pole gone... in less than a month. As of then, I was done with that mount. Luckily where we were staying on vacation, we were less than a mile from The Harbor, the local Table Rock Cobalt dealer. Called them up, and purchased the actual Cobalt flag pole, mount, flag, and links. At this point, that entire kit was less than I paid for the multiple poles/flags/links and mount from Sealux.
I got a chance to install the new mount and pole last night with my daughters' help, and I'm very happy with the results. The design of the Cobalt (and the Tig Tech) kit make them virtually impossible (I hope I didn't jinx myself) to have the pole come out on its own, if it is seated correctly. Hopefully I get to enjoy this new and larger flag pole for MANY years to come, to justify the total cost I have now spent on flag pole mounts, poles, and flags for this boat. LOL.
On to the pictures.

[AsLan7]

Nice job NW! (Great back story too)

[jhnmdahl]

Tig Tech/Cobalt make a nice flagpole, for sure. Looks like a beefy upgrade to your previous setup - glad it worked out!

[Jimmy Buoy]

My Cobalt original flagpole is the best design of any boat I've owned! So well built and sturdy and its placement on the Stb stern prevents the flag from flying the wrong direction (as it always did on all my other boats with the flag on the center line of the boat at the stern).

[NautiGirl]

Fun fact - Cobalt No Longer uses flag poles and mounts manufactured by Tig Tech...and let me tell you Tig Tech is not thrilled about it.

Our R5 did not come w/ a flag pole - first order of business was of course to add one, a Cobalt isn't a Cobalt w/o a Flag Pole, I will fight people on that. So I called up Tig Tech and ordered direct from them /w no issue.

About two months ago Katie decided she wanted to have a custom boat flag made. Long story - but cliff notes the R5 logo and transom speakers dont leave a ton of room to put a boat name on the back. Katie wanted to keep the "NautiGirl" tradition alive which meant removing the R5 logo and putting a boat name in its place. I said no way. A custom flag was the compromise.

Anyway I called up Tig Tech because I wanted to order just a flag pole. I put loctite on the quick links of the pole that came with the mount - a good tip if you haven't they tend to loosen over time. Plus I still wanted to be able to fly an American flag and I didnt want to spend time messing /w changing them out.

Tig Tech of course was more than willing to help, but the first question they asked was do you have "our" mount or did you get a mount on a boat from Cobalt. I asked what the difference was which started a pretty solid Rant about how Cobalt Copied their design and now makes the mount and pole in China. Its not an exact copy the new pole wont fit in the old mount, but having seen both its clear Cobalt took the design, changed enough to not get sued and then made it in China.

I will blame Malibu here, but its a solid story on how the takeover did impact a lot of folks. Tig Tech is a small company in Wichita KS who is now out business b/c Malibu saved some money making parts in China.

If you need a flag or a mount please just call Tig Tech directly. They still make them. They are super nice to deal with - in fact they shipped one to me the day I called, and you would still be buying US Made products.

[Titaniumboy]

Your flag install looks great.

Does the quick links make much noise rattling against the pole? I’ve got carabiners attaching my flag to the pole and the noise drives me nuts. I keep thinking the noise is coming from my outdrive or the motor.

[NautiGirl]

Your flag install looks great.

Does the quick links make much noise rattling against the pole? I’ve got carabiners attaching my flag to the pole and the noise drives me nuts. I keep thinking the noise is coming from my outdrive or the motor.

They do make a little noise. The first time I heard it I did think the worst and assumed the outdrive had fallen off the boat lol.

I'm Kidding. It's not a ton of noise, you really only hear it when you are at idle and the wind moves the flag around. Really, it helped me to justify the big block Merc - had to drown out the noise from the flag pole with V8 engine noise.

Buy the Cobalt Flag Pole. It's a well made piece worth every penny.

[Titaniumboy]

I installed the Sealux flag pole a couple of years ago. Haven’t lost a pole yet, knock on wood.