Thanks for the info Roberta. I've been watching some videos on keeping Cattleya hybrids in Panama and Columbia and it seems that if I'm going to keep them out in the rain mounted is the best option. In pots it's better to keep them out of the rain and water them so you can control the moisture levels.
I already repotted #1 in a plastic basket that is mesh on all 4 sides with 90% really coarse media and a slight top dressing of finer stuff. So far the roots seem to be healthy despite getting a few hours of rain every day for last few weeks. The second in is a shallow terracotta pot with big holes in the sides. I'll leave it in there for the foreseeable future. And I'm considering mounting the 3rd one on a slab just to see how it does.