Nav Station Finished

Oct 30, 2019
574
I uploaded the finished photos of the Nav Station (well, minus the hull that needs to be cleaned and painted). I haven't tried to output the AIS signal to my laptop, yet. I'll try that next weekend. The photos are in the Photos section under "Bella".

Jack
Bella - V2620
 
Jun 2, 2004
128
Jack,

Nice job on the nav station - and the rest of Bella. I was wondering what do you plan to do about cooking on board?

Tom

Pagan Baby V-398
 
Oct 30, 2019
574
Tom - That is an excellent question. For this year, we'll use the grill and the Coleman camp stove. We've been using that for a couple years now, and it seems to work ok. However, the completion of the nav station this year means that my wife will expect a proper galley be completed next year. So I intend to move the sink from its current location and build a galley where the port berth is located.

We normally sleep in the starboard bunk on passage, and the v berth otherwise. So, the port side galley should work out quite nicely. Now begins the hunt for stove/oven options. I'm thinking LPG and building the tank locker at the aft end, aft of the coaming. Someone else (Peter, I think) did a similar job on his boat.

Putting the galley on the port side will create a sizeable amount of storage space. Then I need to figure out what to do with the area where the sink and icebox currently reside.

Any thoughts on stove/oven options? Is LGP the best way to go?

Jack
 
Oct 30, 2019
574
Just wanted to post a quick update. I finally finished the nav station. The smoked plexiglass is there because the boss likes it. I prefer the wood. But, she's the boss!

I wired the Standard Horizon VHF/AIS to my Mac via a USB cable and it actually picked up two AIS transmissions without a VHF antenna. I have no idea why? Perhaps the radio picks up AIS transmissions via the GPS antenna? Anyway, I was able to show our position, along with the positions of two other boats transmitting AIS data. It was really quite brilliant!

I posted a couple new photos to Bella's photo section. I can't wait to try it under passage this summer.

My thanks again for all the advice I've gotten on this and other projects from fellow sailors!

Jack,
Bella - V2620