Nav Station--Functional or Traditional?

[Gary Wyngarden]

I really love the idea of my nav station. It's a fine looking teak desk. The VHF and the breaker panel are right above it. There's a teak rack below where I keep my rolled charts. Inside are parallel rulers and dividers, tide and current charts, ships papers, gps etc. The whole idea of this space makes me feel like a sailor.But then it comes time to plot a course. There's not enough room for my long legs. There's not enough space to unroll the chart or walk a course over from the compass rose. So what do I do? I move everything over to the table in the saloon and plot my course or mark a position there.Do these nav stations really have a function beyond storage or are they merely very nice to have traditions?Gary WyngardenS/V Shibumi H335

 

[Dave]

Nav Station

Hi Gary:Looks like Catalina and Hunter are similar in this respect. The nav station on our 1996 30, functions about the same way. Great place to collect all the nav tools, and next to the vhf and the the electrical panel. Chart holder below is to small for real charts to store, but great for mags and stuff. I also use the dinette to do real charting. The nav station makes a great catch all for junk, before I put it where it belongs. For that reason, I guess I like it where it is.Fair windsDave S/V Westwind

 

[Jim Ewing]

Sized for kits

My nav station (h37.5) is the perfect size for a Maptech Chart Kit. I've got a built-in tray for dividers, parallel rules, etc right there. If I spend any time at the desk I haul out a seat back for comfort and plot away.But for rolled charts the nav station is worthless. Any use of those charts requires that you fold them up. If you leave them rolled they don't fit in the little "chart storage rack" anyway. That's where I keep my electrical and engine books.Jim"Prospect"

 

[jcherubini]

Herreshoff's comment.

L Francis Herreshoff once said that the only TRUE chart desk, as actually used, is the portion of the cockpit seat under half of the helmsman's butt.Our cute little lift-top chart desk on Antigone was typically used for storing can openers, lighters, household tools (i.e. not good enough to fix anything real), wallets, and sunglasses. Because of the slanted top the surface wasn't valuable enough to even hold a cooler except on port tack. I agree with the people who say they use the table, bunk, galley top, etc. The only way a true chart desk/nav station gets used is by blue-water sailors who have the authority aboard to be able to enforce the sanctity of their space (and have the time to actually sit there). Other than that I think it turns out to be a gimmick more than anything-- sad to say.JC

 

[Les Murray]

Get a C-36 Mark I

Joking, of course. But the older C-36s have a nice chart table that can hold a large Mapteck Chartkit and without that annoying fold away seat that sticks out into the pasageway. You can also get a PC based charting system.Les Murrays/v Ceilidh86 C-36 #560