Ep 14 - 18' Sailboat Build – DIY Portable Navigation Station

[Downeast Thunder]

This is the fourteenth episode of the 18’ sailboat build and shows how you can save a boat load of money by fabricating your own portable navigation station. My small 18’ sailboat pocket cruiser is too small for a proper, permanently installed navigation station. This one is simple and easy to build.

The portable navigation station I built in this video can stow out of the way when not in use but will “lock” into brackets when needed an provide a chart table for checking and plotting courses on charts. All my charts and navigation equipment store inside the portable navigation station as it is also case which allows me to take my charts and navigation tools home with me or elsewhere when desired. When the portable navigation station is in place, it can also be used as a galley counter or table for both food prep and dining.

Re-purposing old discarded materials will save the most money and keep yet more material out of the landfills. In this build, I used leftover scraps from previous projects. I always hold on to the leftovers because I almost always find a practical use for them. This practice also saves me quite a bit of money.

Here's the video: