To those who have not done away with gas, where is your gas bottle fitted and is it in its own locker with a drain?

Anthony Russell

235/02 Sea Wyche

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Fifty readings and no reply! Am I the only one with a gas stove?

Anthony Russell

235/02 Sea Wyche

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In my Parker 21 the gas bottle screws on to the bottom of the gas ring in the galley. Maybe not the best arrangement but at least I don't have any pipework to worry about.

Geoff Harwood P21/30 Cygnus

Thanks for replying, Geoff. I suppose the P21 is in a similar position of not having a dedicated gas locker. I've been pondering fitting a sealed locker with a drain. It seems to me that I could run a drain pipe straight out the side from the forepeak just like the anchor well drain. I was hoping to find out whether other 235s have gas drains and whether that is the way they're fitted.

Anthony Russell

235/02 Sea Wyche

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Hi Anthony,

We do not have a gas stove, however it was very much on the list to do. I considered glassing in a portion of the forepeak and routing a drain off via the anchor well. In the end as you will have seen from our previous posts we decided after much deliberation to go with the Origo 3000 and we are pleased that we did. The only thing we miss is toast in the morning so we are going to get a stove top toaster that we hope will solve that problem.

Gary/Ruth/& Skipper the Working Cocker Spaniel

Crew of Juicy Blue P235

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Hi Anthony,

Diamond/07 still has gas which seems to work fine.

The bottle is located in the forepeak, and I would send you some pics if I could figure out how - will keep trying

John

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Thanks to those who have replied. Sorry not to have come back sooner but I've been away sailing - eight nights aboard; what fantastic weather for April! (Not much wind, though.)

It sounds like my bottle's position is the same as others, in the forepeak. I'm not greatly concerned about the lack of a drain since we always turn it off at the bottle straight after use. But I'd still be interested if anyone has provided a drained container for it.

Anthony Russell

235/02 Sea Wyche

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Anthony,

Our boat insurance stipulates that if gas is installed the bottle has to be in a a container vented overboard! I think the "regulations" say that it should be enclosed and ventilated i.e. it needs to have air flow through the container with the air supply coming from outside near the top and the outlet at the bottom. The outlet must not be too near the waterline or it could flood the container and/or prevent any gas from venting. When I installed a gas locker (within the main cockpit locker) on my previous boat, I built an enclosed box in ply with glass fibre reinforced joints and a lid with rubber seal. The lid had a sealed inspection hole to allow the gas to be turned on/off at the bottle. I had an inlet through the topside and the lower outlet via the transom both via a hoses and skin fittings. In your case, I can see that using the fore-peak locker gives added issues but it should still be possible to do. I think Calor do a "leaflet" or maybe it's web based now, giving the best practice.

We use a portable gas burner with small gas cartridges. Not sure how we stand insurance wise but we declared it on the application. We also have a water tank in the forepeak so if we had a full gas installation this would be more added weight at the front of the boat. I think I would go for a "spirit" stove like Juicy Blue if we had to change.

Incidentally, has anyone devised a method of securing the "standard issue" portable stove?

Regards

Chris Cobb

235/48 "Tarakihi"

Hi Anthony

I think I have attached, at last, photos of my gas bottle' Hope they help

John

Diamond/07

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Thanks very much for the photos, John. They're interesting for several reasons. I don't have that container mounted on the bulkhead for the gas bottle at all. Mine is simply lashed to a plinth on the deck of the forepeak. It's also a different kind of bottle - 4.5kg Calor - which I suspect is bigger. Does that container have a drain leading overboard? Is it still easy enough to reach the knob to isolate the bottle?

Your photos also show that your water is in four small containers (presumably 2.5 gallons), whereas mine is in a pair of 5-gallon cans. That means your water is stowed lower, which is good for COG and will also reduce (though probably not eliminate) the problem of loss through the taps. Obvious, really, but I hadn't thought of doing that. It also allows room for your gas bottle above - although that raises the COG again.

Food for thought. Thanks again.

Anthony Russell

235/02 Sea Wyche

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Anthony,

The gas bottle container has a solid bottom but on the starboard side of the container towards the bottom there is a 'connector' with a rubber tube which leads to a vent on the starboard side of the boat.

It is comparatively easy enough to reach to turn on/off; head and shoulders through the hatch and can be reached with right hand.

I assume the water containers are about 2.5 gal. There is a challenge with loss of water - which I think is being discussed elsewhere. When you operate the galley tap, a little water also appears in the heads sink - but not enough to worry about

John

Diamond/07

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