Boat Survey

[Guest]

Just had a pre-insurance survey and guess what, my gas installation wasn't safe. I think I already knew this (I'm nervous about gas full stop), so I was not to suprised. But the dilemma, what to do next on a budget that doesn't allow me to spend £500 on a shiny brass bunsen burner- I'm thinking about a Colman style duel fuel petrol/paraffin pumped pressure one. Comments/suggestions?

Ta!

 

[Guest]

Think of more than £500 if you want to go down that path. But what price safety and peace of mind!

 

[Twister_Ken]

So is petrol and/or paraffin aboard any safer than gas?

 

[Guest]

We had a two burner Origo methylated spirits stove on one little sailing boat, which was perfectly adequate.

 

[oldsaltoz]

G’day Tony.
A Methylated Spirit stove is not the fastest when it comes to boiling the kettle, but you can put a meths fire out with water and you normally have plenty of that around. If you don’t like burnt offerings, it’s ideal.

Avagoodweekend Old Salt Oz……

 

[vyv_cox]

Much better and cheaper to have your gas installation brought up to a safe standard. There are very few accidents amongst the millions of boat gas installations and every one that I ever saw reported was due to poor maintenance, poor installation or stupidity. Talk to a good installer if you are not confident to do it yourself and have all the detection and cut-off features possible if your confidence needs boosting.

Just to prove I am not biased - I have used paraffin stoves by Primus and Taylors all my life. I have had a Taylors in motor caravans for almost 30 years, largely because the fuel is more compact and is the same as used in a Tilley lamp. On a boat, where space is less of an issue, I am more than happy to use gas.

 

[billmacfarlane]

I appreciate your nervousness about gas but why don't you bite the bullet and get a safe gas installation. At the same time get a gas detector to allay your fears. As Ken said , storing paraffin or meths carries its own dangers and a safe gas installation is as good as anything else.

 

[Guest]

Thanks to all, seems pretty unanimous especially as this boat (and my last survived 20 odd years without exploding). However I need to raise the locker to allow to drain overboard so it'll have to wait 'till after the sailing season, guess it's tins of auto-heat Nescaf and pot noodles for a year!

Ta

Tony

 

[pwfl]

It sounds like it's not actually your cooker that's at fault, but the installation. Had the same problem with my boat. Could have turned into quite a big job, having to make a gas tight locker, high enough up to drain overboard without the drain being too close to the waterline (with the low freeboard we have).

I also started thinking about paraffin cookers (which are expensive even 2ndhand, & prone to their own set of problems), until we hit on this solution, that worked for us: paid a relatively small amount for a CORGI registered gas engineer to install the pipework properly. Then made a small platform myself out of plywood & bolted it to the pushpit. The gas bottle sits there nice & secure. A simple cover made from sprayhood material keeps the rain & spray off & stops us looking too scruffy. Any leaks can vent straight out to the open air. Gas engineer & insurers all quite satisfied. Even passed the British Waterways boat safety scheme when we moored in one of their marinas for a while.

Any help?

PS, we also put in a gas alarm, as our cooker doesn't have failsafe valves.