Boat Survey

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

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!
 
Think of more than £500 if you want to go down that path. But what price safety and peace of mind!
 
We had a two burner Origo methylated spirits stove on one little sailing boat, which was perfectly adequate.
 
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……
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top