Gas and Petrol Storage

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ip485

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I am lucky enough to have a large lazarette.

As all I am nervous about storing extra fuel and gas below decks, but I also am not keen about having it on deck.

What is the collective wisdom on keeping a) petrol in steel jerry cans, b) gas, in a sealed bottle with the plastic safety cap screwed in and of course the valve tightly secure?

I also do have a gas alarm.
 
To me there are 2 issues that concern me with both gas and petrol.

1) leakage

2) fire. what happens if you have a fire onboard.
We have all seen what can happen when a LPG gas cylinder gets heated and then explodes. The same can happen with petrol in metal cans.

Having a steel boat my lazarette is sealed from the rest of the boat and being steel will delay any heat ingress for a time.

My gas is also stored in a stainless steel box that is also my helm seat designed to slow any heating of the LPG cylinder.
 
ip485 said:
I am lucky enough to have a large lazarette.

As all I am nervous about storing extra fuel and gas below decks, but I also am not keen about having it on deck.

What is the collective wisdom on keeping a) petrol in steel jerry cans, b) gas, in a sealed bottle with the plastic safety cap screwed in and of course the valve tightly secure?

I also do have a gas alarm.
Click to expand...

I keep a proper 20L red metal jerry can with a locking cap in an inside locker, along with 4 identical black jerry cans containing diesel. I feel perfectly safe. However, I do make sure that the cans are kept in the dry and that they are standing on thick rubber sheeting and well-cushioned against each other so that there is no chance of friction or corrosion.

The spare gas bottle is simply kept in the external gas locker alongside the bottle in use. I never give it a second thought. :)

Richard
 
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A self draining anchor locker is the best place.
Remote o/b fuel tanks can vent in hot weather, so in a lazerette isnt a good place
 
Plastic petrol can lashed on deck with a white(!) cover to protect it from overheating and UV damage. Never fill petrol cans more than 3/4 so there is room for expansion when they heat up. Been working well two seasons now, after we learnt about the white cover the hard way :)

Metal cans rust and thus aren't really suitable unless you're prepared to go for the well used fishing trawler look.
 
I avoid carrying large amounts of petrol.
I carry what I need in plastic cans.
I carry those cans in the gas locker, on deck or in the anchor locker.
I dislike the smell of petrol, if it gets into the cabin, it takes a long time to leave.
I don't like steel jerry cans, they rust and affect the compasses.

I have sailed a boat where it was necessary to store camping gaz below decks. We were very, very careful.
Not something I'd tolerate long term, I would look at having an adequate gas locker for my needs.
Gas bottles stored on deck rust, but if you need extra ones for say an atlantic crossing, then protect them well and they shouldn't make too much mess in the few weeks you need them.
My first boat had a very wet anchor locker where the gas bottle was stored, I used to spray the bottles with wax polish and wrap them with pallet wrap, otherwise they rusted so much that people got snotty about exchanging them!

If you need to store lots of either, maybe think about your usage?
My gas use dropped remarkably when I changed the cooker for an identical new one.
I don't need the oven on for deep sea home baking excesses. Some people turn into crackpot chefs as soon as you're off sounding and get through prodigious amounts of gas.
I measure water into the kettle instead of boiling more than I want. This saves time as well as gas.
If the tank water is potable, use the hot from the calorifer to load the kettle, it boils in half the time.
Our petrol use is low, we have a small tender with 2hp. Rushing about at 20knots saves a few minutes but creates hours of fuel buying and storage issues?
 
Thanks all.

I do have a dedicated draining gas locker, and also the same for petrol.

However, for the planned longer distance cruising to hopefully some remote places it doesnt give enough storage room, hence the question.

I hear what you say about conserving supplies, but rightly or wrongly, I would prefer to cruise in as much comfort as possible, so I would prefer to not have to worry about be careful with the gas, or, more especially the petrol.
 
We dont generally carry spare diesel as we have a 450 litres in the tank. We do carry spare petrol but only on deck in 20litre plastic containers. Contrary to what has been said on this post we keep the plastic containers full then they dont expand. Liquids dont expand like gases. Our fuel cans stow under the granny bars with a purpose made timber securing bracket and custom made covers. Works well.
We have grp propane cylinders that dont rust. They go in a cradle on the transom with a sunbrella cover
 
ip485 said:
Thanks all.

I do have a dedicated draining gas locker, and also the same for petrol.

However, for the planned longer distance cruising to hopefully some remote places it doesnt give enough storage room, hence the question.

I hear what you say about conserving supplies, but rightly or wrongly, I would prefer to cruise in as much comfort as possible, so I would prefer to not have to worry about be careful with the gas, or, more especially the petrol.
Click to expand...
You may also require potable water & a bread maker
 
Yes, done the bread, we have a water maker, the tanks hold 340 gallons and some cans with extra so hopefully those elements are covered. Dont like to have to stop for supplies too often, so the large water tanks and 300 gallons of diesel does provide a pretty comfortable reserve.

Unfortuantely the dink and an onboard toy that uses petrol gets through quite a lot, as does the cooker, even though it is a new modern thing, although to be fair, we keep a couple of bottles of gas in the gas locker and they last simply ages, so just one spare should be sufficient.
 
lw395 said:
I avoid carrying large amounts of petrol.
I carry what I need in plastic cans.
I carry those cans in the gas locker, on deck or in the anchor locker.
I dislike the smell of petrol, if it gets into the cabin, it takes a long time to leave.
I don't like steel jerry cans, they rust and affect the compasses.

I have sailed a boat where it was necessary to store camping gaz below decks. We were very, very careful.
Not something I'd tolerate long term, I would look at having an adequate gas locker for my needs.
Gas bottles stored on deck rust, but if you need extra ones for say an atlantic crossing, then protect them well and they shouldn't make too much mess in the few weeks you need them.
My first boat had a very wet anchor locker where the gas bottle was stored, I used to spray the bottles with wax polish and wrap them with pallet wrap, otherwise they rusted so much that people got snotty about exchanging them!

If you need to store lots of either, maybe think about your usage?
My gas use dropped remarkably when I changed the cooker for an identical new one.
I don't need the oven on for deep sea home baking excesses. Some people turn into crackpot chefs as soon as you're off sounding and get through prodigious amounts of gas.
I measure water into the kettle instead of boiling more than I want. This saves time as well as gas.
If the tank water is potable, use the hot from the calorifer to load the kettle, it boils in half the time.
Our petrol use is low, we have a small tender with 2hp. Rushing about at 20knots saves a few minutes but creates hours of fuel buying and storage issues?
Click to expand...
You cant tow a wake board with a 2hp and you would need a pack lunch if you were heading off diving a couple of miles away! We plane with three adults and three sets of dive gear. Here a 2hp is in the minority. 90% of engines are 10hp or more
 
geem said:
You cant tow a wake board with a 2hp and you would need a pack lunch if you were heading off diving a couple of miles away! We plane with three adults and three sets of dive gear. Here a 2hp is in the minority. 90% of engines are 10hp or more
Click to expand...

It's the compromise one has to choose.
If you want to live like an American, you will need a lot of fuel storage or plan your life around where you will buy petrol next.

I've yet to get to the extreme of having a sailing tender, but once met a cruising couple who reckoned it was the best thing they ever did. They'd done a slow circumnavigation, spending a year IIRC in the Pacific. They met lots of people getting stressed about fuel for their little RIBs.

Whatever your style of cruising, to answer the 'how do I store...' questions, you need to have a firm grip on 'how much ... do I need?'

Even around the English Channel, I've found 5l cans of petrol and diesel to have great barter value. :-)
 
lw395 said:
It's the compromise one has to choose.
If you want to live like an American, you will need a lot of fuel storage or plan your life around where you will buy petrol next.

I've yet to get to the extreme of having a sailing tender, but once met a cruising couple who reckoned it was the best thing they ever did. They'd done a slow circumnavigation, spending a year IIRC in the Pacific. They met lots of people getting stressed about fuel for their little RIBs.

Whatever your style of cruising, to answer the 'how do I store...' questions, you need to have a firm grip on 'how much ... do I need?'

Even around the English Channel, I've found 5l cans of petrol and diesel to have great barter value. :-)
Click to expand...

We had a three weeks cruise a few years ago with our sailing club. 10 yachts. They all had little inflatable dinghies and 2 or 3hp engines. We had a rib and Tohatsu 9.8. Over the holiday they all used more fuel than we did! We went further, we were drier. Being on the plane and arriving quickly is efficient compared to full throttle on a small engine pushing through the waves at low speed. You dont have to go flat on in a rib but just on the plane is very fuel efficient.
Last year we did two months on the south coast of Cuba. Our two 20 litre cans of petrol were more than enough for us to get about and takes the dogs ashore twice a day every day.
If we ever got short of fuel we would take off the engine and put the sailing rig on. Best of both worlds
 
9 months cruising with getting the dog ashore twice a day and no petrol used for the tender. Electric engine.
No storage issues.
 
I like being green, and think we should do all we can. Unfortunately, as I said I also like my toys. I have a Jetsurf board and it uses petrol, as much as I might like an electric one when they are proven. I like to do "things" with the Rib, be it getting to dive and surf sites, and sometimes in quick order. I love the idea I might be using less fuel with my 20HP, than someone with their 4HP, but I do have a 5HP that also gets plenty of use. I probably should apologise, but I probably sail more than most, so burn less diesel, and I can produce all the electric power I need from solar. Each to their own, but I am glad to receive some comfort for storing some extra capacity in the lazarette. My feeling was it was safe enough. Some good tips and making sure there is rubber mat between the cans as well. Thank you everyone.
 
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