International Gas Bottle Blues

[dgadee]

A lot depends where you’re planning on cruising. We went through the same thought process but as most of our cruising at the moment is Europe, in the end we went with Camping Gaz, putting 5 or 6 bottles in the locker previously occupied by 2 x 7kg Calor. The Camping Gaz is an easy option in Europe, readily available and easily transported on a folding bike. Costs fortunately, are a lot less than U.K. - my local supplier here in Cornwall charges £42, my last exchange bottle in Portugal (Oct 2021) was €16. However, if I was staying in one country, I’d buy a local bottle for the duration - often available from departing cruisers - and exchange for the duration of my stay.

I think it depends on how quickly your are moving from one country to the next. We found it was possible to get fillings in A Coruna, Calgiari (somewhere else, forget where) and now in Preveza (bottle just left with yard who are hopefully able to fill it). Italy was no go. Two 6kg bottles and a spare camping gaz kept us in gas. But Safefill should take a lot of the anxiety out of it. Those small camping gaz cannisters last us no time - and you are having to go out and change them in the middle of cooking a meal.

 

[Goldie]

I think it depends on how quickly your are moving from one country to the next. We found it was possible to get fillings in A Coruna, Calgiari (somewhere else, forget where) and now in Preveza (bottle just left with yard who are hopefully able to fill it). Italy was no go. Two 6kg bottles and a spare camping gaz kept us in gas. But Safefill should take a lot of the anxiety out of it. Those small camping gaz cannisters last us no time - and you are having to go out and change them in the middle of cooking a meal.

I looked at Safefill but the extra bulk makes it unlikely I’d get them through the access hatch to my gas locker, despite there being plenty of space inside. The Camping Gaz 907 lasts us 3 or 4 weeks, and that’s without access to shore power. I can live with that for the convenience!

 

[Petronella]

TThi

A friend told me that he understood there WAS someone I the UK manufacturing a kit of adapters to go everywhere or as close to as possible to eliminate the number of gas bottles a traveller might have lug about. Any one know anything about this idea? Are they still about?

This is what we use GasBOAT 4018 Adaptor Kit | Whayward. The only place it hasn't worked is Curacao where they fill their US bottles through the relief valve. But then you 'could' just find a full US bottle and use the kit to decant from that.

 

[jdc]

The gas boat kit is excellent and what we use. One slight issue is that in the clip-on adaptors there is a non-return valve which means that this can't be used for refilling unless / until you remove the non-return valve (quite easy to do; it's a little piston with spring located in the M20 outlet part, it unscrews easily enough, although, iirc, it's a left hand thread).

 

[dgadee]

Just taken a Safefill bottle through Manchester airport. As long as it was empty, no problem security said.

 

[Perrycas]

I worked at BLMC Cowley in 1971. The older fork lifts in use were LPG powered and used 'antique' flat twin Douglas engines. As I sometimes raced a Vintage Douglas motorbike I found a ready source of BTH Magneto spares. The defunct ones were not repaired but chucked out. I aquired several, one of which is still in use today. The guy who allowed me to take the scrap Mags told me about the bottle modification.

Its really interesting to see the range of skills and practical experience and innovation that people bring to 'boating'. In the future, here in Sydney, with the move towards semi detached housing development (massive), I wonder how many people will have garage space, like mine and probably yours, where all those 'good intentions' lurk waiting for re-purposing.