Tom Cunliffe talks about the solid fuel stove on his yacht. Anyone have one?

[rotrax]

I would estimate just by walking the Oxford Canal and Thames towpaths that 100% of liveaboards use solid fuel stoves.

Laminar flow's comment about seawater immersed driftwood causing stoves to rot and toxins is a new one on me. Thank you.

From what I remember of the Steel Boat thread, dear old Brent Swain used driftwood in his woodburner.

Still, with his amazing skills he would just knock up a new stove in 20 minutes from scrap if it became wrecked................................................

 

[[178529]]

A warts-and-all YT channel, with constant arguments and swearing, projectile vomiting, blocked filters and motoring against a tide in the pouring rain might do quite well

I guess though it might show a bit of realism. There just seem to be dozens of youtube channels sho

That's presumably CaDoHa? I think they're doing a smashing job of showing their journey in what has been a very tough year. They said up front that they knew nothing, but they've done more sailing this year than most of this forum, and produced some excellent and enjoyable content along the way. I'm pretty sure TC started off as a bumbling beginner and I recall one of his writings explaining how his old wooden boat was leaking during a crossing and only then did he learn how to caulk it. The difference is that TC always writes with hindsight and rose tinted glasses while these YouTube channels are often showing us the process and how difficult and/or frustrating it can be when you start out. It's a different medium for sure, but it's no less valid or useful and I think it's mean spirited to expect them to fail.

It is them, I didn't mean it to be mean spirited. They are both charming and their dog is lovely. The lady has had pneumonia , she says exacerbated by the lack of dry heating in the boat.
I do think though that the reality of living on a boat through the winter will be very tough, even with heating. I also think that seasickness is a huge problem to a seafaring life and can be horrible.

Of course it has been really difficult this year, for them and everyone. If they do get to a warm climate, say in the med, then it will be very different for them. I'm not sure though that with Brexit and the loss of the pet passport that it will be practical to take their dog with them.

 

[NormanS]

We live in a country of drift wood. You never, ever use saltwater drift for burning in a stove, it will rot out the metal in no time. The salt also increases the amount of dioxin created in the combustion process.

We burned drift wood for years with no I'll effects.
I found it interesting that a lot of the logs that we found and burned on the West Coast of Scotland had had an interesting journey. Technically, they were soft wood, but had very close annual rings, suggesting that they had grown in the far north and, and yet many of them had been attacked by teredo worm. My theory is that they had possibly grown in Labrador, somehow got into the sea, then been carried south in the Labrador Current, until they met the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, which in turn brought them over here. Quite a journey.

 

[Laminar Flow]

The Dickinson had a built-in blower. My stack was about a metre to the side and just ahead of the mast (cutter) and two metres over the cabin deck with a barometric damper and I ducted fresh outside air to it. It ran 24/7 on a low setting, we cooked with it and generated hot water through a coil.

I much prefer gas for cooking and I shall never miss the inconvenience or the mess of the diesel. On a (very) large boat I wouldn't mind a wood burner with a glass door or even a fire place, purely for the sake of ambience.

N.B. living on board and even going on a longer, say, weeks-long cruise during the summer or shoulder season, are entirely different things.

 

[Kukri]

She is still sailing, under a new name.

Don’t go there.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Don’t go there.

Was there not a bit of a legal kerfuffle after St Thomas sold her? Or am I thinking of some other boat and/or some other owner?

 

[Laminar Flow]

We burned drift wood for years with no I'll effects.
I found it interesting that a lot of the logs that we found and burned on the West Coast of Scotland had had an interesting journey. Technically, they were soft wood, but had very close annual rings, suggesting that they had grown in the far north and, and yet many of them had been attacked by teredo worm. My theory is that they had possibly grown in Labrador, somehow got into the sea, then been carried south in the Labrador Current, until they met the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, which in turn brought them over here. Quite a journey.

Perhaps the logs arriving in the UK from the Canadian East Coast are better seasoned or less salty. On the Canada's West coast we avoid using drift wood for the above mentioned reasons. We heat with wood year round, absolutely no one I know would ever use drift wood, though it is plentiful and could be had for free.

 

[howardclark]

I’ve got a multi fuel stove I think called a villager, intended for a narrow boat. Charcoal or wood do very well but really have to make an effort to keep charcoal or coal dry or they burn very slowly

 

[lustyd]

There just seem to be dozens of youtube channels sho


the reality of living on a boat through the winter

Thousands of channels, you don't have to watch them all. Just like you weren't obliged to read all the drivel written in sailing novels, articles, magazines etc. over the years alongside your favourite authors. Each time I finish binge watching one I'm glad there are more. So far Uma, CaDoHa, Doodles and Expedition Evans for differing reasons.

They don't live aboard, they have a lovely home which has been on the channel many times. They plan to live aboard and seem to spend a lot of time there through choice, but I'm pretty sure the impression of living there right now is showmanship.

 

[jimi]

The fishing boat I used to go on in the late 60s / early 70s had a stove with coke. Used for heating and cooking.

 

[Adios]

That's presumably CaDoHa?

It's a different medium for sure, but it's no less valid or useful.

I saw the one where their engine failed near Weymouth and they panicked a bit i guess and dropped the hook creating more problems. The interesting thing about these relative beginner videos is the more experienced people commenting to them with suggestions of different ways to do it and as far as I've seen the people who made the videos always welcome that and thank the authors of the comments. Taken together the videos of situations and then the comments is a pretty good way to get in depth on an issue with a range of ideas and advice. The way youtube sorts comments by most popular first show what most people think is the best idea which helps.

 

[ashtead]

Was there not a bit of a legal kerfuffle after St Thomas sold her? Or am I thinking of some other boat and/or some other owner?

Now found her in her new name -I had thought she had sunk but the website contains some interesting photos as well for those with an interest in pilot cutters.

 

[Kurrawong_Kid]

A friend had a medium sized coal stove on his 38 footer. It was bliss in winter - oodles of dry heat, both radiant and heated air.

I think it was Denny Desoutter who described such a situation with something like (I can't remember exact quote) - 'lounging around the saloon in singlets, as the snow piles up on deck'.

Beautifully quiet, and doesn't depend on or use up your batteries.



I don't know the Hampshire stove, but remember reading of people having trouble lighting the Pansy stove, which has a rather narrow chimney. As I recall it was very slow to get going, and tended to drown in its own smoke until it did so. The solution was to warm the walls of the chimney pipe by a quick blast with a blow torch (or hot air gun, I guess) before trying to light the fire. This gets the air column in the chimney rising, and consequently the fire drawing, from the start. Might be worth a try.

I guess another thing worth trying is placing a firelighter on top of the fuel, as per the recent thread on lighting wood-burners. This might get the air column moving before too much smoke is produced.

I have a charcoal stove (I've forgotten the make, but it's stainless steel, boxy, and also made in Hampshire, IIRC, though that is not its name) in an (as yet unsailed by me) 'project boat'. I've lit that a couple of times by placing a firelighter below the grate in the ash box, and that worked no problem.

Bengco or similar. Had pone on last boat. On round Britain trip lit at Whitby not let out until Kirkwall except to

A friend had a medium sized coal stove on his 38 footer. It was bliss in winter - oodles of dry heat, both radiant and heated air.

I think it was Denny Desoutter who described such a situation with something like (I can't remember exact quote) - 'lounging around the saloon in singlets, as the snow piles up on deck'.

Beautifully quiet, and doesn't depend on or use up your batteries.



I don't know the Hampshire stove, but remember reading of people having trouble lighting the Pansy stove, which has a rather narrow chimney. As I recall it was very slow to get going, and tended to drown in its own smoke until it did so. The solution was to warm the walls of the chimney pipe by a quick blast with a blow torch (or hot air gun, I guess) before trying to light the fire. This gets the air column in the chimney rising, and consequently the fire drawing, from the start. Might be worth a try.

I guess another thing worth trying is placing a firelighter on top of the fuel, as per the recent thread on lighting wood-burners. This might get the air column moving before too much smoke is produced.

I have a charcoal stove (I've forgotten the make, but it's stainless steel, boxy, and also made in Hampshire, IIRC, though that is not its name) in an (as yet unsailed by me) 'project boat'. I've lit that a couple of times by placing a firelighter below the grate in the ash box, and that worked no problem.

I believe it is a Bengco(I think that is how you spelt it). Had one on last boat and used it almost non stop sailing up the East Coast in May. Left it running nearly all day so we could go down below to get warm. Bought out nearly all the stock of charcoal of garages we came across. Great bit of kit-easy to light with a gas blowlamp if you took the the ash pan out for access, placing a non flammable bucket underneath to catch the messy ash. Have Webasto on present boat but have never risked running it as we sail along, but also a great piece of kit.

 

[LittleSister]

I have a charcoal stove (I've forgotten the make . . .

I believe it is a Bengco . . .

That's the one.

 

[LittleSister]

it's persuading the blasted stuff to burn which is the problem. I've tried big lump, small lumps, briquettes, meths (per manufacturer), firelighters, barbecue lighters, barbecue light fluid, wood wool - no combination has more than a 25% chance of ignition

The basic problem seems to be that large pieces of charcoal don't light easily because their surface area : volume ratio is too low and small lumps don't light easily because they restrict the air flow too much.

I'm more and more convinced that lack of initial draught up the chimney is likely your basic problem. Charcoal is not that difficult to light (I use 'lump wood charcoal'), and all the things you've tried to light it with are quite capable of starting a fire.

As mentioned, pre-heat the chimney pipe, and/or place the firelighter on top of the stove, also perhaps try a little bit of thin, dry wood kindling (firelighter lights the kindling which lights the charcoal).

Good luck.

 

[Dan Tribe]

Charcoal doesn't make sense on a boat. It will suck up water. Coal much less so, should burn straight from the bilge (not 100% sure on that though).

Are taylors paraffin heaters any good? I wouldn't want to carry a second fuel when I could have a diesel heater and carry a bit more diesel instead though i supposed the engine could run on a fair % of paraffin mixed in so might be useful. I also remember having to continually prick jets on paraffin cookers as it burned so dirty so assume would be a problem with a heater just as much.

I had a webasto and eberspacher, one was diesel and the other LPG (i foget which was which), the LPG never needed servicing as it was so clean burning but the diesel needed a quite expensive de-coking after a few years heavy use. A coal fire would just need sweeping out I guess.

As a young man I recall Guy Thompson holding forth on the loss of one of his Calliopes. The story was that he had gone to the pub on Foulness, leaving a charcoal stove burning. on his return he opened the hatch and there was a large explosion. The theory being that a build up of carbon monoxide and a sudden addition of oxygen triggered the bang. I never thought that carbon monoxide was explosive but didn't dare question the great man.
Any thoughts on the safety of charcoal stoves on yachts?

 

[JumbleDuck]

I'm more and more convinced that lack of initial draught up the chimney is likely your basic problem. Charcoal is not that difficult to light (I use 'lump wood charcoal'), and all the things you've tried to light it with are quite capable of starting a fire.

As mentioned, pre-heat the chimney pipe, and/or place the firelighter on top of the stove, also perhaps try a little bit of thin, dry wood kindling (firelighter lights the kindling which lights the charcoal).

Good luck.

Thanks. You inspire me to try again! I could see the point of stuffing wood wood up the flue and lighting it, but since it's only 1" in diameter (1) I can't get much in and (b) any significant amount blocks the flue until it has burnet away, at which point it isn't doing any good. A lighter on top of the charcoal sounds like a better plan.

 

[LittleSister]

Oops! I meant to say 'place the firelighter on top of the stove fuel'!

 

[Jmc1764]

Pascal Atkey heater on our boat, its 50 years old and works great, the main thing is the seam on the lid needs to be good or you dont get enough draught to start it, with a good seal of non asbestos heatproof rope it lights easily and will run all night on one fill. It can get really toasty warm even on a very cold november night.

 

[Adios]

Seems like charcoal is much more common than coal. I guess its cleaner burning, less muck to get on white sails. But other than that i would have thought its less dense energy wise so need to carry more charcoal, less resistant to sucking up water than coal which from limited domestic experience often arrives soaking wet on the outside and burns fine. A coal fire with a window and/or opening front door would be nicer to look at than the charcoal burners shown here. I wonder why charcoal is preferred.

Then these burners look much lighter and cheaper to produce than a cast iron fire i guess and maybe coal is too hot for a small space while charcoal is just enough.