Food, fixes and notes from the casual coastal sailor.

[Kris Cringle]

Kris, self-refilling should be OK as your cylinders have an overfill prevention device. For anyone else with basic cylinders a luggage scale is very useful to prevent filling above 80%. The expansion space is vital to prevent the possibility of liquid gas entering the low pressure side of the regulator. Cylinder pressure is 5-6 bar, the low pressure side 30mbar.

Be warned the process can take a long time, pouring hot water over the donor cylinder will help.

Thank you! Good to know about the expansion space. How does the overfill prevention device, work?

What are you thinking for 'long time'? I take it, it's still best to go by weight even though when liquid propane blows out the bleeder, that's full.

Is the fast speed at an LPG station due to higher pressure?

 

[accnick]

I would fit some flat foot chocks to the bottom of the locker to hold the tanks in position. I use raw teak for those so you don't have to finish them. Grab some scrap pieces of teak, place them under the tank , and trace the foot ring of the tank on it. Saw that out, screw them down, and Bob's your uncle, I usually don't encircle the entire foot ring. Just enough to hold the tanks in position.

It sounds like the fit at the top is so close that you won't have to fit anything in the top to hold the tanks down--the tanks simply can't fall over.

If there is any extra space between the underside of the locker top and the top of the tank, glue some red rubber packing or another complaint material on the underside of the top to hold the tanks down when the lid is shut.

From the looks of it, you have two latches on the lid. I assume those are positive latches.

All in all, this has turned into an easy job (so far).

Don't forget a drain hole in the bottom of the tank for both vapor and water. Code requires that to drain overboard. Since the locker is behind the cockpit coaming, anything in the bottom of the locker should drain overboard rather than into the cockpit.

I'm sure there are gas stations in Rockland the have the ability to fill these propane tanks. The way you use your boat, two full tanks will probably get you through most or all of the summer.

 

[Kris Cringle]

Kris, what do you have for a BBQ - a gas grill? If so, you can refill those Coleman 1lb cylinders the same way. Or maybe tee your BBQ into your 5lb bottles. And if you still have a charcoal grill, I salute you.

I do have an LPG grill on the boat. The plan is to use a hose from the unused 5 pound LPG for grilling. Incidentally, that hose, with another Type1 device, will also be used to transfer between 20lb and 5lb tanks.

We do quite a bit of grilling using 1 pound tanks. I get about 3 cooks out of a 1lb tank, and we use about 3-4 per season. I hate throwing them away so this will eliminate that.

 

[Kris Cringle]

I would fit some flat foot chocks to the bottom of the locker to hold the tanks in position. I use raw teak for those so you don't have to finish them. Grab some scrap pieces of teak, place them under the tank , and trace the foot ring of the tank on it. Saw that out, screw them down, and Bob's your uncle, I usually don't encircle the entire foot ring. Just enough to hold the tanks in position.

Great idea. Only my mind threw the outside cut away, and screwed the inside piece down.

It sounds like the fit at the top is so close that you won't have to fit anything in the top to hold the tanks down--the tanks simply can't fall over.

That is the case. No space, in fact I'll not be at all concerned about standing on the box, now.

From the looks of it, you have two latches on the lid. I assume those are positive latches.

They are and the box is bolted down with 4, 5/16" bolts.

All in all, this has turned into an easy job (so far).

Don't forget a drain hole in the bottom of the tank for both vapor and water. Code requires that to drain overboard. Since the locker is behind the cockpit coaming, anything in the bottom of the locker should drain overboard rather than into the cockpit.

I have two holes in the bottom now. The box is raised about 3/4" on cleats. Both the propane hose and wire to the solenoid come through raised fittings that seal. Any leaks will go over the aft toe rail.

I'm sure there are gas stations in Rockland the have the ability to fill these propane tanks. The way you use your boat, two full tanks will probably get you through most or all of the summer.

There must be but I'm thinking one will be empty and it may be easy to just top it off at home. Time will tell about Winging's note on how long.

I'm going on the assumption that my figures concerning CNG vs LPG volume are accurate. In that case, the 2 LPG tanks should easily last our 4 +- weeks onboard. When we were 4 and off for a few weeks, we'd go through a CNG tank in a week.

 

[accnick]

Great idea. Only my mind threw the outside cut away, and screwed the inside piece down.

That is the case. No space, in fact I'll not be at all concerned about standing on the box, now.

They are and the box is bolted down with 4, 5/16" bolts.

I have two holes in the bottom now. The box is raised about 3/4" on cleats. Both the propane hose and wire to the solenoid come through raised fittings that seal. Any leaks will go over the aft toe rail.


There must be but I'm thinking one will be empty and it may be easy to just top it off at home. Time will tell about Winging's note on how long.

I'm going on the assumption that my figures concerning CNG vs LPG volume are accurate. In that case, the 2 LPG tanks should easily last our 4 +- weeks onboard. When we were 4 and off for a few weeks, we'd go through a CNG tank in a week.

Don't forget to add the propane grill consumption into the mix. That wasn't running off your CNG tank.

 

[Mid]

And if you still have a charcoal grill, I salute you.

hear hear

 

[Whinging Pom]

The overfill prevention device is basically a float which shuts off the supply, like the float in a carburettor. The refilling stations use a pump to speed things up.

I've got a charcoal barbeque.

 

[Kris Cringle]

Enjoying our man-made winter on the coast this season.

We're always aware (especially lately), we live in a fringe area when it comes to winter.

I can't complain, we can throw the snowboards on the car and be on the slopes in 10 minutes.

The sea and its climate effects are nearby. The largely man-made snow, having been subjected to several sunny 50F days, plenty of rain - and then a deep freeze last night, was 'sporty'.

I totally flubbed getting off the chairlift and crushed my wife. It took a while to clean the snow off her face and glasses. She's a good sport.

On the last trip down, we met our daughter 'skinning' up the mountain (walking uphill on special dual-purpose skis).

It takes her about 20 minutes to make the climb to the top, and about 4 minutes for the descent (she's a rocket on skis).

She caught me with her phone-cam boarding by (and my mate in the orange parka). You can hear the sound that "east coast powder" makes, under my snowboard.

I gotta keep it up. Next year I get the (near) free pass for 70-year-olds.

 

[Kris Cringle]

In my backyard at my neighbor's: Dry stone retaining walls are easy enough, right? It took 3 guys with an excavator and 3 dump trucks of stones less than 3 days to lay this wall.

It looked pretty good when they rolled their excavator off the property, yesterday.

The next morning from my bedroom:

It's a little awkward. The neighbor lives in NYC. Nobody knows it's fallen down but us.

 

[Jim in Halifax]

Ooops. I was always told when building stone walls, the big stones go on top. That wall also does not look like it was wide enough at the base and, being a retaining wall, should have had some slope back into the fill...

 

[accnick]

In my backyard at my neighbor's: Dry stone retaining walls are easy enough, right? It took 3 guys with an excavator and 3 dump trucks of stones less than 3 days to lay this wall.

It looked pretty good when they rolled their excavator off the property, yesterday.

View attachment 576247

The next morning from my bedroom:

View attachment 576248

It's a little awkward. The neighbor lives in NYC. Nobody knows it's fallen down but us.

Has the guy who built the wall been back to look at it? If he hasn't, I might send him a picture, if you know who it is. Otherwise, if nothing happens within a couple of days, I might send the picture to my neighbor, if he/she is someone you know.

You can't see that area clearly on Google Earth. If that wall is on the property line, has it fallen on your property, or is that the dry creek bed?

Looks like somebody doesn't really appreciate the forces involved in retaining walls.

 

[Kris Cringle]

Ooops. I was always told when building stone walls, the big stones go on top. That wall also does not look like it was wide enough at the base and, being a retaining wall, should have had some slope back into the fill...

Retaining walls aren't cheap and done with dry stone - expensive. As you say, there are basic rules in the base, slope, just for starters. Plus, going that high takes real skill and knowledge (if you had the knowledge, you probably wouldn't even recommend it).

 

[Kris Cringle]

Has the guy who built the wall been back to look at it? If he hasn't, I might send him a picture, if you know who it is. Otherwise, if nothing happens within a couple of days, I might send the picture to my neighbor, if he/she is someone you know.

You can't see that area clearly on Google Earth. If that wall is on the property line, has it fallen on your property, or is that the dry creek bed?

Looks like somebody doesn't really appreciate the forces involved in retaining walls.

Crikey, I know the guy (contractor) that did the wall. I don't know the 'stone-d masons' he hired. I know the house owner quite well. The property shares a boundary with the library. We share the brook.

You here and I are the only ones who have seen it,...

We have 8-12" of snow coming. It will go away then. I'm going to pretend I didn't see it. What's that saying about 1 st world problems?

 

[accnick]

Crikey, I know the guy (contractor) that did the wall. I don't know the 'stone-d masons' he hired. I know the house owner quite well. The property shares a boundary with the library. We share the brook.

You here and I are the only ones who have seen it,...

We have 8-12" of snow coming. It will go away then. I'm going to pretend I didn't see it. What's that saying about 1 st world problems?

View attachment 576256

Looking at that exposed cross section of the wall construction, I'd say the "masons" that did that don't have a clue of what they are doing,

 

[chester]

Looking at that exposed cross section of the wall construction, I'd say the "masons" that did that don't have a clue of what they are doing,

maybe they were Free Masons

 

[Jim in Halifax]

maybe they were Free Masons

I doubt they were free and neither was the wall. Someone is going to be out some time and probably some money. When the snow melts. And the Jericho event is noticed.

 

[El Borracho]

That’s nothing compared to what will happen in the rainy season. Hydrostatic pressure plus lubricated gravel fill. A good dry stone wall will be almost as thick as it is tall. Smooth rounded stones are problematic, too.

 

[Kris Cringle]

Now that winter is back, I'm looking at NOAA long range climate predictions for the coming NE sailing season. These 3 month 'outlooks' are based on the last 40-50 years of weather data.

No surprise, season 2023 is predicted to be 'likely above' the 'normal' (average) temperature:

The Gulf of Maine registered its second-highest surface temperature for 2022, just beaten out by 2021 which has the record. This great thermos bottle must have an effect on our air temperature predictions, though I don't know that for sure.

And we're likely to see average rainfall during the height of the summer sailing season, at least this far NE.

A degree or two higher average is not earth-shattering. Our average (normal) temperature for this period is around 65F. And there are no guarantees in predicting exact weather this far out, only 'odds' of.

For me, it means the increasing likelihood of a few very hot days on the water and also slightly warmer ocean water for a refreshing dip.

The even better news (at least for my sailing season,...), the season is predicted to stay warm through September with 'normal' rainfall:

NE is predicted to stay above normal through November. Could we be in the infancy of the 6 month New England sailing season?

 

[Russell Brown]

Thanks posting those. The last two times I was in Maine, there was deep snow. Sounds pretty mild this winter.
Been pretty cold here. 25 degrees and snow on the ground right now and forecast to be below freezing at night for the next two weeks. I really should have insulated my shop....

 

[accnick]

Now that winter is back, I'm looking at NOAA long range climate predictions for the coming NE sailing season. These 3 month 'outlooks' are based on the last 40-50 years of weather data.

No surprise, season 2023 is predicted to be 'likely above' the 'normal' (average) temperature:

The Gulf of Maine registered its second-highest surface temperature for 2022, just beaten out by 2021 which has the record. This great thermos bottle must have an effect on our air temperature predictions, though I don't know that for sure.

And we're likely to see average rainfall during the height of the summer sailing season, at least this far NE.

A degree or two higher average is not earth-shattering. Our average (normal) temperature for this period is around 65F. And there are no guarantees in predicting exact weather this far out, only 'odds' of.

For me, it means the increasing likelihood of a few very hot days on the water and also slightly warmer ocean water for a refreshing dip.

The even better news (at least for my sailing season,...), the season is predicted to stay warm through September with 'normal' rainfall:

NE is predicted to stay above normal through November. Could we be in the infancy of the 6 month New England sailing season?

There's nothing wrong with an "average" Maine summer. I may head up in early May this year to put a month in working on the boat before launching. My projects are a lot easier to do when the boat is sitting in a shed rather than in the water.

The hardest part is finding a place to live for a month without breaking the bank. I figure that early in the year we will have a better chance.