Girl with patreon account goes sailing in hot place

[accnick]

In my research for propane usage, a friend has the worst set up I think: 1 11lb horizontal tank. He (with a similar boat to mine with a deck box), opted for the one 11tank as it fit nicely in the deck box.

So he knows the BTUs in and roughly estimates the BTU's, burned. But in practice, it would be a job keeping track of burner hours.

He has settled on a number of days of use, then takes the tank off the boat to get it filled.

Do you feel lucky, go another few days, maybe roast that turkey,...No doubt you pull it off much more often and probably would have been better off with 2 5's.

Clearly, more than one tank is the best way to go, even if they are small like 5 pounders I installed.

Multiple tanks are the failsafe (well, almost) approach. I start out every season with both 10 pound tanks full, and run off the tank that is easiest to remove. When that runs out, I switch to the other tank and fill the empty one as soon as practical.

It takes all of about 30 seconds to switch between tanks, as you just rotate the tank selector knob on the regulator assembly and open the new tank valve.

I don't think we've ever used more than two whole tanks during the 3-4 months we live aboard in the summer.

Pressure gauge on each tank is handy as a leak detector, but that's all it is.

If you have a reasonably accurate hanging scale or bathroom scale, it's easy to see how much propane is in the tank, since all tanks have the tare (empty) weight stamped on them. Just picking the tank up will give you a rough idea of how much you have left, if you have a reasonable sense of weight.

Frankly, I rarely check, since I always have a spare tank ready to go.

It's not a bad idea to carry spare POL o-rings, as these compress over time and can cause leaks in the long run. Make sure you buy o-rings of the right material, not just some o-ring that happens to be the right size. You can get those at most good hardware stores.

 

[chester]

With the fiberglass tanks check at night with a flashlight. Super easy to see then.

Our 17 capacity fiberglass tank would last 6-8 weeks. Oven use was a heavy consumer because you would have a burner on for say 1 hr vs stovetop cooking where it might be 10 or 20 minutes.

thanks. also, if you are able, rock the tank basck and forth. that usually lets you focus on the level of propane in the tank and you can locate it as it settles down

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

Clearly, more than one tank is the best way to go, even if they are small like 5 pounders I installed.

Yup, I installed two 20’s on our boat. We never have to think about it too much (unless you’re out sailing for months at a time, in which case you’re checking and filling other things as well, so it becomes part of your routine.). If out for longer, I’d carry my backcountry/mountaineering/stove as well as a back up.

I recall years ago when we really were younger and crazier, with a new baby aboard, and I had a lot of the boat torn apart or at least various big projects were in process. I had removed the toilet to completely redo the head (we used then-very friendly/amenable/cheap YC bathroom/shower ashore). And I had removed the stinky old Taylor’s Paraffin cookstove and fuel tank, to install propane and other galley necessities where the kerosene tank was.

One dark winter Sunday night…pasta boiling on the substitute 2-burner camp stove with one of those screw-on green 1-lb cylinders. Ran outta gas…didn’t have another one

Times have changed

 

[TheDragon]

Our 17 capacity fiberglass tank would last 6-8 weeks. Oven use was a heavy consumer because you would have a burner on for say 1 hr vs stovetop cooking where it might be 10 or 20 minutes.

I use my oven to keep eggs and spare electronics safe, hence my low gas usage, even cooking 2-3 meals most days for six months

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

I use my oven to keep eggs and spare electronics safe, hence my low gas usage, even cooking 2-3 meals most days for six months

How does keeping eggs in the oven keep them safe? You wedge them in there in a box so that it can’t move around?

Interesting idea - they are challenging to preserve (not break). We use one of those hard plastic, hinged camping-type egg holders, but the plastic hinge is of course breaking now - they’ll last a year or so maybe a few? Taping it shut is annoying! Sounds silly but I don’t like store eggs aboard without a good “system” since then breaking can be a bad mess (we adore them in a built in ice chest, which drains to bilge).

 

[Kris Cringle]

It gets too warm these days on the coast of Maine to use the oven much in July and August. We do tend to use it more in June, September and November.

Near as I can estimate, my oven burner uses about 8-10K btus/hr. But with a thermostat, how often is it burning? 60-75%?

And stove top burners, except for the oversized burner rings, use about 4K btus/hr. But how often are those burners on high?

Our grill burner uses 8K at full but we usually have it on low, so,..not much more than a range top burner. I know I get about 3 'grills' out of a 1 pound cylinder (which is about 20K btus).

91,000 btu's in a gallon of LPG, no wonder it goes far.

 

[socalrider]

Clearly, more than one tank is the best way to go, even if they are small like 5 pounders I installed.

I don't know about the fittings, but couldn't your friend keep one of those green 1lb screw-on canisters on board to cover when the tank inevitably runs out 45 minutes after you put the turkey in the oven?

 

[Kris Cringle]

I don't know about the fittings, but couldn't your friend keep one of those green 1lb screw-on canisters on board to cover when the tank inevitably runs out 45 minutes after you put the turkey in the oven?

Hmmm. You could connect it easily enough. This is a question for Whinging Pom!

 

[monkphunk]

If out for longer, I’d carry my backcountry/mountaineering/stove as well as a back up.

We actually do this - a Trangia. It runs on the denatured alcohol we keep on board to prime the kerosene heater. Haven't had to use it in anger on the boat, but it's nice for a picnic on the beach.

 

[low bum]

Trangias work brilliantly. Just don't set them on anything more combustible or meltable than a rock.

 

[TheDragon]

How does keeping eggs in the oven keep them safe? You wedge them in there in a box so that it can’t move around?

Interesting idea - they are challenging to preserve (not break). We use one of those hard plastic, hinged camping-type egg holders, but the plastic hinge is of course breaking now - they’ll last a year or so maybe a few? Taping it shut is annoying! Sounds silly but I don’t like store eggs aboard without a good “system” since then breaking can be a bad mess (we adore them in a built in ice chest, which drains to bilge).

The stove/oven is gimballed, so I just put them in there in the cardboard carton they came in, never a problem moving around and I had some rough times, short of a storm. In case you do not know, the only essential religion on a cruising boat out for weeks is to turn the eggs over each day, easy to do in a carton, just flip it over. For the ocean crossing from Panama to Nuku Hiva I bought a plastic-wrapped double-layer cardboard stack of 72 eggs at a bulk-store called Pricesmart in Panama City, and had four left on arrival 37 days later, still edible although the yolk was not intact upon breaking. You must have un-refrigerated eggs, routinely available in Panama and most out-of-the-way places like French Polynesia or Fiji, not so easy in the US. I met a catamaran with a family of four who bought about 300 eggs for their passage, not knowing this and they had been refrigerated, and all were rotten within a week and went overboard.

 

[justsomeguy!]

turn the eggs over each day

Huh?

 

[jmh2002]

Turning them regularly is part of the normal procedure to keep eggs fresh for extended periods.

Man, this is turning into cruising forums...

All these tips come from decades ago.

 

[justsomeguy!]

Turning them regularly is part of the normal procedure to keep eggs fresh fertilized eggs viable during extended periods their gestation.

What I thought.
Something like a 50% failure to hatch if they aren't turned.
But I did find something to back up the eatin' egg freshness thing.

Sailors’ Tips to Keep Eggs Fresh for Months — Julie Bradley | Author

Incredible eggs can last for three months if you pamper them.

www.juliebradleyauthor.com

 

[Kurtz]

Is carrying livestock on extended voyages frowned upon these days?

2 x chooks on board would supply enough eggs for a couple, and a decent roast before customs clearance towards the end of voyage.

Goats also have a heap of uses, especially for the solo sailors.

 

[Priscilla]

Goats also have a heap of uses, especially for the solo sailors.

Yeah but cloven hooves are pretty hard on teak decks.

 

[Kurtz]

Kiwi sailing tech evolved a work around for this, XXXXL deck gumboots

 

[Whinging Pom]

I think it's bonkers not to have some sort of reserve cooking ability if you are at sea for any considerable length of time. Either spare gas cylinders or a small jet boil or similar. On my Atlantic circuit I carried three gas cylinders, plus a blowtorch which was mainly used to light the charcoal barbecue. Belt and braces.

 

[Kurtz]

I've cooked a pepperoni pizza in a jetboil. It was ok

 

[Zonker]

Friend did a delivery from Hawaii to Seattle. Boat was all electric. On day 2 generator fails; all documentation is in French.

They cooked in a CHARCOAL bbq inside the boat because it was so rough.