Fortunately, the 2 people aboard were not seriously hurt. It seemed there had been a leak of propane, and when the man went to the galley to make a pot of coffee, the spark ignited the gas. We later saw the boat in a yard where we had hauled out. This was about a 50 foot power boat. The explosion had taken the whole deck off--as if a can opener had been used! The anchor chain on the windless stopped short the skyward movement of the deck, and it pivoted, crashing back down sideways onto the boat. Thankfully, there was no fire.

Next year. Zihuatanejo, Mexico. We had done an overnight sail from someplace and anchored late in the afternoon. We didn't bother to put the dinghy in the water as we knew we wouldn't go ashore until the next day. Just after breakfast we were getting ourselves organized, and again--KABOOM! Explosion! This time we knew it was close! But again, we couldn't see anything. As we were launching the dinghy we heard excited shouting and saw smoke coming from a nearby sailboat. Some local men were trying to throw water on the boat from their canoe. We shouted at another crew who were on their deck with a dinghy afloat to get a fire extinguisher. We did the same, and between Al and the other guy, doused the flames and smoky fire.

But it would go out, then re-flare, out, re-flare. Finally, Al heard a slight hissing noise. It was a propane tank, the valve not fully closed! Once shut, the fire was completely contained. The locals went to find the owner who had gone ashore for breakfast. Speculation was that the leaking gas from the propane bottle was ignited by the pilot light from the water heater which he had not shut down after a morning shower. Anyway, what a mess in that boat. The owner couldn't stay aboard, and the boat sank overnight. Probably a melted hose gave way. We later heard that the boat had been raised and was under repair. The owner was a Fire Marshall!

These incidents illustrate that propane is certainly something to have a healthy respect for. In our BACCHUS years we had a propane stove, while most of the other cruising boats had kerosene or alcohol. Nowadays, it is unusual to find a boat without propane for cooking. So how do we deal with propane, safety, storage, and all?

We carry two 20lb (9 kilo) aluminum propane tanks. The tanks are stored in our aft lazarrette which is right at the stern of SUNFLOWER. This locker has a waterproof and gas proof (we hope) bulkhead. We also store all paints, thinners, gasoline and jerry jugs, and the outboard motor when on passage, in that lazarrette too. There are 2 drain holes at the bottom of the locker that vent overboard. The tanks have a bracket to hold them in place. The regulator and hose is situated so that it is easy to change from one tank to the other. The hose is regular LPG approved hose. It is a continuous length from the tank to the stove. Where it passes through the vapor tight bulkhead it is sealed with goop of some sort.

We have a solenoid cutoff valve; the switch for the solenoid is in the galley and must be turned on in order for gas to flow to the stove. We switch on to cook, then off when finished. There is a bright red light to remind you to turn off the switch.

Propane can sometimes be difficult to obtain while cruising. We have found that by taking our tanks to the main gas depot, they can always be filled, but it is not always easy or convenient to get to the main depot! Here in Malaysia the tanks do not have the same fittings (US type) as our tanks. But they do in Thailand. So we try to make sure our tanks get filled while we are in Thailand. Cruisers here often carry a "pigtail" adapter and are able to transfer gas from a local type tank to their own propane tanks. We have done this ourselves, but prefer not to.

In the UK there was confusion as to what type of gas went into our tank because they were not red or yellow designated. In Holland we found we could go to certain gasoline stations for a fill - and they had a whole handful of fittings and adapters. Singapore refused to fill the tanks because they were aluminum. I forget how we sweet talked them into doing it.

Actually, up until now, we knew what kind of "gas mileage" we could get out of our 2 tanks. In this climate cooking time tends to short--it's too hot for big baked meals, which are too heavy to enjoy anyway, and eating ashore is very inexpensive and quite good. I knew I could get at least 3 months per tank of use on my very economical stove. Now I'm not so sure of what my gas consumption will be--because I have a NEW STOVE!!

This is a major accomplishment. I have maintained my original stove for the last 26 years. It was a Hiller Range, 3 burners on the top with an oven. I would have very happily replaced this stove with another Hiller Range years ago. Except for one thing: my 3 burner configuration has the single burner in the front, the other 2 in the back of the stove top. Hiller Range had changed the burner placement to just the opposite - 2 in front and one in the back, and would not offer the original. I cook a lot in a fry pan, a wok, or my pressure cooker. I want those pans in front of me, especially at sea, not on the back of the stove. I don't want to have to reach over something cooking on the front burners. Also, my big pans fit on the single burner in front; they do not sit square over the burner when there are 2 side by side. So I have searched, and dragged a file around called STOVES, and Emailed likely and unlikely candidates with my stove requirements to no avail.

During our recent travels in the States we visited the Galley Maid Company in Florida. Voila! A stove with one burner front, 2 in the back! We bought it and had it shipped to us in Langkawi. Now it is installed. In general I am pleased with the stove. I like the automatic LOW setting on the burner knob in particular. I have even used the oven (a labor of love in this heat!). It is all stainless steel and terribly shiny and intimidating!

Couple of things I don't like so far:
1) it has a grate all across the top of the stove that acts as the burner grills. This grate is not flat. None of my pans sit flat on the grate--they wobble.
2) the "holes" in this grate are fairly wide spaced; my small pans tip in the hole if they are not centered exactly over the opening for the burner underneath. My favorite butter melting pan I cannot use at all.
3) with this grate it is more awkward to use the flat area of the stove top as a gimballed surface to hold things when sailing.
4) there are no burner "wells" to catch the inevitable spills and boil-overs. Such spills are free to flow merrily across the top of the stove and over the sides. I can envision such a mess at sea. I may have to invent something with aluminum foil to deal with the problem.
5) the only knob with a positive lock is the oven control. The burners are free turning; wish they did a push and turn like the oven.
6) the oven handle is sharp edged and gets very hot. I may have Al figure out how to put a teak molding over it.
7) the oven door does not open fully flat. Why not? Is this better when gimballed?

Well we haven't had the stove for very long and Al says it'll take time for me to get used to things--like having to hold the knob in for 10 seconds to keep the burner flame going after it lights. But you know what? I have talked to a lot of other cruising women about their stoves, and they all have complaints of one sort or another. I think that "When I rule the world" I am going to require all marine stove designers and manufacturers to spend at least 2 weeks at sea cooking on their design!

previous

highlights page

next