winter projects

[melp64]

Hard to believe it is almost time to cover the boat for a second time. I am starting to pull items out of the boat that I will be able to work on over the winter. First one is the CNG stove I have found another 2 burner propane stove and oven and this winter I am going to try to convert it to propane, if it doesn't work I will be no worse off. If it does then Ill build a propane locker. I like the one on this site but maybe a two cylinder?
Before I cover I need to have all the plywood cut for the countertops, I'll bring these home also as I want to try to make white epoxy countertops. I almost have all of the teak trim pieces refinished already, and will need to reattach when the countertops are complete. My big hold up is the bathroom bulkhead, there is so much damage from water that half of it is rotten I plan on cutting out the rotten areas tab in new half in plywood, all the areas in the bathroom I am going to install new FRP board. This will make the bathroom look brand new. I wish I had two more month of weekends that would make it for sure that I will splash next year. With the bathroom and all the countertops that were rotten its looking like next year splash may be a dream.

[Jon W]

I made a 2 cylinder propane locker and have a write-up with photo's in the Tech WIKI you're welcome to look at for ideas. It holds an 11lb tank for the galley 2 burner stove, and a 5lb tank for my bbq on the cockpit rail.

[Ron Hill]

Dan : I'll guess that you might be looking at my 11lb tank propane box that I made from the 1 gal. tank box??

What I found is that with that 11/12 lb bottle that I only needed to "top it off" with a refill once a year.  We average 100 overnights on the boat (away from the slip) each year.  We took 6 weeks in the spring and 6 weeks in the fall to cruise the Chesapeake Bay.  6 nights at anchor and 1 night in a marina ( pump out and empty trash!!).
When the WX was cool we usually baked muffins in the oven to warm up the cabin!!  Bottom line is that I found it was not necessary to carry more than that 11 lb bottle. i always had extra propane bottles for the grill, but never had to use them other than for the grill !!!

A few thoughts

[Jon W]

Dan, FWIW Don Casey's rule of thumb is 1lb of propane will last 1 person 1 week cooking 3 meals a day.