Propane tank installations

[eastonwind]

New CD33 owner needs suggestions on how and where to install propane tank for new propane stove. Trying to bring Wind Flirt into modern conveniences. Hundreds of questions on finding parts, sheaves, chocks, etc.

[Jim Walsh]

I have my tank mounted on the stern rail. I have a Sunbrella cover just to make it more “yachty”. The PO had a propane tank box mounted in the lazarette which I removed and discarded.

[Paul D.]

I think for the 33 it makes sense to mount a tank on deck if there is no dedicated locker already. Femme has a propane locker built in during manufacture on the starboard side cockpit locker aft of a shallow stowage space and fuel fill. If this spot is available and you don't mind losing some of that stowage - lack of it being a shortfall of the boat in my opinion - it may be worth considering glassing a locker in there and running the drain out well above the waterline under the transom. If I were doing this project I would make the box is big enough for two aluminum 10lb tanks and dual regulator and solenoid. We have this system which I updated about eight years ago and it works really well.

Though we love our propane range and use it all the time, you are installing a whole system. So I would at least consider all other options before making that sort of install. Consider a simple Butane burner, gimbaled hanging gas burner, non pressurized alcohol stove like the Origo 6000 etc. I hear pressurized alcohol stoves are largely out of favour now. Depending upon how you truly cook, one of these different types may work well.

If deciding on propane, I usually like to search out Don Casey's writings when pondering stuff like this.

http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/pr ... ystems.asp

Hope this helps,

[mgphl52]

Last year I removed the the two-burner stove and propane tanks on KAYLA.
Now we use a simple, stainless steel, single-burner butane unit.
Serves us well for how we use KAYLA and is very portable.

[John Stone]

We built a propane locker under the aft cockpit seat in the Far Reach, a CD 36. We cut an opening in the cockpit seat. We built the box from 1/4” marine ply covered in fiberglass cloth and epoxy and glassed into the underside of the forward end of the lazerette. We designed and built a reverse plug out of wood in our shop. Glassed over the plug with epoxy and biaxial, popped the cured epoxy gutter flange, from the plug then glassed the “new gutter” under the deck around the cut out. The part of the deck we cut out to make the locker opening we turned into the lid. We purchased spartan hinges to match the existing cockpit locker hinges. We installed a bronze through hull abover the waterline and vented the locker to the through hull. Our locker holds three 10lb aluminum propane cylinders. Our lockers meets all the standards of ABYC and looks factory. I imagine you can make the same mod to a CD 33.

The details of the locker build can be found here.
http://www.farreachvoyages.com/projects ... ocker.html

[eastonwind]

Thank you for your replies.

[Ben Thomas]

On the 30 there is even less room for tanks. Made this with Baltic birch ribs and 1/8" Baltic birch ply. Sealed with epoxy inside and out. 2 part Awlgrip paint. Two 10lb. fiberglass tanks fit with regulator and solenoid fit inside. The fiberglass tanks are extremely light and see thru. Got the tanks first and built the locker around them. Lid overlaps body and has 4 latches to secure it. U clamps attach locker to stern rails. Backing plates inside locker.

[URL=http://s405.photobucket.com/user/B ... .jpg[/img][/url]

[Tom Keevil]

Paul, I'm curious about your built in locker. On Rover (#66), that space does not have a drain, and is thus not suitable for propane storage. Where does the drain exit?

[Paul D.]

Tom,

Femme is Hull 77. The propane locker drain goes via a short hose to a through hull right below the locker under the transom but well above the waterline, even when she squats. In this shot from a few years back, it is the smaller of the two on the starboard side. The larger one just above it is the manual bilge pump.

...And yes, that 1956 Link Belt is still hauling all our marina's boats in and out every season, including an old 25,000lb Columbia 11.8 meter! Old school, man.

[Sea Hunt Video]

Paul, my friend, let me tell you true. That photo would scare the bejezzus out of me if S/V Femme du Nord were my Cape Dory.

I don't know about "old school" (I have not been around sailboats long enough to appreciate "old school") but that crane looks like it is barely on the ground. A puff of wind and on its side it goes. The quote from Archimedes comes to mind "Give me a fulcrum and I shall move the world."

Knowing you and your experience and skill and your post I assume this is the way sailboats are routinely launched and hauled in your area and without any "incidents". Very different than in South Florida. All the marinas I have been to have one or two large lifts with the sailboat slung on straps in the middle and the lift is on at least 4 large wheels/tires with the sailboat in the middle. It may fall down if a strap breaks or slides (not tied together) but it will never just "tip over".

Femme du Nord is a beauty

[Paul D.]

Roberto,

Well, that Link Belt and the 80 year old man who's driving it have been hauling out boats since the 1970's together. I raise a glass, no, a stein to them. Plus, as I said, they put in my brother's and two other CD36's and other boats 10,000lbs heavier than Femme. So I'm OK with it. (I assure you all I am touching wood!)

When I worked in a marina I ran a travelift, which is a much better system than a crane but also has drawbacks - like missing a gear when coming down a hill with a boat in the straps! But that's another story. They seem to have it down to a system at Schooner Bay, where currently there are eight Cape Dories out of 53 boats. He's walked heavy boats up a hundred feet in soft red clay with that thing. It's a beast he's rebuilt at least once.

Thanks for your kind words for Femme. There is a certain beauty in all Cape Dories, no?

[John Stone]

Paul,
That’s a great photo. Wow! Sometimes we forget that the Travel-lift is a relatively recent invention. And as you have so clearly show, lots of places still don’t have a travel lift. They have been hauling boats out of the water with marine railways and cranes for a long time. I visited the Arms yacht club in Nova Scotia a while back and all the sailboats were stored on wooden cradles they pushed and pulled around dragging them with a small tractor.

Thanks for posting.

[Steve Laume]

As with just about anything, it's not so much the tool, as who is using it. I would trust the 80 yr old operator with that machine as long as they keep an eye on the hoses. I don't know how I would feel about the new guy, who will one day hop up into it and start moving boats around.

I am sure there have been a few mishaps with travel lifts as well, Steve.

[John Danicic]

Just to give a bit of background and to proceed far afield from the discussion about propane; the Link Belt excavator used as a crane to lift our boats was rebuilt from two abandoned Link Belts over a couple of long Wisconsin winters by a father/son team using the best parts from both. It starts up on the first try every Spring with a puff of black smoke and runs like a sewing machine, mostly only requiring a lube and fuel and the occasional home manufactured part to keep it going.

Cranes are used in our area for put-in with the sling system and steel overhead frames. There were a lot of quarrys in the area and early on, marinas used that discarded equipment to their advantage as well as the knowledgable and skillful crane operators. The two biggest marinas have modern travel lifts but most of the others use cranes. Some are older then our Link Belt.

Early in my time here, the marina owner and Link Belt creator, was getting ready to launch my boat. Mariah was in her cradle, mast up with the straps on and ready to be lifted. The self same 80 year old operator (who was in his late 60's at the time) motioned me over to the cab, leaned down and looked at me directly with a subtle gleam in his eye and, over the roar of the Diesel engine said, "How's your heart?" I mumbled something not sure what he meant. Satisfied that I had been duly warned, he them proceeded to lift Mariah out of her old wooden cradle, swung her around and crawled slowly down starting backwards to the launch deck over the mud, rotating to avoid trees, other boats and the various junk of a marina traveling about 200 feet to the launch deck. Disconcerting it was to see her teatering about, tucked in close to the cab but he knew his stuff and kept her from swinging wildly or even really, swinging at all. Not many people can be that patient and levitate a 16,000 lb boat through the air by twitching his hand on levers and controls with all markings worn off. A younger man would be in a hurry to get done so he could check his email.....

The sight of our boats in the capable straps of the Link Belt twice a year is a mixed feeling of emotions. The joy of a season of sailing ahead, and then there is the joy and knowledge of a season well sailed.

My homage to the Link Belt....

[Paul D.]

The Link Belt in repose!

But anyways...propane, yeah...