Hello all,

Finding a good position on the W32 for safe propane storage without it being in the way of something is a challenge. We'd thought of outboard of the gallows, building an airtight box in the lazarette, some PVC contraption on the boomkin, even cutting a hole in the deck and mounting fiberglass tubes in a recession outboard of the head's hanging locker and drawers. Then I thought "damn, we'll just put them in the cockpit in an easily removable way." It's certainly water tight and a propane leak will go out the scuppers.

I mounted three pad eyes to the walls of the cockpit and used small dacron line to tie the cylinder up against the rear corner of the bulkhead, and down. We didn't want to be able to fall on the cylinder, and we'd been meaning to make some sort of removable board system to render the quarter deck useful for under-the-star sleeping, so we mounted some fake-wood cleats along the sides of the cockpit and used Jatoba boards to create a removable flush-deck option. The after-most board stays in place even when sailing and is held down by strong bungy and a clip; it protects people from falling on the propane bottle, and adds a bit of sitting room. I plan to replace the bungy with dacron as we found the board could be pushed out of place by someone shifting their weight on it toward the bow.

Initially we were worried that this would be in the way of standing room in the cockpit, but we found that we never stand that far aft anyway, and it helps to cure the sailor-sitting-in-the-way-of-the-tiller syndrome.

Best of all, the board, propane bottle can be removed in about five minutes, retaining easy-access to the engine bay when necessary. We only have one squatty 14lb tank mounted presently, but another is on order and will fit beside the one that is in place.


Propane bottle mounted to after-port side of cockpit.

Board across the top for extra sitting-space and to prevent falling on the cylinder

Bungy with a clip on the end is used to hold the board securely down and against the back of the cockpit.

Cockpit slats in place, rendering the quarter deck a big lounging and sleeping area!


Perhaps this will work for someone else!

Happy sailing!
Aaron N.

Lazarette space is always at a premium, but if you can make the room, it's a solution.

From Boomkin

The owner many years ago made fiberglass covered wood boxes that hold a 2.5 Gallon propane tanks on either side of the cockpit.  I've since revalved and recertified the tanks and put a drain outboard of the hull.  Only the port tank is plumbed into the stove as it is pretty easy to switch tanks.  The safety valve is in the port box and is controled from the sensor panel in the cabin.  The doors are NOT air tight - the cockpit drains have been rerouted to just above the water line. 

From Cockpit and rigging.

The LPG lines go through a 1" SS tube sealed with Life Caulk through the cap rail and into the engine room and forward to the galley. 

The boxes are pretty good back rests.

Hope this helps.

Jay

Ken Bridger wrote:Any worries about a boarding wave while off shore?  How strong are they attached to the frame (ie designed to break away before damage to the frame)?   Waves sure pack a punch. Ken

Well, all I can say is that the boxes lasted thru 2 SF to HI crossings 20 years ago.  I suspect that a wave large enough to take the boxes off would do a lot of damage to the whole aft area not just the boxes.   The stb tank is the only connected tank and the gas line is "rubber" and would cut with a deck knife. 

Jay 

I have a (vented) teak box just aft of the mast that holds two 20 gal tanks.  On one hand I hate giving up the deck space but on the other I'm glad they are 'outside'.

A year or so ago I was anchored  close by a trimaran that was being 'stored' for some time at a marina.  Unknown to anyone during the night a thunderstorm blew thru and the boat was hit by lightning.

The next morning when I went to shore for some coffee I noticed all kinds of 'stuff' laying all around... pieces of plywood, chunks of this/that.  Apparently the owners had stored their *empty* gas Jjerry cans & ^empty* propane bottles below.   Nevertheless even after all that time it was stored there were enough fumes to effectively tun it into a bomb.  It blew about a third of the port ama aft completely apart.  Fortunately no one was onboard and the cabin and stb ama kept it afloat.

Be VERY careful stowing any gas cans, propane, etc. in any enclosed compartment.