stove and propane line

i picked up a gimbaled stove off craigslist for $100. as a chef i want a proper kitchen in my galley. this project took about 2 weeks working on and off. having to search for parts, order parts, return things, company staying with us...it took a while but we're very happy now.

here's our old set up. mini fridge at the bottom. which is nice if you're living off shore power. but i want this boat to be off the grid and this will take too much of our power. my nice convection oven that i got at costco, used for a year, then returned for full price! and then our one burner camping stove. pretty ghetto set up but it worked for well over a year.

here's the new stove i picked up off craigslist.

everything removed. 

i got some old copper from work and added on to the copper that was already there. there were some scars on the wall from my demolition that needed to be covered.

claire and i ran the 30ft. of propane line that we ordered through west marine.

we threw a few loops in the line to keep it slack. this prevents any chaffing while the stove swings. we don't want that propane line to get any cracks and leak on us.

outside we installed this black unit which is solid stainless steel with a belt strap. it's meant to hold igloo coolers off the back of work trucks, but it will hold our propane tank just fine.

i sprayed the mounts with my blue rust proof tractor paint just to insure it lasts the elements.

supports through the bottom too. damn the hidden spots on this boat are nasty and need to be loved some day.

here it is mounted.

we poked a hole and ran the line through. i picked up propane line protectors (the metal slinky) so nothing can damage the line outside of the boat.

got a T valve to split the propane line. the 30ft. runs inside to the stove and i capped the other end. it's going to be hooked to the grill once i pick up that attachment.

chained it down and pad locked it to the boat to prevent theft and incase it tries to fall overboard.

back inside, the line connected to the stove with another chaff protector.

gimbals we put it

this piece locks the stove into the wall to keep it from swinging while we're docked or when the boat is level.

checking the unit. it works! to prevent gas leaking we turn the tank off before the actual burner. this way it keeps the line open and burns off any existing fuel out of the line.

our new cutting board! my mother and i found this at minney's parking lot sale too. i cut it to fit perfectly on top of the stove. its big enough to butcher fish on! the cutting board comes off and slides under the stove snugly while we're sailing.

or to make a pb&j

our new galley!

(note to the left of the stove, that white scarred wall was covered by the copper)

spit shine

well my mother and my cousin taylor came and stayed on the boat with claire and i a couple weeks ago. we did a lot of cleaning/organizing before, during, and after their stay!

a few days before they came i totally emptied both the quarter berths. scrubbed them out completely. my mom slept on the port side quarter berth which would be on your right in this photo.

taylor, my mother debbie-lyn, and of course myself enjoying a train/ferry trip to coronado

my mother insisted that the boat needed a wax job so she bought me a 3M fiberglass oxidation product that only needs to be applied once or twice a year.

taylor helped

notice the fresh wax on the left and the oxidation on your right.

they went for an exploration walk on the beach while i sat behind and built this...

my mom was all about helping find new things for the boat. here's an awesome stainless steel vintage towel rod she picked up.

this is for you mother! that teak storage shelf just under the mirror is something new that we found at minney's street sale. i had to rearrange the whole wall to fit it in but it worked out great. claire sat back and told me where to hold all the frames just to make sure everything was laid out perfectly. we decided to use the new teak shelf for our mail, pens, and notes.

while my mom and taylor were here we got a lot of cool baskets and storage containers for some of our food, clothing, and tools. plus we scored on dividers for all the drawers and they are super clean now. it's important for everything on my boat to be in it's proper place so that i can always find it when i need it. 

new compass

so we have 2 compasses in our cockpit. port and starboard. i believe this boat used to be a racer because of certain things like this that i've noticed. well both of the old compasses are shot. the starboard one was completely ruined as you can see below. the port side isn't as badly sun damaged and can still be read, even though it's leaked some of the liquid out. i chose to replace the starboard compass for two reasons; it was the worse of the two and it was the farthest from my electrical circuit panel. (which can cause deviation with the magnetic fields.)

check out how bad this thing was. barely any liquid left in it and completely sun damaged.

there's the hole!

of course Piña is always there to help when i'm doing projects!

the new compass came with a cut out stencil sticker. pretty helpful. the old hole was pretty much the same size, so all i needed to do was cut that squared bottom.

i chose the plastimo contest 101 for this reason! it's a double vision!! inside and outside the cabin. i like this because if we're inside and have the auto tiller working the helm than i can just check the compass every so often to make sure we're still on course without having to step outside. pretty convenient!

so here it is mounted in it's new hole. it also has a little LED light that i'll connect to my circuit board another time when i have some daylight to work in.

ta-da! they even sold it in blue and yellow. perfect match.

and it came with a sweet clip on cover to block out the sun. this one isn't going to get destroyed.

sailing dana point

claire and i try to sail at least once a week. we both have mondays and tuesdays off together which is nice. most people are busy starting their work week so the harbor is less crowded and we can sail free. here's just a few recent pictures of our past few sails together. don't forget to check on Piña's page, every so often i'll add new pictures of her!

sailing wing n wing with the whisker pole on a pleasant afternoon.

my cute little claire tending to our main sail like a bad ass!

we're proud to fly our north carolina heritage with us.

heading towards dana point

first sailing race!

thirsty thursday sailing races happen every week in our harbor. a couple weeks ago i got a call after work from my fellow sailing friend, brian. he invited me to join his old crew for a leisurely race. winners get free drinks at the yacht club bar after the race. well of course we won! apparently this crew and their boat used to do every single race they could for many years. besama a 36' beneteau. what a beautiful boat. you can tell she has had her glory days. but for someone like me with a 28' fixer upper, i had a big crush on that boat. i enjoyed racing, i could definitely do more of them. i don't know if it'd become a big hobby or sport for me, but i can see how participating more often can really help the cruising lifestyle.

this isn't the exact floor plan but very similar.

stern anchor

so i've got my danforth stern anchor mounted on the rail. i like it but i'm thinking it's a temporary spot, depending on where i put the propane tank and the solar panels. i'm on the hunt for a bow roller for my 33lb. lewmar bruce claw. they're about $2-350 brand new, which i might have to splurge on if i can't find one used for cheap soon. i don't mind too much though because its what we're going to be sleeping on almost every single night. i want to trust it.

so we've got about 120 ft. tri braid line with 30 ft. 5/8 inch galvanized chain for our danforth stern anchor

danforth rail mount i got for cheap from minney's cleaned it up and got new stainless screws

that's how she'll hang. probably have to move it over though. it's kind of annoying when reaching down for the outboard.

it's nice to have the anchor out, ready to drop, and safely secured.

chain runs through the vent and into the lazarette where it is neatly stored in a crate. when the time comes we can just pull it through the vent and drop it. 

i also took the time to organize the lazarette. filled our 8 and 5 gallon gas cans. treated with sta-bil. i also put new screws into the lid for the lazarette because it was falling off. probably have to clean and repaint the inside of that lid!

here's our new temporary layout of the aft cockpit. got the new tiller with her canvas cover. switched the grill to the other side. put on my rod holer. and of course the stern anchor.

right now i'm working on installing our propane line. we removed our mini fridge because we won't be getting enough power to run that while cruising. so last week we got the 3 burner gimbaled stove/oven installed! we took it on a few practice sails and it swings great! i ordered 30 ft. of marine grade propane line from west marine. i also got a T valve for the propane regulator. so the tank will be firmly stored right under the grill. the line will split at the T valve and a few foot long hose will run to the grill, while the 30 ft. line runs into the cabin to the gimbaled stove. everything will be safe and secure. i've been hearing from friends with similar set ups that a 4.5 gallon propane tank will last them 3-6 months cooking every day. we're quite excited for this.