Before going to sea, provisions had to be planned for.
1. Water: 51 gallons in 2 13 gallon plastic tanks in the old icebox. and a 25 gal. bladder tank in the port locker.
2. food prep. A force 10 sea swing propane stove whose bottles were refilled from a 20 lb tank. A 1.5 liter Hawkins pressure cooker, and a couple other small pots.
3. 6oz. cans of fruit juices, Welches, v-8, etc. vitamin c. you know.
4. Breakfast: Cream of Wheat, incredibly dense, 1/8 cup makes plenty. Nature Valley granola bars an old favorite.
5. Brown Rice an extender for many dishes and it prepares in only 7 minutes with the pressure cooker.
6. Mountain House freeze dried meals; Purchased in #10 bulk cans and repackaged to single meals with a seal a meal. These come in a wide variety and can be supplimented with brown rice. Spam and hash browns; Various canned meats, with complementary gravies, small cans of veggies, These ingredients combined with rice to make rice glop a favorite of mine.
7. Cans of Green Chili; A Santa Fe culture favorite available only from El Paso to Denver, add veggies and rice for a great stew. Red chili and rice are pretty good too. Rice and spagetti sauce work well also. Nothing gormet here but health was maintained Fair Winds Phil
can you tell us how your propane refill process works? sounds like something I could use. John
John; Harbor Freight sells an adaptor that connects the Coleman tanks to a standard propane tank. Anhydrous Lanolin keeps the threads like new. The directions come with the adaptor. I purchased Brass caps from Cabelas, but I do not know if they are still available. I stow the spare cans in 4" pvc. pipe lashed to the stern pulpit. Needless to say the transfer process must be carried out with extreme caution under the most favorable of conditions. The Sea Swing stove is no longer in production, and the gas control valve on mine failed. Century Tool of Cherry Valley Ill. makes a free standing stove that is sold at sears under the Hillary Brand. I adopted this burner/ valve assembly to my sea swing by making a spacer from 3/4 ridgid copper Pipe cut to size and cross drilled to admit air. Works just fine and the stove costs only a little over $20. Hope this helps Phil
Phil,
I don't think I would trust refill my bottles. I have 2 new ones still in the wrapper that were 2 weeks old on the 4th. Went to use one and found the bottom rusty. I keep them in my fuel locker in the cockpit.
Would trust many items sold at harbor freight. Everything sure looks cheaply made.
Grime; You hit the nail on the head concerning rust on the Coleman fuel bottles, they require constant attention. After 2 years at sea my bottles were as good as new. I kept a small can of paint aboard and constantly sand and repaint my bottles. As for the adaptor its one of the few items H.F. sells made in USA, and has been bullet proof. The Coleman system is not available in Europe so there are no other choices for us with the system. You're the captain and your concerns are not without merit. Fair Winds Phil
Phil,
I am glad you had success with refilling the 1# bottles. I tried it, and never could seem to get enough propane into them to make it worth while.
I tried turning the big tank upsidedown, and even tried putting the MT's in the freezer first.
Seems like I would I could get them to about %25 full (based on the burn time) but not much more then that.
Do you have a secret trick, or was the shorter use between fills acceptable for your purpose?
Faith; The pressures available in a 20# tank are far less than at the coleman factory so a full fill is not possible. I found that by putting my ear to the coleman tank I could hear the fuel flow into the tank. This was with the 20# tank upside down. The best I could do was about 50% and I just had to live with it. Each fill could take 10-20 minutes depending upon the amount in the large tank. Hope this helps Phil
You might want to try depressing the valve near the neck. This should release
the excess pressure allowing more fluid into the canister. I would only try this
outside as you might get a lot of vapors floating around. Remember these cans
are not supposed to be refilled. You can buy cans that are meant to be refilled
but they are a bit pricey.
Fair winds,
Pappy Jack
Where? Phil
I bought mine at a farm co-op some years ago. You might try a company that sells LP.
They might have one or know where you could get one.
Fair winds,
Pappy Jack