Déjà vu, I think I have used this title before…….
I could have called it the propane fiasco, but that started
giving me flashbacks too, for some reason, must have been from my time over
seas.
Okay, the story begins a year and a half ago at the Toronto boat show where a
deal offered itself to us. Two composite propane tanks from the Lite Cylinder
Co.; stop me if you heard this one… I designed the propane lockers in our aft
seat to hold these things of beauty, a little room for the gauge, the regulator
and piping, etc. etc…..
For a year and a half they have followed us around waiting
for the day that we would have the two burner stove with oven installed,
connected, and making us eggs and toast. Then last week, after 3 days of
running around looking for parts, we finally had the system up and running,
filled both tanks, and tested for leaks. Of course the temperatures were in the
30`s, and nobody wants to cook in a tiny fibreglass bottle at 30 deg Celsius.
Sunday morning the temperatures came back to human levels, and I decided to
take away our stove`s virginity with a generous helping of fried eggs. It was
great, the ENO stove was awesome, better than I ever expected.
Then the cloud of darkness came in the afternoon. Sorry Don,
but thank you. Without you, we probably would have gone along obliviously until
someone finally refused to fill the tanks, or we were removed from the planet
in a rather spectacular flash. Our friends Don and Tracy let us know that they
had read about a recall on our particular model, which said, ``stop using them
immediately.`` We decided that we better get a little more information before
throwing our $365 investment in the dumpster. So off to Timmy's free wifi. It turns out that the approving
authority in the US
had shut down the company. There is not a lot of information about the defects,
sounds more like a bun fight between another high and mighty government agency
and the little guy. Maybe they were short on their baksheesh. Anyway, the
effect is that every tank ever made by the company was ordered destroyed (55000
units), and because the company is insolvent, there is no money for
compensation.
Now I guess this would be good, depending on how you look at
it. We dodged a potential bullet, and now shouldn’t have to worry about getting
blown to bits. The loss of money is not a big deal, we`ve thrown away more than
that before. Eventually, like all bleeding cuts, they heal up and go away.
However, and here is the moral of the story, don`t build propane lockers to fit
a particular bottle, make them bigger…..
It looks like we are going with steel tanks for now, as
there is not quite enough room to fit in the aluminum ones, which would be our
first choice for durability, weight, and corrosion resistance. After watching
the gas leak out of the composites, removing the valves, and disposing of the
tanks, we think we are done with the composite route. We`ll wait until the
technology catches up.
Good news. Some more wiring is done. We moved out of the
storage unit. Everything we own is either in the truck or the boat, with a
little bit stored at Serena`s parents. I started the ships log, still no entries,
a weather log, and made a couple of entries in my journal. I bought a smaller
guitar. A Taylor ¾ size. It was expensive, at least by our standards, but she
is a beautiful piece of kit. I just have to learn to play it. And boat life is
starting to kick in.
We are way behind our schedule. And I was starting to get
the feeling that we were dangerously close to not going this year. Our friends
told us no matter what, we have to go. “Don’t wait until its ready, just go…”
So for them and for our own sanity, we are renewed in our quest to get off the
dock this year. The shakedown might just happen on the way to Oswego
and the Erie canal .
Breakfast of champions. Thanks again Don for the loan of the propane tank.
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