CNG availability on the Great Loop

[Sailor Nin]

We are considering a Hunter Legend with CNG stove. I've heard CNG is not also available, but I've heard this from cruisers in Southern California to Mexico. What about the Great Loop. Is finding CNG for the stove a problem? Thanks for help.

[boatpoker]

CNG makes a lot of sense to me for various reasons but the most common response you will get when asking for a refill is ...... Wha ?

[valhalla360]

LPG is the commonly available cooking fuel.


I don't doubt you can find CNG along the loop but expect to take a lot of taxi rides to find it CNG.

[Sailor Nin]

Thank you for your repies (Valhalla and BoatPoker) After the taxi ride are the tanks easily refilled. I've read about adaptors, etc.

[boatpoker]

Re-filling is easy ...... if you can even find a place to do it.
It was a great idea that never took off.

[boatpoker]

Found this article about CNG availability in Florida. I am currently in the Bahamas and just did a search online ..... can't find any here.

[Sdwcheney]

You might want to check:Your Great Loop boat requirements and restrictions
A Hunter sailboat might not be a good boat for the Great Loop

[rwidman]

I can't help you with the availability of CNG but one option might be to convert your stove to propane. It may be as simple as replacing the jets on the stove. Any shop that installs and repairs gas appliances should be able to do it.

Propane is much more available. In my town, even grocery stores have it.

[hamburking]

I Live on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario. I also bought a Hunter sailboat with a CNG stove. Although CNG is available for automotive use, I could not find anyplace that would fill my tanks...and I looked pretty hard! I finally had to drive 3 hours to an industrial gases place in Toronto and it cost a fortune to upgrade a pair of tanks to canadian safety standards and fill them up once.

Long story short, you will not be able to fill your CNG tanks in Canada, to the best of my knowledge, from my actual experience. It would be cheaper and simpler to convert to propane, or just install a new stove. Yes, Propane is available, but due to new laws, most places offer only tank exchange, and many will only exchange their brand of tanks. Works fine if you live here, not so good if you are passing through.

My preference is the Origo stove/oven (aka Cookmate in canada). Great stove, easy install, and fuel is available at almost any paint store, hardware store, or gas station around the world.

[akprb]

We have a Legend 40.5 which has twin CNG tanks. I can't speak for the great loop but I will say we've been able to find with out too much fuss and they last a long time.

A few calls to local propane utilities gets us dialed in :-) So far we have purchased in Newport and Fort Pierce.

[a64pilot]

This is cut n pasted out of the link you gave

Even if you don't know how to sail and never learn, an auxiliary powered (live a-board size) sailboat offers the most economical long-distance voyaging available.
Many "sailors" don't think they can cruise the Great Loop. Fact is however, they can. If your mast is less than 65' above the water, and your draft is less than 6' the trip around is
possible. If your draft is 5' or less, and you take your mast off - you'll have no problems cruising the Loop.
Of course, sailboats must have their mast removed before entering the Erie Canal, and before entering Chicago or the Cal-Sag. There are facilities to raise and lower your mast
near these locations where it is needed.
What you may not know is that the design of the sailboat's displacement hull makes it the very most economical vessel on the water. Think about it! Sailboats are designed to
move easily through the water in the slightest breeze. As a result, it requires a very minimum amount of horse power to move these vessels through the water.

For example:
A 32' to 36' (live a-board size) Sailboat might be rated for a 10 to 25hp engine and have a 8 mph fuel burn rate of 0.4 to 0.8 gallons per hour.
A 32' to 36' Trawler might be rated for a minimum 350hp single engine and have a 8 mph fuel burn rate of 4 gallons an hour (or more). Twin engines might have a fuel burn
rate of 10 gallons (or more). In addition, it is almost impossible to go only 8 mph in a twin engine Trawler. Most travel much faster - simply because they can.

For this reason, you can not obtain a more economical live a-board vessel to cruise the Great Loop - even if you take off the mast or never raise the sails. My last voyage in
fact, I cut the masts off my 36 foot center cockpit ketch (sailboat) at a height 13 feet above the water. I mounted my antennas and anchor lights to the shortened masts and had a
great Bimini top installed that covered almost the entire vessel. Burning an average of slightly less than 1 gallon an hour, I made the Loop in complete comfort and without wait and
worry over mast height.

Learning to sail is easy and fun. Surprisingly to many beginners, it comes natural once they realize there really isn't anything hard or difficult about it. With a few lessons, a
sailboat will also open your "side trip" options to include a greater range of boating capabilities - such as the Caribbean and the rest of the world.

[skipper53]

The Corp Brothers, Inc. website lists 5 places in Florida where CNG is available.

[a64pilot]

Can you get a few extra tanks? It shouldn't be nearly as dangerous to store as propane and if you have a few months supply, then when you find it, your set for a few months more.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by hamburking

........... It would be cheaper and simpler to convert to propane, or just install a new stove. Yes, Propane is available, but due to new laws, most places offer only tank exchange, and many will only exchange their brand of tanks...............

In the USA, that is not the case. Even grocery stores have a tank exchange program. Leave your old tank and pay $20 or so for a refurbished, full tank. Actually, that's what I do even though there are places around that will actually refill your own tank. The exchange gets rid on my (usually) rusty tank for a freshly painted one.

[captstu]

There seems to be some confusion on this thread. Compressed natural gas (CNG) is somewhat safer than propane because it is lighter than air doesn't present explosion hazard if it leaks in the bilge. But it is stored under high-pressure as a gas in the tank that must be strong enough to withstand the pressure. Special handling is required to fill the gas under high-pressure.

Propane is a liquid under modest pressure and can be stored in a tank without extensive safety precautions in the design of the tank. Propane tanks are quite inexpensive and are generally exchange rather than refilled because it is easier for retail outlets to store and return the tanks.


Compressed natural gas systems can be converted to propane relatively easily, usually by just changing the orifice a small part in each burner. Conversion of propane tanks to CNG is not practical because the lines design for propane are not designed to handle the pressure of CNG.

If you were contemplating a long trip outside of the CNG refill area in the United States, you might consider just purchasing enough CNG tanks to last the last of your trip. The tanks are quite strong, leaks are very rare, and the cost of the tanks may be Worth the effort you avoid having to hot for a welding supply or gas supply house they can fill your tank.