looking for info on kerosine stove

[kingfish]

Hello all,
Well I did it, I sold my catalina 30 and bought a nantucket clipper 32. After all the mods and praise I gave her I was just too woried about her fin keel and spade rudder. Now I am taking delivery of a 79 nantucket clipper next week, It has a propane stove that I need to replace with kerosine. The catalina had one already in her so I did not have to search for one. Dose anybodie know where I can find a new keosine stove/oven, Gimbeld of corse. Also, I have been told by many crusiers that propane is often very difficult to find in the pacific islands. Dose this statement hold water?
Cheers
D

[Ryan]

Try
PE Luke

My luke stove was kero before it was converted to propane. Expensive but very well made.

[Rick]

kero and diesel stoves make the cabin hot...not very nice in warm climes. They seem to take forever to heat up as compared to propane. In addition, the good quality propane stoves have infra-red broilers which make great steakes! Propane lasts a long time and with aluminum tanks easy to transport in the dinghy.

If you want the comforts of home (after all that's just what a cruising boat is) buy a good quality propane stove with commercial quality valves which make settability excellent, especially for simmering.

As a final note, I've always had a gimbaled stove and always would up locking the gimbal into a fixed position so that it wouldn't swing with accelerated movements of the boat...consider setting yours up to be able to lock it at any angle.

Everything Rick Just said, and, parifin stoves cost more. I will say the Taylors parafin stoves are the most beatiful marine stoves I have seen, but also the most costly. They are available through Defenders Industries. Having owned a Taylors parifin cabin heater, I will say you get quality for the money.
That being said. Why do you want to put out a couple thousand dollars to replace something that is not broken? Is it because of the mistaken rumor that propane is hard to get? It is not. Is it because you do not want propane on board? I lost two close friends and a guest house in a propane explosion, yet I have found that propane is as safe or safer than any liqud fuel if handled properly (airtight storage, leak detector etc.). parafin does not burn as efficiently as propane, and you can expect to consume substantially more than you would propane. A 20# propane tank lasts us about 3 months, and my wife cooks 7 nights a week (sailing is my passion, cooking is hers). And last, but not least, a relaxing evening in B.C. on a wooden boat with the parafin cooker going is a real treat. Cooking for 6 in San Diego on a 40' boat with a parafin cooker, in August, put everyone outside for the evening, and the cook in a foul mood.
Try the propane for a while. I think you will be hooked.

[roverhi]

Kerosene has very good heat output and would be willing to bet that it is comparable to propane or maybe even better. It certainly beats alcohol hands down. Don't know why anyone would have an alchohol stove, in any case, unless they also were big on self flagellation.

Kerosene stoves don't heat up the cabin anymore than any other heat source. The diesel stoves so favored by fishing boats and northern cruisers are actually cabin heaters that can be used to cook things. They are not the same or used the same as a cooking specific kerosene stove.

Propane is NOT available everywhere. If you are really going to the 'backwoods' you may not be able to get it anywhere within 500 miles of your location, btdt. I have also heard stories of extreme inconvenience in finding propane in supposedly civilized areas. Tales of having to hitchhike for miles to out of the way location to find a propane fill station.

Kerosene fuel is easy to store. Can be carried anywhere in plastic jerry jugs. Fuel consumption was extemely low in our 18 month cruise. We cooked 99% of our meals aboard and didn't need any additional fuel to what we left on the cruise with. You can also burn paint thinner instead of kerosene. In fact we switched to mineral spirits as our stove fuel because it was cheaper than kerosene and more easily found in 5 gallon tins in the US.

Last but not least, kerosene doesn't have the ticking bomb problems of propane. Yes you can mitigate the dangers of propane but it's still a gas that is heavier than air. Any leak is potential for an impromptu airborn adventure.

Kerosene's big negative is convenience. You have to prime the burners before lighting them. No instant on like propane. Only takes a minute or so but does force you to think twice before heating something up. We also had a problem with the burners clogging up if they weren't run wide open. Used heat diffuser pads to regulate heat so wasn't a deal, however.

So, would I go with kerosene over propane again, probably not. I don't plan on doing any cruising to inaccessible areas, however. If I was to buy a boat with a kerosene stove, I certainly wouldn't it chuck it and replace with Propane.

Just a thought about source of kerosene stove. Alcohol stoves and kerosene look awfully similar. You might check on the possibility of converting alcohol to kerosene. Looks like it could just involve switching burners but I haven't looked closely to be sure. Alcohol stoves appear to be a glut on the used market. The old all stainless shipmate stoves were reasonably well built and don't have the rust problems of some other makes.

Aloha
Peter O.

I have to agree about the alcohol monsters, and as far changing stoves, I would probably not change out a good diesel stove like a Taylors, but likewise, I would not replace the propane stove already installed with a diesel. Both have their benefits, and draw backs. Back to the original question, Taylors Taylors Taylors. Dickensen is a favorite around here for fishing boats, and is much less expensive than Taylors, but on a small boat, the Dickensen is extremely bulky. As I said before, the US distributer for Taylors is Defender Industries. Look for Taylor Lavac on line to locate distributers in other countries. As far as I know, Dickensen does not make a gimbled stove.