Philip
06/23/2007, New Jersey

Once again, I am very grateful to my friend Bill Noe who made a wonderful propane box for my new tanks. Thanks Bill!

The final choice of composite tanks was part of a problem I had been wrestling with for some time, and I finally believe I have a good solution. As with all things on boats it is a compromise between what would be ideal, and what can actually be done.

If you review some of the pictures in the album of Jabulani from last season, you will notice we had a narrow 6lb aluminium tank strapped to the dog-house. The capacity was limited, it was in the way and unsafe, and was expensive (about $150).

After some deliberation, I decided to design a propane box that would use the space on deck near the mast. This would mean a longer run of the hose, and we couldn't just pop our heads out of the companion way to open and close the tank, but its a safer location, and the new tanks are 10 lb tanks, and I have 2 of them. Not only that, but in the last few years a new technology has been applied to propane tank construction, and that is the use of composites. Composite tanks have several advantages over tradition steel (read rust) or Aluminium (read expensive) tanks. They are lighter, semi-transparent (you can see the propane level), they don't rust, and they are half the price of a similar aluminium tank.

I will install the box soon, keep watching this space.

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Philip
04/23/2006, Georgetown, MD

TASK	PRIORITY	COMMENTS
Replace Staysail Turnbuckle fork with eye	High	On order
Haul out for checkout at GNBY	High	Planned for 4/29
Change Oil	High	Before Memorial day cruise

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