You might want to ask around about electric coffee makers on 12VDC. They don't have a great reputation, from what I remember.
No PM.Tkanzer I sent you a pm asking you about your 99 - 26x and how you like it. Get back to me if you can
The stove debate continues...
- Thread starter Tony E
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Sorry tkanzler...I am new here and probably didn't hit the right button or something? I was asking how do you like your 99 -26x? I am off next weekend to pick up a "new to me" 98-26x and I want to get your opinion on how they are. I noticed you had a few sailboats in your past and how does the 26x compare? Also, when a new person to sailing is looking at a sailboat to see if it is any good or not, what exactly am I looking for? Its so not like a car ...lol. Thanx for your help
See how it always turns back to "how much is a beer in the Bahamas?"...ha ha. Anyway I think I am going to go with Coleman until I at least get out there on a few trips and get use to how everything works and then worry about what could work better or buying an alcohol strove. I think I am also going to use my solar/battery to aid my stove as much as possible and a good example of this would be an electric coffee pot/carafe for coffee in the morning as it will keep it hot for a long time. Tkanzer I sent you a pm asking you about your 99 - 26x and how you like it. Get back to me if you can
My Mac came with an Origo single burner stove. Worked fine, but I didn't like the fact I couldn't see the flame. Also the fuel would evaporate when not in use. Second year went with a Coleman propane stove. Was a pain to set up the regulator and bottle. Also had a bottle slowly leak. Last year went back to my good old faithfull Coleman white gas stove. Fits nicely on the galley counter, very hot, stores well, takes 10 seconds to set up. I'll stick with it.
As for the panels, I have one 30 watt that I made myself. Its mounted to the stern pulpit. I just finished another one which will be mounted to a helmsman bimini I will be making whenever winter finishes. Being in Toon town you should get some good results for sunshine in the summer. You will need a charge controller if you leave it on all the time. My batteries are always charged. I have a cheap charger on now, but will be changing it to a Genesun MPPT controller. The reason I have small panels is if one breaks for some reason I don't loose the whole array.
Did have a Meridian 25. Wife has that now. I now have a 21 foot trailerable. Tough little boat
Yes CHP I think that's what I'll be doing also, sticking with the good old standby Coleman. I plan on going on a few one week, deep in the bush trips so it would be nice not to "experiment" with new things and just use "old faithful." That's funny that you know that Saskatoon is called "toon town." Right now I have 8 LED lights outfront of my house that light the front of my house right up for 6 hours straight a night and my 20 watt solar panel on the roof totally recharges the batteries back up to 100% by suppertime and I am putting in 2x20 watts on the boat so it should be able to keep up. I did not buy a sailboat to run a motor to charge anything up so thats why I think the solar will work great. If I am on a lake and sitting on top of a bunch of pickeral, I won't even move for days so I need a way to keep the batteries going for lights and tunes and... Solar is the way to go. I have a charge controller ( coleman of course...ha ha) and its all working fine so know I have to figure out how to make it work on the boat. Where I go fishing in the summer is up by Flin Flon Manitoba and in July it gets dark around midnight and the sun starts coming up around 4 a.m. so yeah there's a lot of sun/power there to tap into
You are correct. CNG = Compressed Natural Gas. The problem is you need a device that will burn it. It is very inexpensive if you can refill your own bottles (less than $2/tank). Much more expensive ($25-30/tank) if you need to have them exchanged.Can you explain CNG? Its like natural gas isnt it? Where does one even buy that in a smaller size than say your house? Let me know and thanx
I would not suggest that you use this as an option unless you already have a marine stove in place. You also need to find a filling station or a company that refills the tanks.
Good advice Steve. I am out west in Canada and I have never ever seen natyral gas in any kind of smaller containers or cylinders so it may be a good idea somewhere else but not here. I guess it might be like a lot of things where its always there in right front of you but you did not know it at the time......wow that's deep...sounds like a bad romance movie that I never want to watch....lol. Heres a good question...I have a 2 burner coleman white gas stove and a 3 burner coleman duel fule stove. Is it somehting in the stove itself that makes one burn dual fuel and one not and can I simply switch the two gastank/pumps from one stove to another? I ask cause my 3 burner is too big but I like the duel fuel capability cause then I can just burn gas which I have on the sailboat in my 2 burner stove? Did that make any sense at all? So the simple questions is....Can I switch my 3 burner duel fuel pump into my 2 burner stove or is it something in the stove that makes it different? Let me know.....p.s. you guys are alot of help trying to figure out things for my sailboat
Tony: I don't want to give you too much advise on your white gas option on your boat but I think that this is the LEAST desireable fuel that you can choose.
The boats that were made during the 70's used pressurized alchol. This is the second worst fuel/stove combo. The Origo stoves are fine (non-pressurized). Some owners do not like the fact that the flame is sometimes difficult to see, but these stoves are relatively safe.
Our boat came with CNG so we are sticking with that. We built a manifold and we are able to charge the tanks at these local CNG stations in California. These stations are used by bus lines, trash trucks and other minicipal vehicles. The fuel is cheap compared to almost anything else. It is equivalent to about $2.50/gal. A CNG bottle does NOT hold a gallon. We use the boat year round and only change out bottles 2 times a year.
The boats that were made during the 70's used pressurized alchol. This is the second worst fuel/stove combo. The Origo stoves are fine (non-pressurized). Some owners do not like the fact that the flame is sometimes difficult to see, but these stoves are relatively safe.
Our boat came with CNG so we are sticking with that. We built a manifold and we are able to charge the tanks at these local CNG stations in California. These stations are used by bus lines, trash trucks and other minicipal vehicles. The fuel is cheap compared to almost anything else. It is equivalent to about $2.50/gal. A CNG bottle does NOT hold a gallon. We use the boat year round and only change out bottles 2 times a year.
We had a typical Kenyon pressurized alcohol stove with the pump mounted on top of the stove. Worked great for years, never had a single issue with it. Lit it at anchor and when I turned away, the pump check valve failed, spewing pressurized alcohol straight up to the cabin top, landing on the lit burner, creating an alcohol blowtorch. Threw a water-logged bath towel on it and it immediately burned thru. Dumped a pot of water on it with no luck, fortunately the fire extinguisher took care of it, creating a huge mess. I still can't get over how fast this happened and the results could have been really bad. Replaced it with a two burner Origo and that stove is a joy to use and so much safer. There is no way I would have any kind of pressurized portable stove inside my boat. Ever seen a Coleman campstove catch on fire in a campsite? Hell of a lot easier to deal with (and get away from) than inside a boat. The solenoid system on permanent LP systems seems to be much safer than the portable gas stoves. You have three places to cut off the fuel: at the stove, solenoid valve and the tank. Sorry for the rant, but think hard about what you and your family would do if your exit path was blocked by a burning stove. 30 more seconds and I think we would have lost the boat.
Safety! Don't think the cost of most of these fuels is really an issue. Being a liquid that is very difficult to put out is the issue.
K thanx Steve and all for your help on this subject. There sure is alot of choices that one could make and all I have ever done is camped but not on a sailboat so that's why I am asking. If I was out camping in the bush I know that I would never take a stove into my tent as those things would burn up in seconds bt I guess that would be a good way of looking at it. What stove is safe enough to take into a tent and use? As I said I don't even have my sailboat yet and I am going out to B.C. to pick it up next Friday. Its a Macgregor 26x, 1998 and it comes with a Honda BF50. I already asked Tkanzler , what do I look for in a sailboat to make my choice on whether i Should buy it or not? Let me know your thoughts on this one and thanx again for all your help....
cng and butane are great within the confines of united states of america. ther eis no butane here in mexico nor cng. you may want to research in reality a tad longer if you plan to cruise outside of usa.
propane is available everywhere. easy to find and use.
if the 3rd world land dwellers dont blow up their homes from use of propane, is all good--why do you guys continue to fear this well used and easily found stove fuel. doesnt take much brain power to use safely. is found everywhere, and cooks better than other fuels. the only explosions of propane i have known of are those done by folk who left brain on hold while trying to change tanks incorrectly. or those who have to light their (crack pipes, cigarettes, or whatever they smoke) while changing the tank.
propane is available everywhere. easy to find and use.
if the 3rd world land dwellers dont blow up their homes from use of propane, is all good--why do you guys continue to fear this well used and easily found stove fuel. doesnt take much brain power to use safely. is found everywhere, and cooks better than other fuels. the only explosions of propane i have known of are those done by folk who left brain on hold while trying to change tanks incorrectly. or those who have to light their (crack pipes, cigarettes, or whatever they smoke) while changing the tank.
Wow Zeehag..crack pipes? ...lol I just don't know where I would buy or refill CNG. My buddy used butane and says its great and convenient and right now everything I have for camping I I go deep in the bush for weeks on end) is rigged for propane. I have 2 stoves, 2 laterns, etc. So for me to stay propane would be great but to start with I think I'll bring out the coleman and just be very veryyyy careful with it. I just want to work out these detail before I head out on my first trip in may so I can try everything then I have a 2 week trip in June to get ready for and ....etc.
This should really be a new thread as it does not have anything to do with stoves........
It would probably be best to ask about this model of Mac on one of the many Mac forums. The owners of the 26X will know what to look for. If you could connect with a Mac X owner in BC to look at the boat with you that would be the best thing short of an actual survey.
You should also have good look at the trailer tires and brakes (it should have brakes if you going to tow it home through the mountains). Repack the wheel bearings before heading out on the highway. If the tires look like new but are over 5 years old think about replacing them, carry a spare, a 4-way wheel wrench and a way to jack up the trailer if needed. Bring extra fuses for the tow vehicle, a trailer can knock out your lights at the worst time. I hope you have good tow vehicle, a pickup would be great. The ads showing trailer sailors being towed by small SUV's is not realistic when they get up to 26 ft., especially in the mountains.
I assume you do know this is a water ballasted motorsailor with a big engine. One did capsize a number of years ago because the owner drained the ballast out motoring out to an anchorage, then sat at anchor all evening with about 12 people on deck. As he left with a sharp turn the 50 hp engine capsized the boat with all the weight on deck and no ballast, two young children drowned. They do have a warning sticker about not doing this. I don't want to rain on your parade but thought you should know about this mistake that one owner made. Lots of people own Mac 26X's and love them and are safe but these warnings are given for a reason. Please re-think bringing a gasoline stove into the cabin. You can find a good safe used alcohol stove on ebay, a marine consignment shop, flea market at a good price and it will be safe for you and your passengers. (there I brought it back to stoves !)
Good luck, you will enjoy sailing I am sure, Bob
It would probably be best to ask about this model of Mac on one of the many Mac forums. The owners of the 26X will know what to look for. If you could connect with a Mac X owner in BC to look at the boat with you that would be the best thing short of an actual survey.
You should also have good look at the trailer tires and brakes (it should have brakes if you going to tow it home through the mountains). Repack the wheel bearings before heading out on the highway. If the tires look like new but are over 5 years old think about replacing them, carry a spare, a 4-way wheel wrench and a way to jack up the trailer if needed. Bring extra fuses for the tow vehicle, a trailer can knock out your lights at the worst time. I hope you have good tow vehicle, a pickup would be great. The ads showing trailer sailors being towed by small SUV's is not realistic when they get up to 26 ft., especially in the mountains.
I assume you do know this is a water ballasted motorsailor with a big engine. One did capsize a number of years ago because the owner drained the ballast out motoring out to an anchorage, then sat at anchor all evening with about 12 people on deck. As he left with a sharp turn the 50 hp engine capsized the boat with all the weight on deck and no ballast, two young children drowned. They do have a warning sticker about not doing this. I don't want to rain on your parade but thought you should know about this mistake that one owner made. Lots of people own Mac 26X's and love them and are safe but these warnings are given for a reason. Please re-think bringing a gasoline stove into the cabin. You can find a good safe used alcohol stove on ebay, a marine consignment shop, flea market at a good price and it will be safe for you and your passengers. (there I brought it back to stoves !
)Good luck, you will enjoy sailing I am sure, Bob
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