We recently purchased a sturdy 1972 Whitby 42 and found on board a pretty ancient diesel cooker. Horror of horrors! Instant thought, “That’s got to go.”

However we then recalled the last few years and all the countries we had been sailing on our own boat as well as others, where not only finding but having to purchase and jerry-rig propane bottles and fittings and the kilometers we had traipsed in pursuit of said gas, would all be over, thanks to this cooker.

In France, don’t want to talk about the hassles there. Italy, accommodating and others in Europe, same. We ran into trouble in the Caribbean believe it or not and started heading down central and South America…

Suffice to say we had one of the finest collections of propane bottles you could imagine and keep in mind the standard and condition of the bottles varies quite dramatically, often questionably safe especially when in the Latin American countries. Even though we managed to have an interesting supply of fittings, we often came across a blank refusal to refill. It was a constant worry and nothing more than a right pain in the neck.

It will take a little getting used to but truly, if you are planning on poking your nose way outside of the comfort zone, we would seriously suggest you put thought into alternatively fueled cookers. You will not regret it.

Check the article on noonsite by Geoffrey on SV Fortune. He has written a good, straight forward pros and cons on the matter.

There are some incredible places to see, why waste your time getting stressed overfilling your gas bottle. Walk kilometers for the sheer joy of it, admire the view from a mountain top, not for the service station at its base.

Happy sailing

Michel and Penny