Gas Supplies Abroad

More and more boat owners are using their yachts all year round and taking extended cruises. They need a gas system, which will give them sufficient gas for a long period, and are capable of replenishment with relative ease.

If you are planning a short cruise then usually there is no problem with gas supplies as you can carry enough to last the trip, but if you plan an extended cruise then replenishing your gas supply may cause some concern.
Calor Gas Ltd is an UK based company, which supplies exchange cylinders via a network of dealers throughout the UK including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

Calor Gas supplies in Northern Ireland are available in a range of sizes including 4.5Kg and 7Kg Butane cylinders and 3.9Kg and 6Kg Propane cylinders. All the large propane cylinders have fittings that are compatible with UK cylinders. For enquiries about cylinders in Northern Ireland please visit www.calorgas.ie.

It should be stressed that the policy of Calor Gas Ltd is not to allow their cylinders to be filled while abroad. The cylinders remain the property Calor Gas Ltd and should only be filled by them.
Our advice on gas supplies away from the UK and Calor Gas outlets falls into two parts, firstly cruising within Europe and Secondly cruising across the Atlantic.

In general, European countries operate an exchange cylinder scheme, as we do in the UK, with individual companies supplying their cylinders in there own countries. Generally the cylinders are not exchangeable from company to company or country to country. The only exception to this is the Camping Gaz cylinders and these are readily exchangeable at most marinas and supermarkets.

Our advice on obtaining gas supplies on an extended cruise, depends on how your gas system is set up and what cylinders you carry. The easiest solution is to carry the Camping Gaz cylinders, as they are readily available. They may be small and they may be expensive, but they will be easier to get refilled and will save a lot of running around. If you carry Calor Gas Butane or Propane cylinders as your standard cylinders, then adapters are available to convert to UK cylinder fitting so you can use a Camping Gaz cylinder. These are available from the Marine Shop (click here)

If you are planning to keep your yacht in Europe on a more permanent basis, then you may be best to consider buying a local cylinder. Most Europe cylinder suppliers use a thread similar to the one used on Calor Gas 4.5kg butane cylinders. An adapter for use with a propane system is available from the marine shop.

A point that is worth making is that although most UK gas appliances are made to operate with Butane @28mb or Propane @37mb they will operate safely at either 37mb Butane or 28mb Propane. We do not recommended that this be done for extended periods, but it’s useful to know in an emergency. With a cooker the only concern is that the simmer levels on the hotplate may be different.

When planning a Trans-Atlantic crossing the main consideration is how much gas to carry. This will vary depending on the number of crew and the number of cooked meals. Consideration should also be given to the number of days the crossing will take. Information on the gas consumption of each appliance can be found either on the appliance data plate or in the operating instructions.

For example, a Plastimo Neptune Hotplate burner has a heat input of 1.65kw, a grill burner 1.72kw and an oven 1.26kw. So if you were to use the oven and both hotplates for one hour a day then the sum would be:

Oven 1.26kw x 1 = 1.26
Hotplate 1.65kw x 2 = 3.30
Total 4.56kws per day

For the ease of the calculation both Butane and Propane has 14kw per 1kg so:

4.56 / 14 = 0.33kg per day

Say the crossing takes 30 days, that’s 30 x 0.33kg = 9.9Kg. So you’ll need to take 2 x 4.5kg Butane or 3 x 3.9kg Propane or 4 x 907 (2.72kg) Camping Gaz.

In the Caribbean and North American the predominant form of LPG is Propane. The smart thing to do is to leave the UK with an installation that is set up for propane. Most yachts would have a stop over in the Canary Islands were the cylinders could be refilled or exchanged. Try http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/CanaryIslands for more local details.

Once in the Caribbean, cylinders can be refilled locally. There is usually no shortage of local entrepreneurs only to willing to assist you.

It is extremely important to remember that LPG cylinders should never be filled to 100%capacity. If when abroad, a locally supplied cylinder is to be used in quite hot regions, it must not be filled more than 70% of its total capacity (this can be found on the cylinders data plate), rather than the usual 80% in temperate climates. The Camping Gaz cylinders do not contain a Safety Relief Valve, therefore in the presence of heat, the liquefied gas in the cylinder could expand and become what is termed “hydraulically Full” (totally full of liquid) and could burst with disastrous results so extra care should be taken.

In line with other suppliers of LPG Calor Gas fully test and re valve all there cylinders every 15 years, this and other information regarding the tare weight and the water capacity can be found on the cylinders data plate located on the base ring or the cylinder shroud. In North America, where LPG suppliers are unfamiliar with our cylinders, they may refuse to fill scruffy cylinders or ones near their test date. My suggestion is to select the newest cylinders with the best paintwork before setting out and paint them with several coats of clear varnish. This will afford protection from the elements whilst not obscuring any of the cylinders information.