Stove project.

On a 19′ boat there isn’t much space, so lots of thought goes into working out how best to use what there is. On each side there are two cupboards, the upper of which is small and very useful, the other is large and awkward. The latter has a sloping floor, and therefore things get thrown in, making it very inefficient. The platform / work top is at a handy height, and many owners mount a small stove on it. Our experience is that this puts the heat source too close to the ceiling; the resulting burning smell has led to an alternative.

What is needed is a fixed stove position which is at a useful height, and which has cooking utensils to hand. The stove shouldn’t be gas as that is dangerous on a boat. Our prototype has been Sikaflexed in place for this weeks cruise on the East Coast.

Shuttering plywood isn’t particularly attractive, but it was in the garage and therefore free, as was everything else used. The unit consists of two pieces scribed to fit the hull profile and carry a shelf running from front to back. The shelf has a divider behind the stove area which creates a void plenty big enough for a 16 piece melamine crockery set, cutlery, etc. Underneath there is a full length whole in which I have a plastic box with more stuff, but which in the finished article may be a sliding drawer. The unit is 30cm wide, so still leaves a useable quarter berth. We’ve lost the option to have two seated on the starboard berth, but that rarely happens; the need to cook is so much more important on Zephyr.

The stove is a Cookmate 1600, which is also branded a the Origo 1500. It runs on meths, and whereas there is some odour it isn’t much, and with the boat ventilated is not noticeable.

The stove has a gimbal option but as yet we’ve not gone that way. With the pot holders we made a number of brews underway with the hull heeled. The unit has already had a huge impact on the ‘live aboard’ capability of the Cape Cutter 19. At the end of the week we’ll know if it needs any modification, and then the final version will be professionally made over the winter.