An Improvised Burner Repair

06/19/02

    Continuing yesterday, the afternoon project for Eric was to repair a burner on the gas stove.  It seems the base of the burner had rusted through.  He made a note to call Red and order a new burner to bring to Cape Town. 

    The stove is a camper stove that was purchased at Ozzie’s camp supply in Bohemia, Long Island.  He felt that the marine stoves were way too expensive, but one of the bad things about a stove that is not designed for the marine environment is that they are more susceptible to rust.   Until we can get the spare part, it is necessary to try to improvise a solution to the burner problem.  Eric noticed that the diameter of the rusted burner base was roughly the same as the lid of a vegetable can.  As he was going to cook corn and lima beans for dinner that night, he took the cans from the locker and opened the corn can, emptying the contents into a Tupperware.  He then took his Dremel tool, and using the grinding wheel attachment, cut a hole in the middle of the can lid so that it would fit over the burner base and extend the rusted portion so that it would fit snugly in the burner.  This required some trimming around the outer edge with tin snips for a proper fit.  Now comes the problem of how to attach the can on the base.  He couldn’t use epoxy, as this would probably not hold up under the heat.  The solution was to cut tabs in the can lid with the snips and fold them over with vice grips. 

    When he installed this on the stove, it did not work well, as the gas was leaking through the holes made by the tabs.  The solution to this problem was to open the can of lima beans and use the Dremel to cut a hole in this other lid, and lay this lid over the other one so that the tab holes were covered.  This worked better, but was still not good.  There was still some leaking around the perimeter.  The solution to this new problem was to take pieces of aluminum foil, roll them up and stuff them in the remaining gaps with a small screwdriver.  This solution held up well enough so we could use the burner, at least until a proper replacement could be made.

    The wind is continuing to be a problem.  It has been blowing very lightly, and keeps wanting to push us south, when we would prefer to be heading east, to avoid a stationary high pressure area that lives in the Atlantic (the Bermuda-Azores High).  Last night after dinner, we set the preventer and the whisker pole to run wing-and-wing through the night.  This caused quite a bit of frustration, as there was often not enough wind for Victor to react quickly enough,  and we frequently allowed the boat to gybe.  With the preventer, a gybe is not a disastrous event, however it requires the helmsman to disengage Victor, steer hard over to bring the boat back on course, then, while keeping the boat on the proper course, look back with a flashlight and watch for the wind vane to go upright.  The instant the vane goes upright, you muse re-engage Victor as quickly as possible, making sure you have the correct amount of helm at the same time.  It seems I was doing this every 10 minutes throughout my 0200-0400 watch, and I was very happy to hand this responsibility over to David at the end.  When I awoke for  my 0800 watch, we were motoring with no wind, and later on the wind had veered to the NorthEast, and we found ourselves close-hauled.  The wind was still light (12 knots) but we were getting a substantial boost from the gulf stream.  We are planning to tune into Herb this afternoon and see if he has any relevant information.