[Su Poole]

Hi, Dale,

We live on a boat and use propane for cooking. The safety issues are many and the regulations are amazingly stringent, we have to pass a safety certificate inspection every four years including a test of the entire gas system or else we fail. When we looked at torching aboard the boat (ventilation is not the issue as we have more ventilation per square foot than any house would, also due to the safety regs) and we could easily set up an exhaust system more than adequate for our needs, we would have been able to connect our torch to the plumbed-in propane line in the boat. However, to support your discussion about safety, our tanks are required to be stored outside the boat proper, in a specially constructed locker that has low-level drainage holes to allow the any gas that could leak to drain away safely outside the boat. It's not required but many boats also have gas detectors installed at floor level to detect any stray propane gas, our cooking appliances such as the hob and oven all have flame-failure devises on them and all other gas appliances such as fridges or hot water heaters or furnace/heaters must be vented to the outside and not draw in room air for their combustion chambers.

That said, we are lucky enough to have a mooring with room for a shed, so we keep our propane tank outside the shed, and Mike's installed a variation of the 'Barley Box' over his work space with venting to the outside above the torch, and a wooden baffle just above the torching area to catch the fumes and keep them in that space till they're exhausted.

We've seen a few boats burned out because people were careless and thought they were doing things the right way. Safety is vital, and education of boaters is no more easy than any other group. It wasn't till the government and the EU created all the stringent regulations that boats became much safer places to live aboard and yet two weeks ago a couple were hospitalized simply because they were stupid enough to be refilling a kerosene heater INDOORS while it was still hot. The boat is a complete loss. They're only very lucky they're alive.

I understand completely your desire to educate and keep everyone safe.

-Su