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Greetings: My name is Doug Long and I currently am living far from the sea in the mountains of Virginia. In years gone by I've owned and lived aboard several sailboats, the last being a 51 foot pilot house ketch, the "Conch Pearl". Today my sailing consists of summer sailing on the Chesapeake in a trailerable "Mobjack" one-design. I'm shortly to acquire a Tartan 37 which I'll most likely base out of Green Turtle Cay, Abacos. I believe this will make a nice blue-water boat that won't break the bank. My recent experience occurred on a 46 footer that I was involved in delivering from Fishing Bay , Virginia to the BVI's. The morning we were due to depart I went to fire up the propane cooker for coffee and had a difficult time getting the burner lit with the piezo-electric lighter. With cob-webs on the brain as a result of no coffee, I lit her off with a Bic lighter. The stove exploded! A low order explosion mind you, but there were flames erupting from the entire stove/oven unit. That got my attention. I got the solenoid and secondary manual valve closed post haste and the fire extinguished itself with no further ado. Well, exploration determined that the regulator had failed, and unregulated gas was being delivered to the stove. I've never had this happen previously, nor have I heard of it happening to anyone else. Perhaps a gauge showing gas pressure, mounted in view of the stove, should be included in the system. My experience ended we nothing but frazzled nerves, but it could have been a tragedy. FWIW. Fair winds and following seas. Doug
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