I do like anchorages and I do not like having to find marinas or ports in order to stock up on something. That said, preparing hot meals with gas is not ideal. While I have not even found where to buy new Camping-Gaz in Greece once I need it, I much prefer independence. Also, my Can gas stove keeps turning off after a while (the safety shuts off the gas before anything – even coffee – is ready) and Can has not yet found the time to answer my support request.
So – solar energy it is. Kirsten gave me this tiny sandwich maker for my birthday. And I found that this is a wonderful way to make quick, hot meals on board. This particular model cannot be taken apart, which means you want to reduce the mess as much as possible. So I have learned not to put cornichons, tomatoes etc. inside the sandwich but rather eat them with your toast. All that goes in is butter on both sides, majo, ketchup ham and cheese. The device has a 700W power rating – just about what my inverter can deliver. In the pictures below I have included screenshots from my Philippi battery panel. As you can see, my service battery started at 290 Ah, at that point being charged with 6.52A by the solar panels. Once the sandwich maker starts heating, there’s a discharge current of 53.3A; reasonable: 700W/12V = 58.3A, add some overhead so I would expect a power draw of about 60A. It takes about 2.5 mins until the green light comes on and the toast can be put in, 3 minutes later it is ready. The service battery is down to 286Ah – being charged with 8.65A at that time. And now, 1.5hrs later, the batteries have their full 300Ah charge – sailing in Greece in July with Solar Panels makes electricity the best power source. Available, free, ecological.
And because this Can oven keeps driving me crazy shutting off the gas, I will also get a 500W hot plate for making coffee and a rice/spaghetti-cooker with 700W. I’m sure that doing spaghetti will drain the battery much more – and will post my findings here.
The only way to keep the gas stove on…. a knife to hold the dial pressed in 🙁
