Solid fuel stove aboard Shrimper

Interesting article you attached re your woodburning stove. A few points arise:-
1. the weight at 35lbs I would have thought would be much too heavy for a Shrimper.
2. clearly it is not gimballed ( or is it?). Not sure I'd want one "on" while I was sailing at an angle of heel.
3. Most if not all Shrimper owners over here manage well with their small propane gimballed stove for basic cooking.
4. Whilst you might fit one into the space where the propane stove fits - the problem would then be opening your stove - actually I doubt it would fit....
5. I really can't see anyone over here wanting to fire up a wood burning stove on such a small boat - the hazard of fire must be huge - not to mention the residue of ash and cleaning it out etc.
6. That's enough negatives but to your last point - I see no reason why a Shrimper could not be suitable in your part of the world. They seem to be pretty much everywhere else! They are terrific boats both at sea and particularly in estuaries and creek sailing.
All of the above my opinion only. It will be interesting to see what others think!

J-B,

Thanks for your thoughts. Happy to take your points one by one. Over here I send out the SARDINE regularly to a fair number of 18 ft. Catboats & such.

1. Is a Shrimper so tender that a 35 Lb. object placed where the "sea swing" stove usually lives would cause a pronounced list to port? I might have to move the stove closer to the center line which would happily align with a deck iron & smoke head placed on the center line forward of the mast. Seems it would be out of the way there?

2. No gimbal. Fixed to platform. The stove will stay safely shut while heeling/pitching/rolling - solid door catch. But it would be the combined effect of smoke into sailor's nostrils and burning wood bumbling about inside the iron box that would be problematic underway. 

3. Propane is handy...... but I want to be warm, toasty, and have a dry interior when the NW rains come down. Cooking AND dry heat is the goal I'm after. Amazing what one can do with a roll of aluminum foil and a nice bed of coals for roasting.. I've also designed a DROP IN bronze alcohol burner that fits into the cook plate opening on the top of the stove. Handy for quick water boils & oatmeal, etc.

4. The door only opens a few inches past the right hand edge of the stove. SARDINE is only a one foot cube! Any chance you'd care to do a little cardboard mock-up and post your findings? Would be great to get your feedback based upon real world fit testing. I've not closed a deal yet so not able to mess with this myself.

5. Why is the hazard of fire huge? Certainly it would be problematic with a petrol outboard I grant you that. Inboard diesel would be fine though. You might be surprised at how many stoves I ship over your way for all sorts of small boats! Folks seem to love them. The residue & ash generated is a mere trifle in comparison to the warm cozy atmosphere that this type of stove can generate. Ash goes overboard maybe once a week and residue condensing on metal smokehead is a result of burning moist creosote producing wood. Charcoal will alleviate that issue altogether.

Hope a Shrimper is in the cards for us soon and hope still to uncover a Shrimper sailor who has kept their passion for solid fuel stoves a secret for too long. I know you must be out there with some thoughts and insights to share?

Cheers, Andrew Moore / Navigator Stoves

Have you seen the builder's website? http://www.cornishcrabbers.co.uk/shrimper_19_interior_options.html

Have a closer look at the interior layout. There is not a lot of space. Perhaps contact the builders themselves. I'm no good at drawing diagrams so hopefully the website will answer some more of your points.
Maybe weight is not such an issue for those of us who don't race their Shrimpers but a lot do.
As you say maybe there is an owner over here who has one already installed. I haven't met him or her! Good luck though and let us know if you find an owner who has one or decides to get one!

Yes thanks, have studied the builders website. Fortunately its the CLASSIC layout that would be more accomodating. Think the scale is about right with this mock-up? Wish me luck & I'll let you know how it turns out.

Cheers, Andrew Moore / Navigator Stoves

Hi Andy. I installed a solid fuel stove in my last boat, a 23ft Westerly Pageant. The one I put in was a Pascal and Atkey Pansy Stove. Its very light in weight and with an external extension pipe worked great. The Shrimper is much smaller in cabin volume than a Cat boat or a Flicka. It was the Flicka reference which attracted me to your post. I'd have loved to have bought a Flicka but this side of the pond I could only track down 2 and their owners were not parting company. So, I bought a Shrimper. Shrimper will not be too tender to manage the 35lbs. but you'll find the volume a problem without significant, but achievable modification to the forepeak. The real difficulty is the headroom and thus the possible length of chimney. Your stoves look great. I bet the shipping over here would cost more than the stove !
all teh best

Mark

Greetings Mark,

Thanks for the stove feedback.Certainly see eye to eye regarding minimal pipe length below deck and the need for a temp. "at anchor" extender piece for on deck.
And I think I have heard of the Pansy! I ship SARDINE over your way a good bit and it comes out to about $250 via post.
The 2 Shrimpers over here that have been for sale recently are at par price wise with similarly aged Flickas also for sale (low 20K'ish). Interesting
regarding how much one can end up with boatwise for the same outlay of funds? That being said, sadly, both of my "mid teen $$" offers on the Shrimpers
were not accepted. Using UK Shrimper recent sale comp's apparently does not mean much over here. Amazingly however, the folks who own(ed) the Flicka I've sailed changed their minds about selling and she's come into our family instead. So, will have to do some surgery and get a stove aboard the Flicka instead. Stop in for a sail if in the NW neighborhood & I'll keep my eyes out for a Shrimper to shanghai for an afternoon to see what I've missed.

Cheers for '10 / Andrew / NSW