Boat things Break - Propane Hose too!

Replacing our Propane Supply Hose

Our dock-lord texted that one of our lines had chaffed, so we headed down to the boat but guessed it was the line from the dock to the pylon at the front of the boat. So we stopped at WM and puchased 2 x 30' 5/8" 3 Strand Nylon dock line. I asked the WM Rep to not sear the ends as I was going to splice loops into the ends of the lines.

Down at the boat my guess was correct, but the line had not chaffed, the short piece of Dyneema that I had secured to the line had not held very well - it came off! My bad. There was some chaffe in the nylon braided dock line - should not really have been labeled as a 'Dock Line' So I swapped it out anyway.  Not having a piece of Dyneema on the boat to make a bridle to attach to the new dock line, I used 12' of the old braided line and will replace that this week.

Normally we have a fore and aft spring line, a bow line ( the one that caused todays revisit ) and an aft line, fore line and a midships line which we use to keep  the boat close to the dock when we're at the dock rather than have the boat move away from the dock till all of the lines even things out.

So my solution to the Bridle line is to make a strop with loops in each end, then secure that bridle to the line from the dock to the pylon with a prussic knot and then pass the loops over the cleats at the bow.  I'll use some 5/8" 3 Strand Nylon Dock line for the Bridle.

So, why did I mention that things break - Propane hose too? Because while we where working on the dock lines, the Starboard aft corner of the Transom moved close the dock post - close enough that the hose from the Propane tank to the regulator & solenoid bumped the post and broke by the regulator.

That hose has to be at least 10 years old but I'm guessing probably nearer to 20 years old - it was time to replace - should probably replace all of the propane hoses while at it.  AND while I'm at it I should refinish the propane tank holders.

But this brings up the next issue: I'm hoping to remove the Propane system completely but have a few things to get done of higher priority, like replacing the Standing Rigging.

We've been planning on removing the Propane system since the middle of 2024 and switching over to an Induction Cooktop and a Combo oven/Toaster/Air Fryer. Now that we have 500Ah of LiFePo4 batteries, that's a reality but not at the top of that list yet. So we'll replace the Propane hoses and Refinish the tanks.

Guess what I'm working on tomorrow at the boat while Peggy plugs into the Nav electronics to learn how to use the Radar - She will do that using a Tablet running Garmin Helm and WiFi connected to that boat. Should be a good day and hoping that our new Diesel Tank is ready this week.

Stay tuned.

See you on the water.