Our propane locker is super tiny, a five pound tank that holds about a gallon of propane.  On the boat full time it lasts about 3 weeks.  So with two tanks we can go about 6 weeks between running out.  But in practice we end up filling the empty tank every three weeks or so.

With it being an odd sized tank we have to have them refilled and can’t use the exchanges.  SO filling stations need to be mapped out to guide our travels.

But this is no more.  When we would stay in marinas we’d use an induction cooktop and an electric oven.  Avoid the need to deal with propane and then stow them when we left the marina.

But not this summer.  With the addition of more solar, and the installation of a 3,000 watt inverter we now have enough power to run an electric galley.

A big part of the project was building a gimballing cabinet to house the electric appliances.

Since I can’t cut a straight line and wanted to make sure it was sturdy we hired someone from FIverr to design us the cabinet using 3030 extruded aluminum and to help us order it.  WOW I’m glad I did, it’s such an interesting material to work with and the cabinet went together well.

There were a few false starts and a few mistakes made when I put in the request.  Biggest was that I forgot to mention that the cut out at the bottom rear of the oven was critical to allow it to swing.  As a result we ended up needing to mount it a bit higher to let it swing.

But it works out.  Longer term I want to lower the top shelf, cut into it so that the induction will sit as a counter inlay, and … I’d love to do a mosaic on that mini counter.  Not sure what I’ll do but I’ll be sure to plan it out and see what I can come up with.

The removal went well with Liam’s help and then the installation took a bit to get the balance right but eventually we got it to behave.

Best part is that the harbormaster said I could drop the old oven in the back of his pickup truck and he’d take care of it for us.  Gotta love this town.

Ultimately though that was our major project for the summer.

• Remove water tank.
• Mount and wire in upgraded charge controller and 3,000 watt inverter
• Order cabinet design time
• Assemble cabinet
• Remove propane system
• Install cabinet and setup electric galley
• dispose of propane system

Next big project location will be in Oriental NC where I’m hoping to do some wiring and have someone make us a new dodger.