Here is what I think you are citing, a message from the past, giving sage
advice to Erik, a fellow who had just purchased a Princess stove, loosely
attached to a Catalina 27.
--Dave Shugarts
=========================
Erik,
Right, the valve-like thingie on the top of the stove is where you pour
in the alcohol. Turn the valve thing and you'll notice that it screws
off like a cap.
Make sure you go to Waste Marine and get the specially expensive stove
fuel for the stove, because you now have an obligation to the boating
industry to keep paying a thousand percent markup for everything and
the sooner you get on the ball the better.
One thing to remember about alcohol as a fuel is that it is invisible
in whatever form you find it. You should use a funnel to help get some
of the alcohol into the stove. Some of it, with no explanation at all,
will escape the funnel, no matter what you do, and soak your sleeve or
pour itself down the back of the stove and hide out underneath. Carl
Jung opined that obsessive drinkers are trying to contact their
spiritual natures with spirits. Spirits, or alcohol, has the ability to
do amazing things all by itself. I am living proof that this is so. I'd
have to guess that between the threat posed by my Princess alcohol
stove and the 16 gallons of gasoline in the tank for the A4 that I'm
just playing Russian boat roulette, but then I really am a risk taker.
I also have owned a Jaguar with a Lucas electrical system, so I know
the true meaning of the word risk.
See:
http://surprise.blacktelephone.com/lucas.html
After you manage to get some alcohol into the stove, you are now
prepared to find out that the Princess stove needs a serious rebuild.
You can get the parts here:
A&H Enterprises
714-258-2525
If you're like me, and you have a $30K restoration project ahead of you
just to keep your boat from sinking with all hands IN the marina,
you'll press ahead without the Princess rebuild. Many seasons will come
and go and you'll be looking for a reasonably priced Origo stove, but
just when you find one on the C-27 list someone else will snap it up or
you'll be out of cash. Finally, in desperation, you'll find yourself
back at Waste Marine drooling over the Origos that are suddenly no
longer in the $300 range like they were for everyone else, but in the
$500 range and you'll go back to your boat and use the Princess. Now...
where was I?
Oh, yeah, after you mop up the now completely invisible alcohol stove
fuel and have recovered from the fumes, you just pump in and out on the
plunger thingie on the front of the stove. If you are lucky it'll
actually pump solidly about 10 percent of the time and you'll be able
to pump up some pressure inside the fuel tank. If you slightly vary the
angle of the plunger on each stroke you may find an angle that gives
you more solid pumps than other angles. This angle will change after
every plunge so the experience won't do you any good, but you will have
something to do with your mind while you are pumping up the pressure.
Next, bring our your secret weapon. You need either a squirt bottle of
alcohol stove fuel with a teeny little squirt nozzle on top, or you
need some Sterno or something like it. The good thing about the Sterno
is that you can squeeze it thorough a sock and become an obsessive
drinker. Anyway, you squeeze a leetle tiny bit of alcohol stove fuel
into the bottom of one of the burners or you spoon in a tiny bit of the
Sterno and a dash of Angostura Bitters, and then you light it off. Oh,
you can probably dispense with the Angostura Bitters if you are
religious.
The purpose of the first ceremonial lighting of the fuel in the bottom
of the burner is to appease the curtain gods. It is well known that
from time immemorial the curtain gods have frowned on all water craft,
especially water craft with pressurized alcohol stoves, most especially
water craft with Princess stoves and cheap owners. You have not yet
sacrificed properly, the curtain gods say. You don't have an Origo
stove. Therefore, if you approach the Princess without a sacrifice, you
risk burning up your curtains AND losing your eyebrows. This is why I
have Peek-a-Booo shutters on my port lights. I've changed the dynamics
of the struggle entirely. Of course, soon after I made that change I
began experiencing strange shorts in the electrical system so I think
I've just driven the struggle deeper into the psyche of the boat.
When the invisible flames have died down you have achieved your goal.
The curtain gods have been appeased. BTW, if you have your pot of water
or soup pot or whatever you want to heat up then you should put that
pot on the burner just after you light off the ceremonial fire. This
starts heating the pot and keeps the flames contained and will preserve
your eyebrows. Maybe. At this point you'll be thinking of bringing
NOTHING that needs heating on any subsequent trip - ever.
The side product of the ceremonial sacrifice to the curtain gods is
that when the flames die down the burner will be hot. This is now your
magic moment. If the stars are aligned properly, if the bottom is
perfectly faired and barnacle free, and if the Dow Jones average is
just so, you should be able to release ever so slightly just so much
pressurized alcohol stove fuel by turning the fuel release knob on the
front of the stove and holding a match to the resulting fuel/air
mixture. Know what a fuel/air bomb does? Maximum damage! Remember this
when releasing the fuel into the burner. Just a wee bit will do it.
You'll hear the hissing almost immediately and you'll have your match
there ready to light the stove. The fuel/air mix is now perfectly
invisible, as will be the resulting flame, should you achieve one. You
are left to your own devices to figure out if you have achieved
anschluss or you have to start over with the other burner.
Actually, what you really need to buy in order to light the stove with
is one of those long-nozzle plastic lighter things, the ones that have
a sort of switch and a trigger. If you get enough pressure on the
switch, you can't properly pull the trigger. If you release some of the
pressure on the switch, then you can pull the trigger but you won't get
a flame because you have to put more pressure on the switch to do that.
After a half hour of practice you may get a flame 10 percent of the
time. This is a high score and you should consider yourself lucky.
And there you go! Voila! Instant cheery heat to boil the water for your
oatmeal, make coffee, or bake bread. Bake bread on a Princess stove
top? It can be done! And if all of this is discouraging, it is not
meant to be. It is all in good fun and after a few seasons of practice
you should be bringing a thermos of hot coffee along from home and be
cooking on your propane barbeque on the stern rail. Did you hear about
the grease cup on the water pump on your inboard engine? Did you know
that you have to "give it a turn" every two hours of engine use? No?
How about the fresh water flush of the outboard after every use? No?
Well, then there's still more boating fun ahead for you!
Joseph
1977 C-27 #3489 "Surprise"
South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club
Marina Del Rey, California
On Tuesday, April 27, 2004, at 12:00 AM,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 03:32:41 GMT
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Princess Stove
> Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> I just tried to post this message, but I didn't see it on the list so
> here goes again...
>
> I recently purchased a Catalina 27 that has a 2-burner Princess
> alcohol stove. I have never used an alcohol stove before. I am
> trying to figure out how to fill the stove. It looks like there is a
> small valve on the top of the stove? Can anyone help or point me to
> some directions? Thanks for any help.
>
> Erik
--
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On 12/5/06 2:44 PM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Now that you bring up the infamous Princess stove, I was thinking there was a
> guy who used to write really good posts on this board ... wrote one on the
> Princess stove that was halarious ... that hasn't been around for awhile.
> Anyone remember his name? Sailed out of the west coast somewhere as I
> remember.
>
> Tom Monroe
> 6219 Different Drummer
>
>
>
>
>
> "Jones, Lance B" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent by: [email protected] 12/05/2006 01:10 PM
> Please respond to
> [email protected]
> To
> <[email protected]>
> cc
> Subject
> RE: catalina27-talk: RE: catalina27-Seaward Princess Stove
>
>
>
>
> Thanks. I'll keep an eye out for that.
>
>
>
> Lance B. Jones _/)
> Internet Account Representative
> YELLOWPAGES.COM from BellSouth
> BellSouth Advertising and Publishing Corporation
> 2247 Northlake Parkway-8th Floor
> Tucker, Georgia 30084-4005
> Phone: (678) 406-2531 Toll Free: (866) 213-2617
> Fax: (770) 908-6213
> Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Visit our website @ www.yellowpages.com <http://www.yellowpages.com/>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 2:18 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: RE: catalina27-talk: RE: catalina27-Seaward Princess Stove
>
> I rebuilt mine a couple of years ago. Purchased the new burners from the web
> page and it works great. The only thing is that the new parts are metric and
> you will need bushings that convert the connectors to the fuel line.
>
> On Tue, 5 Dec 2006 08:37:08 -0500, Jones, Lance B wrote
>> > Hey,
>> > Has anyone ever rebuilt one of these? I'm getting ready to and am looking
>> for a manual or some instructions.
>> >
>> >
>> > Lance B. Jones _/)
>> > 1984 C-27TR #5455 Gaelforce!
>> > *****
>> > The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to
>> which it is addressed and may contain confidential, proprietary, and/or
>> privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use
>> of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or
>> entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received
>> this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from all
>> computers. GA623
>
