The easiest and cheapest solution by far,.. GIVE THE **** UP!! Reject
your Dark Master at last and be free, free, freeeeeee!!
Look how you're being controlled, unconscious sufferer; buying all
this crap- $1000 generator? Kidding, right? A foo-foo french press? As
if anyone wants anything French on their goddam boat. Filters,
grinders, cups with stupid **** on them rattling around, a $2500
fridge to keep the half and half cold, a hermetic storage bin for
Muffy's organic sugar, magic beans from far away lands- sheesh, you
must have brain damage.
Give it up now and at the end of your life you'll be refunded 6 free
years of coffee break time. Time you can use to RELAX. Oh, forgot, you
can't relax- your blood pressures over the top from all that caffeine.
You're too ****ing spun from wondering where your next fix is coming
from you snuffling addict. Think of all you'd save if you sold that
boat and just sat in a Starbux shop with the cold sweats, starring
numbly at passers by,.. It's high time you woke up, my friend,.. Peace
is within!!!

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 10:06:41 -0700, Alan Gomes wrote:

jeff wrote:
Eisboch wrote:
...
I've searched around looking for information on the safety issues of
carrying a small, portable, gasoline generator on board for making
morning coffee or whatever. I have a little Honda EU-2000 Inverter
type generator that is small, light, quiet and completely
self-contained. For my needs, I could fuel it on the dock, and it
would have enough gas to serve the minimal morning coffee making needs
for a week or more. No need to carry any more gas containers.
...

Most everything has been said, but I can't resist putting in my two
bits. First, There is really no problem with the Honda as long as its
stashed in a place where any fuel leak will go overboard, instead of the
bilge. I carry one in a cockpit locker that drains out the stern, and
the spare gas stays in the dinghy hanging on davits. When its run,
usually as a backup charging system, the exhaust is pointed out the stern.

However, I must say that I find its too noisy to use in a crowded
anchorage, especially if there is a boat directly behind. And running
it first thing in the morning just to make coffee is decidedly anti-social.

As for making coffee, a home style electric brewer is not needed, you
can much better coffee with manual methods. Many prefer a French Press,
but my favorite is a simple manual drip through a paper filter into a
Thermos. I have a slight preference for a "gold filter" at home, but
paper filters are much easier to clean on a boat. There are several
other methods, but they are all just variations on the same theme: mix
near boiling water with good coffee, that's all it takes.

This of course leaves the question of how to produce boiling water - I'm
assuming the you don't have a non-electric stove on board. (But then,
how do you stay out more than a day? Do you intend to run a portable
genset for every meal???) You could always get a small propane camp
stove; the risks associated are probably less than carrying gasoline.
There are some BBQ's (like the new Magma) that can easily heat a pot of
water. Also, a microwave can boil a quart of water reasonably quick.
Probably the best electric heater is a Bodum Ibis (or Mini Ibis), which
can boil 1.7 liters in 4 minutes. Its total load for a Thermos of
coffee would be about 10 Amp-hours, though of course a fair sized
inverter is needed. Far most civilized than firing up a generator!
Assuming that one does not already have a full sized, permanent gas or
alcohol stove at the ready, I prefer those single burner butane
"chafing" stoves used widely in wok cooking. In fact, I use mine almost
exclusive for just heating up water or pan frying, saving my CNG stove
for larger jobs (i.e., needing more than one burner) or for when I need
an oven. Here's a nice picture of the one I have:
http://tinyurl.com/6422hh. Lots of vendors sell even cheaper ones on
e-bay. I get the canisters (that burn for an hour and a half or so) at a
local Korean grocery store for under $1.00 each. (West Marine sells them
for over $5.00 each!) Assuming you can local find a source for the
canisters at a reasonable price this is a great option.

--Alan Gomes