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Whilst Butane is the most commonly used cooking gas in
Europe, it is Propane which is favoured in the United States of America.
We hope to list here your information about the availability of supplies
around the cruise-able world.
In the Caribbean, we found both Butane and Propane
was available in Chaguaramas, Trinidad when we were last there, in
February 2000, at TT$20 for a 3 kilo (blue tank) refill of Butane. Whereas
in some places tanks are replaced with a ready-filled substitute tank,
this was not the case there. Ian Taxi would collect Butane tanks and cash
from all the marinas on a given morning, usually once each week, and
return the same tanks duly filled around three in the afternoon of the
same day. Propane was a bit more complicated.
One or more cruisers would
take it upon themselves to round up enough interested parties to make it
worth Ian Taxi's while to go to the Propane plant and get their
accumulated tanks filled - usually fifteen tanks was considered enough to
go with. This seemed to happen about once each month and was organised via
the VHF Channel 68 Cruiser's Net at 0800hrs daily.
At Marigot Bay in Saint Martin/Sint Maarten we exchanged
three 3-kilo(blue) tanks at a large hardware store behind the powerboat
marina , the store being named something like Paint and Homes, at vast
expense. The tanks seemed very heavy and we thought this might mean that
the gas would last longer but the reverse was true. The contents seemed to
be consumed far more quickly than usual and we found ourselves without
Butane within five weeks, where normally one tank lasts us around three
weeks.
In St. George's Harbour, Bermuda, Butane is not
available and we managed to obtain a propane tank but with great
difficulty.
Propane is not cheap there and it is quite a dinghy ride and then walk
from most locations to the Shell station to buy direct or you can obtain a
supply via Smokie's Marina. In general it is advisable to arrive there
with a sufficient supply to see you through if possible.
At Horta, Faial, in the Azores we found that,
although we could get Butane refills through Mid Atlantic Yacht Services,
across the road from the marina, it was less than half the price at Costa
& Martin's, directly opposite the steps leading up to the street from
the centre of the marina, at just under 400 Escudos.
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