Propane Locker like a Boss

Let me start by telling you: this project is no joke! I have spent over 40 hours on it this week, and I’m only through with the locker body. I haven’t even started the process of cutting big holes in Holiday and mounting this bad boy. And, I also want to say that I know why Jesus was a carpenter…because it takes miracles! Definitely not something I want to do on a regular basis. With that said, rewind back a week where I started cutting pieces of marine plywood into a circle for the bottom of the locker, a hoop for the rim of the top of the locker, and a box to stick out of the side of the locker to house the regulator. I never was good at art. Drawing even a straight line has always been a challenge. If I did want to do something “artful,” I had to really take my time. And, that’s where my lack of patience always starts to get in the way, especially as the project or task starts getting long. So, cutting circles and arcs was difficult for me, and by the way, 3/4 inch marine plywood is tough stuff. So, after my rough cut, I spent hours dremeling and sanding to get all my pieces to the correct shapes to fit, but in the end I was pretty happy with what I had done. That alone took me a full day and a half, and I had already spent about a day cutting on the fiberglass pipe for the body of the locker.

Next, I had to drill all my pilot holes with the pieces in exactly the right place, then put all the screws in place, and then remove all the screws and pieces to prepare for caulking. At this point, I had already put so much effort into everything that each hole I drilled, I was extremely nervous that it would split the edge or not be straight and come out of the side. There were about 40 holes, all close to edges. If I messed up, I would probably not start over and just buy a solar oven or eat food raw! It all went well though, and even though working with 5200 caulking is a huge mess, I finally got it all together. Cool, because it is now starting to take shape and look like a locker. This part took me another full day.

The next step was sealing all the exposed wood up with epoxy resin, and epoxying a piece of fiberglass mat into the floor of the locker to make it extra sturdy and water/vapor tight. You may think I sound like some sort of expert with all this description, but I’ll tell you, this is the first time I’ve ever worked with epoxy, fiberglass, or any of this other stuff for that matter. It wasn’t too bad though. Just read the directions, follow them step by step, and try not to get in a hurry or get too frustrated. I was still nervous about making some sort of mistake that would render all the work to this point moot, but it went well. This didn’t take me a full day, but after finishing, you have to wait a day for it to cure. So, we headed to the beach in the afternoon 🙂

Finally, a coat of primer and a coat of paint, and the locker is finished. It feels really good to have gotten this far. I knew the project was going to be tough, but it’s tougher than I imagined, and I have been surprised at how long it has taken. Next week, I’ll get it installed in the boat and get the propane hooked up to the stove. September is half way gone now, and the tropical weather pattern is looking mild. We are almost ready to set sail!