Good Morning……I just wanted to get back to you on the operation of the Little Cod we installed on Jonathan (Heritage 46 center cockpit sailboat). The installation went as advertised and the comments we get from all that see it have been encouraging to us that we did the right thing by installing it. There is however a particular problem we would like to bring to your attention…….we have a interesting dilemma in that we cannon keep the inside of the boat under 75 degrees when we fire it up, regardless of the temperature outside . All kidding aside this is the solution we have needed for adequate simple heating aboard Jonathan.

The fuel that we use comes from Daville Supply a feed store north of Seattle. The logs look like a traditional presto log but are compressed much tighter and weigh in at 8 lbs. They are called (North Idaho Energy Logs. One log gives sufficient heat for 6 to 7 hours. There is no smoke no creosote and very little ash left over.

Thanks again for a great product.



Barry Maynard

S/V Jonathan

Hello Barry!

Those "Idaho" logs that you're burning are full of different chemicles including wax. Even if you damper the stove down, the wax will still cause the wood chips and sawdust that the "logs" are made of to burn dangeriously hot. I have found that if I take my little hatchet and cut the "logs" into around 8, 2" disks, place them on one page of newspaper with some charcoal lighter, they will even get wet wood going. My burn of choice is alder. It will burn even when its green. Cedar burns too hot. Hemlock is really wet unless it's seriously seasoned and will stop burning. I do get creasote with the alder, but just pull the Charlie Noble off and take a length of anchor chain and rattle it down until the pipe is clean. That takes but just a minute while the stove is out.

It would be my suggestion to use only real wood for the actual heating. A small pack frame, a hatchet, and one of those neet Japanese folding pruning saws and you can collect enough wood in a day to last all week. You can even ride the bus with this rig and who is going to say anything? It's nice to get off the boat and foray into the wild. I can get anywhere I want to go in Clallam county on the local bus for $2 a day all day long! Cruising in the NW, one can row ashore and usually fill up a dingy with feed sacks full of wood. A dingy full will last weeks.

I had to leave the butterfly hatches open before I got all this figured out, so I hope the info helps out. I don't know a boater that can consistantly find "seasoned" hardwood every time out. We have to go with what we've got. In the city, the power company may be able to give you a lead on where to scavenge branches. Bon Chance!

Your friend,

WSB
S/V Baggy Wrinkle

I use North Idaho Energy logs in my home woodstove. Unlike the grocery store variety, these claim to be made without any waxes or glues, just held together from the heat and pressure of the equipment that makes them from very dry sawdust. If they are burned in a stove that leaks air in, overheating could be a problem, since there are a lot of btu's packed into one. They burn quite clean, but I would be nervous about putting a whole one in a small stove unless I was completely confident in my ability to control the burn rate. Also, if stored in a damp place they will slowly expand and crumble back into sawdust. So you don't want them in the bilge!

Hi All,

Well, I guess Navigator should get a'hold of some of these and generate a little stove Mfr. feedback. Its hard to contemplate BUYING fuel but for a super long burn they might make sense at times if used sparingly.
The Little COD install mentioned above has not experienced and "run away" fires and it is recommended that all installs use a chimney pipe damper to regulate flow through stove. Even with good old 2x4's you'd run through them quite rapidly w/o a damper installed.

Cheers, Andrew / NSW

......has not experienced ANY "run away" fires...

Here's the log mfr's website.
http://www.northidahoenergylogs.com/
Just spoke with them & logs are 100% wood.
NO WAX!
They are happy to provide info on local distributors, etc.

Andrew /NSW