Calor Gas crisis averted

There is currently a major supply issue ref Calor gas bottles in the UK. It's being going on for some time and there is some confusion over what has caused it. Some blame has been pointed at people buying patio heaters during the Covid-19 pandemic. Certainly Calor do not seem to be making much progress in sorting the problem. 

Marinas and fuel boats seem to have been particularly badly hit with Calor either not delivering at all or only delivering a fraction of what was ordered. There have been many social media posts from canal liveaboards who are reliant on gas for cooking & heating and also from the fuel boats trying to supply them.

So, when I was at the boat and tried in vain to light the oven to cook my half-baked baguette for lunch and then found that the spare was empty too, my heart sank.

Quickly discovered that the marina had no gas available and could not even put us on a waiting list as they did not know when they might receive any...

Luckily a recommendation from the always helpful Linda at Nantwich Canal Centre pointed me towards Crescent Garage in Nantwich.

I rang them fully expecting to be laughed at when I asked if they had any 13kg Calor Gas bottles. Instead they said that they could even do two!

After another quick trip into the gas locker to fetch the second bottle, I drove through town to the garage and soon had two full bottles in the boot!

The gas locker on Vegvisir is in the bow (on Mind Like Water it was on the stern deck). This means that, since we moor stern on the pontoon, accessing the gas bottles feels a bit precarious and involves dangling empty (and later full) gas bottles over the water to get them out (and then in). Quite a good workout.

Now that we have two full bottles (and don't use much) we should be OK for a while. Hopefully Calor will have got their act together by the time we need more!