Our trusty Taylors oven, after 14 years of sterling service, was starting to become problematic and, with very few spares still available, it was time to go shopping for a replacement.  After much on-line research and a couple of visits to chandleries, armed with boat plan and a tape rule, we settled on a lovely, new Force 10 stove.

Often when replacing equipment on a boat it’s not a straightforward swap and this was no different, as we felt we needed to improve both the gimballing and pan holder arrangements in order to stand up to the rigours of life at sea.  So it was back to the drawing board for Skipper, to design customised brackets to enable us to retain the original ‘beefy’ Taylors support brackets, as well as its safety bar and pan holders.  Nauti Solutions in Grenada made up the stainless steel parts in double-quick time and the new stove slotted sweetly in to place.

We now have a gorgeous and gleaming Force 10/Taylors hybrid.  No more excuses for the cook!

The standard gimbal bush, compared to the new brackets (no contest!):

On a nearby catamaran a cheeky fellow in Grenada reminded us that there is a downside to having a ‘sugar scoop’ stern: