A Boat Galley Safety Tip

This week's Boat Galley article welcomes summer with a hot tip for cooking on board...

Guest blog by Carolyn Shearlock
Carolyn Shearlock, author of The Boat Galley, appears weekly on the Daily Boater with tips for getting the most out of your boat's kitchen.

Photo: Carolyn Shearlock, theboatgalley.com

Due to the curvature of the hull, most boats have a storage locker just behind the stove, as pictured in the photo. What should you never, ever put in this locker? This is a quick safety tip... but one that can save a lot of misery!

Today’s Topic: Stowage and Safety...

The Answer:
Never put anything behind the stove that you might want to use when a burner is lit or when there is a hot pan on the stove!

There are several reasons for this...

• If you're wearing a top with sleeves, a sleeve can catch fire if it comes too close to a lit burner.

• Steam from a boiling pan can burn your arm. (I learned this one the hard way on our first passage, aboard a friend's boat. Luckily, the burn wasn't too bad.)

• If the boat moves as you're reaching across, you can fall into a hot pan - possibly burning yourself where you come into contact with the pan, on the burner itself, or splashing hot food down the front of yourself or down your legs. Just because you're in a calm anchorage doesn't mean the boat won't roll when another boat - or Jet Ski - goes by!

Just turning the burner off before reaching across doesn't eliminate the risk, as the hot pans are still there.

Another tip on this locker location - it tends to get really hot since it's next to the hull as well as adjacent to the stove. Don't put things in here that would be harmed by heat. I used it for "leftovers" containers that I'd only get out after we were done eating and thus the stove and pans were fairly well cooled down before I reached over the stove.

Following a few simple safety precautions makes boating a lot more fun – stay safe and have a great time aboard! 

Carolyn Shearlock is author of The Boat Galley, with over 300 FREE articles to get the most out of your boat kitchen with galley tips, insights & equipment recommendations. A few recipes, too - plus an active Facebook community to ask questions and share tips with other readers!

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