Calor’s crazy decision of a couple years back now caused more than a stir in the boating circles, but it was in the caravan and motorhome world that the storm of dissent was loudest, and, earliest onto the block.
I tried my luck with the traditional boating press to no avail before getting the South Coast sailing news to do a piece.
As for the Royal Yachting Association, they were initially non starters with seemingly little care, ignorant in their response to myself, until finally a ‘Calor’ statement was published by them last April – I had disposed of my forty plus year membership by then!
So, as someone who had only one choice to make when supplies of the ‘small’ calor cylinders ceased, that was to change to the smaller and more expensive Campingaz, I have kept my ear to the ground.
Fortunately, we built up a bottle reserve and found a supplier who ‘never ran out’ of the 3.9/4.5 cylinder sizes.
Then from my friend in Aukland, New Zealand came a tip off…
A snippet of news on the East Coast Pilot site – not a place I visit often. So I went trawling towards the caravan brigade for they have been very proactive.
I found and interesting item. From Admin of the Caravan and Motorhome chat pages:
‘Seems Calor have u-turned on this one which is good news for many I am certain, from Calor:
In February we announced plans to streamline our cylinder range to phase out the 3.9kg propane and 4.5kg butane sizes.
Customers using these cylinder sizes, particularly in the boating and caravanning communities, told us they were frustrated by the limited availability of alternatives to these sizes of cylinder. We listened to their concerns and reviewed options for returning these cylinders back into circulation.
We’re now pleased to announce that we’ll continue to supply the 3.9kg propane and 4.5kg butane sizes.
What’s changed?
Since the announcement, we have continued to fill a small number of these cylinders. And, following recent modernisation to our filling centres, we can now increase the supply of these cylinders.
We’ll also start to refurbish and return cylinders back into the network to improve availability. This will take a little time as we are investing in a significant capacity increase in reconditioning facilities, but we’re working hard to return supply to normal as soon as possible.‘
See: https://www.caravantalk.co.uk/community/topic/167387-return-of-calor-39-45/
It would appear that Calor are about to announce something: there is nothing other than the statements of early 2023 on pages currently.
Also: I know that many marinas have changed their supply lines and stock a greater amount of Campingaz, so, whether or not marinas will go back to Calor, if the pull out is rescinded, remains to be seen.
Stay alert!
Note: from fellow sailor, Brian, the Westerly Owners Association carries the same worded message.