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The Marine Kettle 3 and the Cabo are the same idea executed with two different fuels. Both are 316 stainless, both mount to the same Magma hardware, and both are built to survive salt. What separates them is what you have to carry, store and clean up afterwards.
Quick Verdict
The Cabo (gas) is the practical choice for almost every boat — no ash, no coals to extinguish, no marina rules to check. The Marine Kettle 3 is for cooks who genuinely want charcoal flavour and are willing to manage hot ash over water.
The Contenders
Magma Marine Kettle 3
$399
Charcoal purists, anchored cruising, long stays away from fuel docks
Check PriceMagma Marine Cabo
$469
Everyday boat grilling, marinas, quick cooks, anyone who hates cleanup
Check PriceCategory Breakdown
Convenience
Winner: CaboNot close. The Cabo lights in seconds and is cooking in three minutes. The Kettle 3 needs a chimney or a lighter, twenty minutes to ash over, and a plan for disposing of hot coals that does not involve tipping them over the side of a boat. On a day sail, gas wins before you finish reading this paragraph.
Flavour
Winner: Kettle 3Charcoal tastes like charcoal, and no gas grill replicates it. If you are the person who notices, the Kettle 3 is the only marine grill that gives you real live-fire flavour with a lid over it. Fish especially benefits.
Fuel Storage and Safety
Winner: CaboCharcoal stores dry and inert, which is a real advantage on a long passage — no pressurised canisters, nothing that pools in the bilge. But hot coals aboard a fiberglass boat are their own hazard, and many marinas ban charcoal outright. Propane is safer in use and more dangerous in storage; check your marina rules before deciding.
Wind Handling
Winner: Kettle 3The Kettle 3's deep kettle body and domed lid actually shelter the fire better than the Cabo's shallower box, and charcoal keeps producing heat regardless of what the wind does to a gas flame. In a stiff breeze at anchor the Kettle 3 is the more reliable cooker.
Cleanup
Winner: CaboThe Cabo needs a wire brush and a wipe. The Kettle 3 needs ash removal, and doing that on a moving boat without dusting the cockpit in grey powder takes practice and a sealed ash container. Over a season this is the thing that pushes most owners to gas.
Final Verdict
Buy the Cabo unless you have a specific reason not to. Buy the Marine Kettle 3 if charcoal flavour is the point of cooking for you and you cruise somewhere the rules allow it.
Buying Advice
Whichever you pick, carry a metal ash or grease container with a sealing lid. Nothing hot goes over the side of a boat — it blows back aboard more often than people expect.