Ice Chest Drain for H260

[Sailrj]

Has any one had any experience with installing a drain in the tray the cooler sits in on the H260? Twice now I've left the plug out of the cooler to create a royal mess. Looks like a drain could be tee'd into the galley sink drain to eliminate a potential mess when one has a "senior" moment. Appreciate any feedback.

 

[Ray Bowles]

I'm lazy, I just wrap the block of ice...

in a garbage bag and tie the top, then place it in a plastic tub in the cooler. When melted just pull the tub and tear the bag. No soggy smelly food or greasy water. Let us know how your idea works out as it sounds good. Thanks, Ray.

 

[Alan]

I use frozen water bottles

As they thaw, you drink them, no melting ice to spill. If you tap into the sink drain, make sure you use a one way valve. When heeling hard, you could drive seawater (lakewater) into the tubing and into the icebox. alan

 

[Jon Bastien]

Cooler tray above or below the waterline?

If the tray is below the waterline, then you could be creating a bigger problem than the one you're solving! I agree with the other posts- We re-fill gatorade bottles with water and freeze them for our icebox and cooler. We also put about a half bag of cubed ice in a tupperware bin for drinks, and this way we never have to pump water out of the ice box.--Jon BastienH25 'Adagio'

 

[Alan]

Gatorade bottles

I've used those also, but found they always had a little taste left in them. The water from them tasted a bit funny. Kids didn't like it (they love the Gatorade though). alan

 

[Michael Bell]

Pump it out

I agree with Jon. I had thought about tying a cooler drain in to the sink drain, but when below deck on a hard starboard tack, you can hear water gurgling in the sink. I.e. the drain outlet is below the water line. Then wondered if the outside water would back up into the cooler (the cooler sits lower then the sink).Recently considered using the little collapsible water containers that came with my H26 as drain catchers, but haven’t gotten around to it. I purchased one of those hand bilge pumps to empty out the dingy, and that works great to get the water out of the ice box (it’s clean enough!).

 

[Bill and Nancy Berg]

Drain... good idea

We have thought about it too. Really like a cold beer and frozen bottles of water just doesn't ice them down much.The sink drains well and it seems like a "Y" or "T" into that drain would work. We always have a little water in the compartment and it runs out onto the settee cushions sometimes.We've started putting a towel under the cooler to catch the leaks.Let us know if you come up with an easy way to do it.