Losing your cool

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,918
- - Bainbridge Island
There many inventive ways of keeping beer cold. For example, towing it in the water (not valid in Florida) or simply living in the Pacific Northwest. But for most of us, refrigeration and iceboxes are more dependable.

What kind of system do you have?

There are 12 volt systems that can run any time, anywhere, at the expense of your battery. 110 volt systems work like a charm... while at the dock or trying to ignore your genset noise.

There are engine-driven systems and other exotic mechanical methods, too. and for smaller boats, ice boxes and portable coolers do the job well, so long as there's an ice source here and there.

What do you use and how does it work for you?

np.jpg
 
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
I have tried plain ole ice in the ice box but that only last maybe half a day. I have meant to experiment with dry ice but have not gotten around to it yet.
 

DougM

.
Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
I have a 12volt fridge on my boat that hasn’t worked properly since the day it was new. Compressor runs but there was probably a refrigerant leak. The thing is now 16 years old, the refrigerant itself is obsolete, and I simply have no need to replace it. The compressor does a better job of heating the cabin than cooling the beer.
 
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RoyS

.
Jun 3, 2012
1,739
Hunter 33 Steamboat Wharf, Hull, MA
Have refrigeration but for cruising going to use new Yeti cooler with ice cubes for beer. Leave fridge for food with less drain on batteries. This reminds me of a time a few years ago before I had the fridge. I was in Plymouth and I went in to buy some ice. Asked the girl at the ice counter for 20 lb.s of ice cubes. She said she only had 20 lb. blocks. I said I needed cubes. She said sorry she only had 5 lb. bags of ice cubes. True story!
 
Oct 26, 2010
1,881
Hunter 40.5 Beaufort, SC
. I have meant to experiment with dry ice but have not gotten around to it yet.
I don't know if I'd want to use dry ice of any appreciable volume inside of a closed sailboat. Carbon Dioxide is 1.5 times as dense as air. Depending on how much you use and how big your bilge is it could be a recipe for a long long sleep. :eek: At least that elimiates a fire in the bilge scenario. Maybe if its just enough for a small cooler it would be okay but I think I'd steer clear of that.
 
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Sailm8

.
Feb 21, 2008
1,746
Hunter 29.5 Punta Gorda
I have 12v adler barbour (sp) that works fine. We turn it on the day before and always put in cold stuff. I also fill the unused space with bags of packing peanuts to take up unused space. My solar panels keep up the batteries.
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
Just got my NovaKool 12v air cooled with in box evaporator system up and running before the season began. It changes everything for our lake cruising. No more feeding the box, ice. Everything is already chilled when we come out to the slip. Cold beer always ready for a sail or day of maintenance.

Maybe someone knows. What happens if there's a shore power failure? Will it drain my batteries? Something I need to investigate before it happens.
 
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Likes: Jim26m
Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Maybe someone knows. What happens if there's a shore power failure? Will it drain my batteries? Something I need to investigate before it happens.
Yes.
and Yes. You can rig a sensor to shut off the refrigerator if the battery gets to low. @LeslieTroyer rigged one for his Catalina 36.
 
Feb 14, 2014
7,399
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
Grunert Passage Maker AC50 120VAC

2nd Most important luxury item on our boat, per the Admiral.;)

This has a separated Freezer and Refrigerator with Hold over Plates.

The thermostats are set to let Beer just form a thin layer of ice on liquid surface after opening.:pimp:

The Hold over Plates are a eutectic filled blocks, like Blue Ice, that freezes and thaws, over and over.

Ours last 14 hours before a refreeze is needed. No ice to melt to water.:thumbup:

Refreeze take about 1 hour with the Genset.:clap:
_____
When on shore power, you can come to our boat for a variety of cold beer and other beverages.
Y'all come...
Jim...
 
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May 20, 2016
3,014
Catalina 36 MK1 94 Everett, WA
Thanks John. I will follow up on this.
i put in a Blue Seas LVD Low Voltage Disconnect. Originally mad for Ski/Wake boats with the huge stereos and thousand watt amps. The I dot 10 T’s would pull into shore and blare rap “music” till the battery was dead — oops cant start the engine.

Works just as well for the house batteries on fridges, has alarm contacts to drive an alarm when it disconnects and an over ride switch to ignore the low voltage.
 
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LloydB

.
Jan 15, 2006
804
Macgregor 22 Silverton
This pdf is worth the 10 minutes you use to read it even if you don't plan on using dry ice.(it's not an advertisement)
linde-gas.nl/nl/images/Handling%20and%20usage%20of%20dry%20ice_tcm172-72937.pdf
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
ice box. using one seems to be a lost skill for many. on the lakes i can load it and it will stay cold for up to a week. top loader. never beverages. always use dry ice on the mac races where you could get it delivered to the boat at CYC. packed ice around it so it would not freeze the meats and veggies. usually 100lbs of ice per load. 56 seasons and going strong.
at 42', Phil, aeolus qualifies as a smaller boat so ,yes, an ice box is all you need. (small craft warnings..............)
 
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Dec 25, 2000
5,702
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
Boat came with AB 12v dual system, freezer, refrigerator. On 24/7. Work great while out on our extended two month cruises.
 
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Mar 1, 2012
2,182
1961 Rhodes Meridian 25 Texas coast
I have an Ice box that I built into the boat. Sides and bottom are 3 inch urethane foam. Top is the same as is the lid. It will hold a 20 pound block of ice for almost 10 days. Problem these days is finding block ice, crushed will last MAYBE 3 .
I have used dry ice on many occasions- extends the hold to about 13-14 days. Fears of the carbon dioxide are pretty groundless. I don''t use it when it's cold outside, only during warm weather- when I have the cabin as open as I can get it :)
There is an article published in Duckworks magazine showing the build
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
i put in a Blue Seas LVD Low Voltage Disconnect. Originally mad for Ski/Wake boats with the huge stereos and thousand watt amps. The I dot 10 T’s would pull into shore and blare rap “music” till the battery was dead — oops cant start the engine.

Works just as well for the house batteries on fridges, has alarm contacts to drive an alarm when it disconnects and an over ride switch to ignore the low voltage.
thanks Les. I went to the NovaKool site to see what they say. Evidently my system has built-in low voltage detection in the electronic control module that protects the batteries.
 
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RussC

.
Sep 11, 2015
1,578
Merit 22- Oregon lakes
I buried a good metal clad cooler in the port side seating area, surrounded by 3"+ of foam. even just using 2 frozen 1/2 gal milk jugs of ice, to save space for food and beer, it easily keeps for our 3-4 days at a time trips on our 25' Mac.

P1050781.jpg
 

TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
Our old boat was designed with Bermuda racing in mind (as were most racer cruisers in this size). A crew of 4 or so would be onboard, sleeping, cooking, and eating while sailing, for a week.

It took a while to realize, that this design brief was about perfect for our family of four coastal sailing in the NE.

Food for say 4 for a week meant a big icebox had to be part of the design from the start. The stock ice box is nearly 10 cu ft. The liner is stainless steel and is drained to a separate sump in the bilge that is easily pumped overboard thru the galley sink drain line.

It holds all the perishable food we need for a week along with up to 80 pounds of block ice. Not that well insulated the size and capacity have enabled us to eat well for as long as we've stayed out.

Ice box.JPG


Everybody and every boat is different. My family are all food people, cooking, eating good fresh food while out sailing is as important as it is at home. This is a typical lunch my son would happily prepare (for the two of us), while at home. So we carry lots of fresh foods that need to be chilled.

Thomas cooking  (1 of 1).jpg


Yeah, we use a lot of block ice but it's readily available in our region(we have block ice in our harbor). It can be a chore getting ice along the way but because we're always replenishing provisions along the way, it's worth the effort.

Ice on deck.jpg


The upside of this extra effort is no battery charging to worry about as we're never at a dock for shore power. We like to anchor for days without having to use the engine, even sailing in and out of anchorages.

It's a simple system that never requires anything of me, other than ice. :)

Somesville  (1 of 1).jpg