We took advantage of the holiday yesterday afternoon and went sailing on Lake Lanier. It was a wonderful day - bright sunshine, 58 degrees, and steady 12-14 knot winds. Only about a dozen other boats were out, and so we had the lake to ourselves. Two wind surfers in wetsuits were skimming across the top of the water at high speed. It was the kind of day that makes us forget how much these wind toys cost us. While it was raining in the morning, I used the time to make some more modifications to my 260. I removed the wooden hinged lid over the cooler space in the galley. I did this because I am now using a 37 liter WAECO portable refrigerator/freezer intead of a cooler. Since this is a true refrigerator with a compressor, I had to remove the lid to allow the heated air expelled from the condenser to escape. I was surprised how much better I prefer the galley area without the hinged lid. I intend to cover the hinge holes in the fiberglass with a strip of teak and hang a couple of thin mesh bags in the narrow space next to the cooler for dishes and utensils except for the eight inches or so that I need to keep open to allow the hot air to escape. Portable refrigerator/freezers are very popular in Australia and Europe but pretty rare in the U.S. The one I selected weighs 37lbs empty and can run on both 110v AC and 12v DC. It automatically shifts to AC if that is available. As a refrigerator with average use and warm outside temperatures, it only uses about 3 amps per hour at 12v DC (about double that when you set it to be a freezer with a 5 degrees farenheit internal temperature). I originally bought it for long car trips as a place to keep soft drinks and my insulin cold, but I think it works great on the boat as well. Supposedly many owners of these refrigerators let them run continuously without any problems. I hope all you Northerners are enjoying your Winter Wonderland. You know, it's supposed to be 68 degrees on Wednesday. Maybe I need to take another January day off and head up to the lake again!