Just a freezer & make ice for ice box... would it worK?

[Compass28]

Rather than large lumps of water containers, maybe consider this stuff:

Dry Ice Packs, Hot | Cold Gel Packs, Heavy Duty Reusable Ice Packs For Coolers - Techniice

Techni Ice has been in use for a few years and has proven to be durable, reliable and effective. Prior to soaking them in plain water, they are quite flat and light.

I have some sheets that have been in use for more than two years. Techni Ice lasts a lot longer than normal ice, too.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by reed1v

I like it when answers violate basic laws of physics.

OK I should have stated that it would further reduce the power usage of he house bank off the dock. The op stated to at the most 2weeks off shore power. I dont count shore power in the reduced power statement. ( you don't have to make shore power onboard ).

[Scaramanga F25]

I have done this. I had a propane freezer ( wonderful ) on deck and a very small cooler for milk, butter, cheese, and a beer and blue packs.
Worked very well in Florida Keys in winter.

[Scaramanga F25]

I have done this. I had a propane freezer ( wonderful ) on deck and a very small cooler for milk, butter, cheese, and a beer and blue packs.
Worked very well in the Florida Keys in winter.
I would switch blue packs morning and evening.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by wrwakefield

Hey Bass,

We love our Engel and use it for a full time freezer. What you propose will work but won't be the most efficient once you get to long term cruising- but should be fine as an interim solution. That will buy you a lot of flexibility for now too...

You can gain a bit more efficiency by using an appropriate eutectic solution instead of water. If you want something purpose made, look at Arctic Ice.

Cheers!



-Bill
SV Denali Rose

Hence my suggestion for using salt water the optimum mixture is 23%salt in the water. Producing an approx -5° f freeze point.

[newhaul]

The other I would suggest would be propylene glycol and water mixtures ( much easier to control freeze points ) Propylene Glycol based Heat-Transfer Fluids
http://www.westmarine.com/buy/seafit...FYVbfgodLO0KTg

[Symphony]

do you really need the electric cooler?
you can make ice last a long time:
thin foam/ reflective insulation on top of ice box.
add the blue home depot foam inside, sides and especially the bottom of the ice box.
cork the ice box drain - open only briefly to let out water.
keep the ice box full of stuff, even if non-food or towels.
put frozen food in the bottom, layer with newspaper. it'll last a long time and you can gradually thaw it by moving up through layers of your other foods.
open the ice box door as little as possible.
buy more ice when you must.
if you want ice in your drinks, buy cubes in bags. they'll last a week at least.

all of the above is much simpler than generating electricity and space for the Engel cooler.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Symphony

do you really need the electric cooler?
you can make ice last a long time:
thin foam/ reflective insulation on top of ice box.
add the blue home depot foam inside, sides and especially the bottom of the ice box.
cork the ice box drain - open only briefly to let out water.
keep the ice box full of stuff, even if non-food or towels.
put frozen food in the bottom, layer with newspaper. it'll last a long time and you can gradually thaw it by moving up through layers of your other foods.
open the ice box door as little as possible.
buy more ice when you must.
if you want ice in your drinks, buy cubes in bags. they'll last a week at least.

all of the above is much simpler than generating electricity and space for the Engel cooler.

Go Cruising, not Camping.

Hey that sounds like a good company tag line...I like it.

This is where the discussion breaks down to the single most important question to answer for yourself before asking and taking advice: What type of cruiser are you or do you want to be?

Dirt and sleeping bag camping, Tent camping, RV camping, motel 6 camping or Sheraton club level camping or bust!

All of those are sleeping for the night...so which one will make you comfortable and keep you (and more importantly your spouse) out there doing it!

[Schooner Chandlery]

3rd Day is right that we all make choices--I don't think the comparison to various brands of hotels/motels is spot on but I get his intended analogy. Everyone has their things that they want aboard their boat. Some of us enjoy a simpler existence than others. And, enjoy is really the word.

All of the refrigeration choices discussed are reasonable for the person who is using them. My husband and I never thought we'd go as long as we we have w/o refrigeration (a freezer) on our boat.

As "the wife" aboard I'll say--sometimes it's not the wife who wants the toys of the boat -- sometimes it's the husband who enjoys the gizmos of life. And good food is a necessity, good cooking too for that matter but refrigeration isn't always needed to achieve those good meals. My husband would like to put in refrigeration but not for reasons of food--just to have another toy to play with. I do the food prep and food preservation and storage, I'm the one who's more into the aesthetic we have of simple rather than fussy. I'm also a mechanical engineer and I toy with a variety of ideas of what we could/should do for refrigeration -- so far, no refrigeration or icebox for us. Why?

Refrigeration: We have room for it, power for it, money for it, but we don't have it for a couple different reasons. First--and primary reason--we took what we call the "Catalan Challenge" which is from a friend of ours from Barcelona who told us that she thought we Americans value our refrigeration too much and that we should do as the Catalans do--and eat fresh, buy fresh, as much as possible to eat healthier. We have found her to be right. As coastal cruisers, like most who cruise along the West Coast from AK to the Baja coast of MX at least, we can do that--live w/o refrigeration because it is rare to go more than a week w/o opportunity to provision. Actually rare to go more than a few days without it. Not so sure about folks extending down into mainland MX...anywhere the waters warm up it changes the equation a bit.

So, we packed our existing 120VAC countertop icemaker (from home) into the boat "just in case" we found ourselves very remote with a hankering for ice -- or needed to contribute to an anchorage potluck party and have gone now...5 years sailing sometimes in a marina mostly NOT in a marina and mostly on our own power w/o refrigeration. And yes, we have fired up the generator and made ice for an anchorage party. It's rare though.

We've used the icemaker--oh, maybe 50 times in the 5 years and haven't used it at all in the last 18 months. Mostly used it when we were in a marina on shore power in 2012. We don't even have the icebox the boat came with -- that space is an uninsulated dry pantry at the moment and if we install (eventually) refrigeration, it will be 1. a freezer and 2. not in that spot.

We store foods in cool places to keep them...cool...in waters from the west side of the Baja peninsula on north we have the nice cool Pacific to thank for a cool bilge. We are only 2 people--having more people aboard changes the equation just a little bit. We do have a tiny little Igloo ice chest that when we purchase meat, chicken, etc, we'll store it in there and we've bought ice and filled the little cooler with it, oh, maybe 10 times in the heat of summer. It lasts only a couple days but certainly is nice if it's really hot out. Not so nice that we feel like running our Honda EU2000 or the boat's generator to make ice with the countertop icemaker nor so nice that we've seriously begun to think about putting in refrigeration (for us, a freezer).

I really like the OP's original idea--simple and yes should work just fine for the waters he cruises in.

Fair winds
Brenda