Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. Advertise Here
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 08-02-2012, 00:14   #1
CFR
Registered User

Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 143
Living Without a Fridge

Hi i start a second thread besides my fride vs watermaker under plumbing....

How to live without a fridge. if possible i like to avoid a fridge because many foods are much better stored outside a fridge especially when comming from a market and in the end for what do i need a fridge with all the connected problems : solar panels, extra batteries etc.
CFR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 00:44   #2
Registered User
 
SimonV's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Brisbane, Australia.
Posts: 1,338
Re: living without a fridge

I took the hot water system off the boat but was threatend with divorce should the freezer go....fridge that would make the early News head lines.
__________________
Simon

Bavaria 50 Cruiser
SimonV is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 01:21   #3
CFR
Registered User

Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 143
Re: living without a fridge

my wife insist on a heater or very warm climate otherwise she would leave........ i bought her a expedition sleeping bacj designed for minus 20 C , no she use it in springtime at plus 10 C and is happy....
CFR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 02:49   #4
Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: UK, Middle East, Australia
Boat: Angus Primrose One design 45ft And Duncanson 34 Mk2
Posts: 222
Re: living without a fridge

Quote:
Originally Posted by CFR View Post
Hi i start a second thread besides my fride vs watermaker under plumbing....

How to live without a fridge. if possible i like to avoid a fridge because many foods are much better stored outside a fridge especially when comming from a market and in the end for what do i need a fridge with all the connected problems : solar panels, extra batteries etc.

Ive got a fridge but i dont use it much,
If i go sailing long distance i look at it like hiking, i take food that is tinned or eat differently until i can get fresh food etc,
As for the watermaker, I have researched and priced etc, if im carrying extra fuel to make water i may as well just carry gerry cans full of water.
Same with a generator.
If i have to carry extra fuel to power a generator to power a watermaker, I adjust my life to not require the extra necessities,
After all they didnt have it back in the day so why panic now,
More stuff to go wrong etc.
Smoke fish instead of chilling it.
same with meat as well.

Get a hand operated water maker as an emergency, they can make i think 7 to 10 litres per hour and are portable
nauticalnomad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 03:30   #5
Senior Cruiser
 
boatman61's Avatar

Community Sponsor
Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: PORTUGAL
Posts: 30,561
Images: 2
pirate Re: living without a fridge

Quote:
Originally Posted by nauticalnomad View Post
Ive got a fridge but i dont use it much,
If i go sailing long distance i look at it like hiking, i take food that is tinned or eat differently until i can get fresh food etc,
As for the watermaker, I have researched and priced etc, if im carrying extra fuel to make water i may as well just carry gerry cans full of water.
Same with a generator.
If i have to carry extra fuel to power a generator to power a watermaker, I adjust my life to not require the extra necessities,
After all they didnt have it back in the day so why panic now,
More stuff to go wrong etc.
Smoke fish instead of chilling it.
same with meat as well.

Get a hand operated water maker as an emergency, they can make i think 7 to 10 litres per hour and are portable
+A1.... lets face it.. as long as your not needing it for medical reasons all one needs a fridge for is fresh meats...
Fruit and veg are better kept out... they last a coupla weeks, some longer as long as they're not bought in supermarkets..... they're chilled for shipping which cuts shelf life dramatically... everything else one can manage easily..
__________________

It was a dark and stormy night and the captain of the ship said.. "Hey Jim, spin us a yarn." and the yarn began like this.. "It was a dark and stormy night.."
boatman61 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 03:56   #6
Registered User
 
captain58sailin's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Homer, AK is my home port
Boat: Skookum 53'
Posts: 4,042
Images: 5
Re: living without a fridge

On our first extended sailing voyage, we were sans all of the conveniences that some take as necessities these days. No fridge, no water maker, no gps (hadn't been invented), the hot water came from a pot on the stove. You dip your eggs in paraffin, eat a lot of canned goods. Catch a lot of fish. When you get to land fall then every thing tastes soooo good. We were all hungry for different tastes, for some it was Big Macs, for others it was fresh fried chicken etc..., We caught our fresh water from the rain squalls, kept the deck scrubbed clean and when the rains came, after a few minutes we would block the scuppers and fill the water tanks. Then bathe in the down pour after the tanks were filled. One came to really appreciate things much more. If you are looking for simple, then less is best, I would consider a hand pumped water maker, for emergencies.
__________________
" Wisdom; is your reward for surviving your mistakes"
captain58sailin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 04:10   #7
Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: UK, Middle East, Australia
Boat: Angus Primrose One design 45ft And Duncanson 34 Mk2
Posts: 222
Re: living without a fridge

Quote:
Originally Posted by captain58sailin View Post
On our first extended sailing voyage, we were sans all of the conveniences that some take as necessities these days. No fridge, no water maker, no gps (hadn't been invented), the hot water came from a pot on the stove. You dip your eggs in paraffin, eat a lot of canned goods. Catch a lot of fish. When you get to land fall then every thing tastes soooo good. We were all hungry for different tastes, for some it was Big Macs, for others it was fresh fried chicken etc..., We caught our fresh water from the rain squalls, kept the deck scrubbed clean and when the rains came, after a few minutes we would block the scuppers and fill the water tanks. Then bathe in the down pour after the tanks were filled. One came to really appreciate things much more. If you are looking for simple, then less is best, I would consider a hand pumped water maker, for emergencies.

Love it.... I listen to too many people wanting to live the dream but are never ready because of this or we need this or we need that. If you want the luxuries of living in a house, you best stay on land, The whole idea of throwing it all away is to purely throw it all away.
I love the sea and thats why im on it, if i cant cook it ill marinate it in lemon juice and eat it raw. If i am out of electricity ill survive in the dark.

its all part of the adventure...
nauticalnomad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 04:50   #8
Registered User
 
captain58sailin's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Homer, AK is my home port
Boat: Skookum 53'
Posts: 4,042
Images: 5
Re: Living Without a Fridge

The beauty of the modern day, is with solar panels which are mostly maintenance free, you can keep your batteries charged without running the engine, so you can keep your reading lamp and music, nav. lights going without burning diesel. As long as you don't go crazy and try to power up like a land based house hold. I lived in a one room cabin in the woods with (1) 42 watt panel, and (2) 8 D boat batteries, and it supplied all of my needs with out any outside source of power, kept my boom box going, and my reading lights that came from boats I had salvaged, going. The only maintenance I ever did was clean the snow off so they would keep the batteries charged. I have seen a huge amount of over kill on this forum regarding solar panels and wind generators.
__________________
" Wisdom; is your reward for surviving your mistakes"
captain58sailin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 05:04   #9
Senior Cruiser
 
boatman61's Avatar

Community Sponsor
Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: PORTUGAL
Posts: 30,561
Images: 2
pirate Re: Living Without a Fridge

Quote:
Originally Posted by captain58sailin View Post
The beauty of the modern day, is with solar panels which are mostly maintenance free, you can keep your batteries charged without running the engine, so you can keep your reading lamp and music, nav. lights going without burning diesel. As long as you don't go crazy and try to power up like a land based house hold. I lived in a one room cabin in the woods with (1) 42 watt panel, and (2) 8 D boat batteries, and it supplied all of my needs with out any outside source of power, kept my boom box going, and my reading lights that came from boats I had salvaged, going. The only maintenance I ever did was clean the snow off so they would keep the batteries charged. I have seen a huge amount of over kill on this forum regarding solar panels and wind generators.
There's overkill on a lot of things...
KISS is an unknown for many with access to Google...
__________________

It was a dark and stormy night and the captain of the ship said.. "Hey Jim, spin us a yarn." and the yarn began like this.. "It was a dark and stormy night.."
boatman61 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 05:17   #10
Registered User
 
captain58sailin's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Homer, AK is my home port
Boat: Skookum 53'
Posts: 4,042
Images: 5
Re: Living Without a Fridge

Amen to that boatman61, one time in Lahina, I saw an older gentleman, sailing a small skiff around the harbor, he was lying in the bottom and would tack back and forth in between the moored vessels, and he looked like he was having the time of his life. I thought at the time he had the best of all worlds. When I retire my goal is to become a beach bum with an outrigger canoe to go fishing with, I don't know what the hell I am waiting for. If I think about it very long, I'll quit and go walk about.
__________________
" Wisdom; is your reward for surviving your mistakes"
captain58sailin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 05:43   #11
CFR
Registered User

Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 143
Re: Living Without a Fridge

Hi all, i am with you. The boat might be big and i can repair nearly everything but i like to keep it simple. I like to sail my dinghy arround and even on the biggest yachts they laugh and wellcome me, never happend when i use a rib and outboard before.... children start to race in their optis with me. nice.

I have the 30 HP engine which might too small but it will run 6000 hours, no electronic no blower. one gps was installed and vhf, some instruments. should be enough.

you are right many cruiser have everything which works nice in the marina but later most of the time thy discuss which piece just broke and how to import that damn spare parts.... for the fridge, watermaker, aircon, plotter laptop etc etc

but not so many "poor" sailors arround who can not afford the luxury :-)
CFR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 06:05   #12
Registered User

Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 530
Re: Living Without a Fridge

When i was on my second boat i had a fridge but no shore power cause i was on the hook. It didn't take long for me to decide that it was more bother than it was worth. Most of the time didn't miss it and if i did a provision run that had to last a few day i some time got some ice to carry over for a day and a bit. The One thing that i really missed was ice cold water, so if i was ashore it was the first thing i would find. By the time i had to move back into a house i didn't bother with a fridge until one of my kids moved in.


I still use milk powder, don't put eggs in a fridge (if i was worried i would use water glass to help preserve them). I tend to eat more rice than potatoes and usually leave left over rice out of the fridge if i am going to use it the following day. One of the habits that i got into onboard was to use oils instead of margarine and there is no need to use a fridge there. When i cook larger quantities of things like curry or stews i tend to still use a pressure cooker, take what i want out, reheat and screw down the lid and leave it out until i use it the following day.


Lets face it people sail long before fridges and today we have the advantage over then of dehydrated foods, vacuum packing foods to extend shelf lives. We tend to use fridges because we are used to having them and because they are convenient. Where the power use causes us problems the convenience factor goes out of the window.


When i get my next boat if it has a fridge onboard i would not remove it but rarely use it unless there was someone else onboard who had difficulty in surviving without it. If there wasn't one there i might fit one but it would be way down on my list of priorities, somewhere below AIS and radar.

Water makers i have never used. I survived happily on caught water toped up with water runs from shore. However i was using Laundromats and often had access to showers onshore.
I would never criticizes other who made differ decision cause everyone has there own plans and circumstances.
__________________
2 Dogs
justwaiting is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 07:03   #13
Registered User
 
nautical62's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Live Iowa - Sail mostly Bahamas
Boat: Beneteau 32.5
Posts: 2,307
Images: 12
Re: Living Without a Fridge

For most of humanity people did not have modern fridge. History if full of explorations that explore the world without it. On extended sea kayaking or canoeing expeditions, people never have it. I went without for up to 3 months at a time on my first boat. You can certainly do without it. It's just a matter of what's important to you.
nautical62 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 07:22   #14
Registered User
 
Amapola's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Florida
Boat: Matlack, Trawler, 48 ft
Posts: 1,060
Re: Living Without a Fridge

It's all about what makes you and your crew happy.
__________________
The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.
—Jacques Yves Costeau
Amapola is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 07:22   #15
always in motion is the future
 
s/v Jedi's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: in paradise
Boat: Sundeer 64
Posts: 18,757
Re: Living Without a Fridge

All that preach to go without fridge are living in houses with fridges and freezers and what not

The ones that truly go without are eating cold beans straight from cans because it makes them feel tough and macho

Us wimps on the other hand, have fridges and freezers aboard and prepare meals that are a form of art. Strangely, all those who have no fridge aboard would love to be invited for a cold beer (wonder why that isn't a subject yet) and dinner... while they themselves can never return the favor because they have no cold beers and dinner to serve. Guess what, polarizing starts right there

The end result is that those who can't afford a fridge come up with a thousand excuses and reasons why it is better without a fridge. They still fish for invitations though...

ciao!
Nick.
s/v Jedi is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
refrigerator

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Fridge Won't Cycle On and Off keao Plumbing Systems and Fixtures 31 18-01-2020 05:08
Built a New Fridge janders Plumbing Systems and Fixtures 85 14-06-2012 15:55
HELP ! Fridge Question ! akio.kanemoto Plumbing Systems and Fixtures 12 07-01-2012 19:23
Fridge Fan?? Dulcesuenos Plumbing Systems and Fixtures 21 14-12-2011 16:54
Living Aboard in Cleveland vipermagic Liveaboard's Forum 6 17-10-2011 02:25

Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 01:17.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.