No refrigeration...your advice?

[bluewater]

Hi!

We just bought a sailboat with no refrigeration and no plans to add any. Would love to hear from any of you in the same boat, so to speak. Any special tips to keep perishables fresh? Or make ice last longer? Or?

Initial plans have us heading north up the Inside Passage, so I imagine on chillier nights we can keep a cooler outside...

[ssullivan]

I love the idea of cruising without so many systems, but in my business, we need them. So... let me pass some info along to you based on what I have learned about having less refrigeration (even though I am installing a high powered cold plate system!):

*Take lables off tin cans and write dates and food types on them with permanent marker. Labels will rot and fall off in bilge.

*Invest in a pressure cooker/canner to can up your meats - I did this successfully on my old boat, which had no refrigeration. Canned up chicken and beef as well as vegetables. Just be smart about it and really learn the techniques. Canning is only dangerous if you have no idea what you are doing. Take special care in CO, since with elevation, you need to heat your jars longer in the pressure cooker/canner.

*Buy powdered milk. Just about as good as real skim milk. or... check the next tip.

*Buy UHT milk in small "single serving" containers.

*Buy powdered eggs. Same story. or... check out the next one.

*With real eggs, buy only eggs straight from the chicken/farm. Don't buy supermarket eggs. Some people coat the eggs with vasoline to make them last longer. They also "flip the eggs over" in the carton periodically (I forget the period) to make sure the yolk stays suspended and doesn't settle into the bottom.

*Always use block ice. It greatly outlasts cubes.

*Insulate the #$@! out of your icebox.

Those are a few to get you started...

[delmarrey]

I can add a few!

With the block ice, if you have more then one. Remove the plastic covers and stick them together. they last longer.

Vacuum sealing certain foods for long term storage. (Cheese, dried fruit, extra coffee and anything else that will absorb moisture)

Dry ice- 3 pounds a day will keep stuff frozen in most any cooler.

Vegtables- keep'm wet.

Fruit- hang in a hammock. It keeps them from getting brused, rolling around.

[ssullivan]

delmarrey once whispered in the wind:

Dry ice- 3 pounds a day will keep stuff frozen in most any cooler.

I almost put this one, but stopped short. Dry ice is solid CO2. If it evaporates and fills up the cabin at night while you sleep.... you don't wake up.

Make sure you are well vented if you use this.

[Alan Wheeler]

Hmmm, I see major advantages in Liguid nitrogen. Things stay colder longer. When it evaporates, it goes up, not down, so will not fill the boat. And it has the one big advantage of, when you want just a half of a vegy or something, just drop the item and it will shater into bit size portions. Even if it was still in the tin

[BC Mike]

Freeze your beer on land and use it as blocks of ice. Drink when thawed.
Michael

[Alan Wheeler]

Hey now, that man deserves a DB.

[NoTies]

Eggs can be coated in plain old cooking oil, a lot less messy than vaseline. We use this method over winter down here and in refrigerated (4 degC) storage they last 6 months+. Not sure how long they'll last unrefrigerated though.
Freezing beer sounds sacreligious!! Retain ice melt in bags etc. for drinking for those without watermaker.

[sv_makai]

We have been cruising in the Caribe for 2 years and have found many thing that don't use refrigeration, though we have frig/freezer onboard.

Eggs, once you get out from the US most places the eggs are not refrigerated and last a very long time. They seem to last longer than the friged variety. Never heard of anyone who met Sam and Ella!

Tinned butter-found everywhere and most places use a pretty good margerine that is left out.

Rum, good rum! I have started on Santa Ters 1796 one thier top of the line sipping rum, no ice needed their to water the taste. Great straight up!

[Jentine]

Install refrigeration unless you plan to sail in BC and Alaska in the winter when you will be in the refrigerator. A couple of batteries and a couple of solar panels or wind generator will handle all the power you need. Sailing without refrigeration for long periods is like boating without an engine.....possible but uncomfortalble.


Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Speaking as the guy who sails without an engine Ice is a luxury, and refrigeration can be a real pain. Especially on a small boat. To keep my ice box cold on Kittiwake, I freeze 2 liter soda bottles full of water. 2 bottles will last 2-3 days. Granted, I am in an area that stays reletively cool year round, it is just a matter of priorities. I am not against refrigeration, I am just comfortable coastal cruising without it.
A well insulated ice box is a must. Location of the ice box is also very important. As far away as possible from the stove, and the engine. Top loading is also very important. For drinks, I keep an Igloo water cooler on board full of ice. This will last 5-6 days. Sure this is impractical for a blue water passage, but I get the impression that that is not the issue here.

[Jentine]

"Initial plans have us heading north up the Inside Passage,"[B]

You will find few places to get ice once you leave the Vancouver area. Last summer I travelled down the inside passage. It is desolate to say the least. The only difference I see between there and a bluewater passage is the nearness to land.....vacant land.
Good luck.
Jim

[Weyalan]

This might be kinda obvious, but:

If you fill drink bottles, like juice containers or empty 2 litre coke bottles, etc. with water, and freeze them in your home freezer, (a) they last for ages before they thaw out, and (b) you have some nice fresh cool drinking water when they do thaw. Plus you have the added bonus of not having 6" of water in the bottom of your cool box....

Weyalan, my point exactly. I admit that I do not know the availability of ice or freezers along that route, but I have found that yacht clubs are a great place to stop and refreeze your bottles. I did install the Norcold refer kit on one of my other boats, and found it to be easy to install, effective for refrigeration, and stingy on power consumption. It was also cheap. If you wanted to consider adding refrigeration, this would be a good option, but I still stand by my determination that an ice box is sufficient. Also consider the practicality of a refer unit. Unless you intend to install a frezzer, most refrigerated items will only last about a week. An ice box will keep things cool close to a week. If you can find a place to restock your food stores, you can probably also find a place to refreeze water bottles, or at least buy ice. That is the logic I have used. Wether it applies where you intend to sail, I cannot say first hand.

[Curtis]

Bluewater,

Find a copy of Gypsy Moth Circles the World by Sir Francis Chichester. Been a while since I read it but he had several good discriptions of the food he took and how he stored/preserved it without refrigeration.

Pretty interesting read in any case.

Curtis