chilling with no fridge

[ms.lau]

i wish i could get my head around electrics. but every time i read a thread on the subject my eyes glaze over and my brain goes la la la... so, i've decided i want the least electrics possible. and definitely NO FRIDGE! but how to keep food and beer cold?

 

[Ubergeekian]

i wish i could get my head around electrics. but every time i read a thread on the subject my eyes glaze over and my brain goes la la la... so, i've decided i want the least electrics possible. and definitely NO FRIDGE! but how to keep food and beer cold?

My boat has a cool box built in - fairly well insulated and drains to the bilge. It melts about 2 kg of ice (from your friendly local supermarket) per day in hot weather, less than 1 kg / day in cool weather.

 

[SailBobSquarePants]

Agreed

Agree totally with Uber...my Nich 32 has an in-built cool box, drains to the bilge. I buy a 2kg bag of ice per day when on the boat, more if I am having a lot to drink - i.e., company for cocktails.

As Don Casey wrote in "This Old Boat", a fridge is something that you should only consider putting in if you are a liveaboard, or IF you find you simply cannot get enough ice often enough. They are a great load on your batteries, require running the engine to recharge them, or lots of solar or wind. OTOH, he says they are indispensable if you liveboard.

Ice is usually easy to find, and an icebox can make do with less insulation (because it's not hitting the batteries) giving you more room inside for food and drink. And depending upon the size of your boat, not having to mount a compressor gives more storage space...in my case a lot more.

 

[V1701]

I know what you mean about having as little to do with electrics as you can.

I live aboard and just use the icebox as others above. Don't even buy ice to put in it and have managed fine all through the summer (granted here in UK). Use UHT milk, ordinary butter keeps well, as does bread, eggs, cheese, cured meat and lots of other stuff. Have string bags to hang up to keep fresh fruit & veg. We have a big Asda here though so I can get fresh fish/meat easily to use same day. Would probably get a Waeco coolbox if I go somewhere hot though and I don't need fridge for beer.

Have a read of Voyaging on a Small Income by Annie Hill, lots of tips and ideas in there for how to manage not having a fridge amongst many other things...

 

[William_H]

Cool box

Most boaties around here for typical weekend on the boat use just the coolbox. freeze at home 2 or 3 litre drink bottles full of water. They will last for days. And that in really hot weather.
If you want it to last longer and are prepared to sacrifice capacity then put the ice into an insulated bag then into the cool box. That will give a small space of really cold and the surrounding area as just cool. You just have to be considerate of use. olewill

 

[Ubergeekian]

I live aboard and just use the icebox as others above. Don't even buy ice to put in it and have managed fine all through the summer (granted here in UK). Use UHT milk, ordinary butter keeps well, as does bread, eggs, cheese, cured meat and lots of other stuff. Have string bags to hang up to keep fresh fruit & veg.

On my Jouster (no reasonable offer refused) I keep food under the seat just in front of the dinette. It's mostly below water level, and the cool hull does a good job of preserving food, though not as good as the Victoria coolbox. Were I keeping the Jouster I would insulate the sides and roof of that locker well and let the bottom keep it cool.

 

[prv]

Use UHT milk, ordinary butter keeps well, as does bread, eggs, cheese, cured meat and lots of other stuff

I always store butter at room temperature, both at home and on the boat, so as to be able to spread it. Keeping bread in the fridge seems eccentric to me. My mum always kept eggs in the cupboard, although I admit I do have mine in the fridge at home. Cured meat was invented for room-temperature storage (although you do have to watch out for stuff that's not really cured and just "smoke flavoured"). So all of this stuff ought to be perfectly fine without a fridge.

I do have a fridge on KS, but the plate in it is mounted upside down (previous owner presumably didn't read the instructions) and so it tends to have a small totally-frozen area and the rest of it is not noticeably cooler than the rest of the cabin.

Pete

 

[prv]

Incidentally, the fantasy-football-style "design" I have for a longterm liveaboard cruiser also aims to avoid electricity as far as possible (the whole thing was inspired by reading one of the Pardys' books ). I did a bit of reading about absorption-cycle refrigeration, whose energy source is heat rather than a rotating compressor. This is what camping gas fridges use.

I was wondering whether an effective boat fridge could be built to burn paraffin or diesel, or perhaps to be connected by a short heat-pipe to one of those aga-style diesel cookers. The main problem is that the absorption piping works by gravity, so it's not very tolerant to being heeled over.

Pete

 

[prv]

As for the beer, buy bottled ale. It's not meant to be warm ideally (that's a vile slur put about by Americans ) but it's a lot less nasty than lager is when you can't get it cool.

Pete

 

[sarabande]

these Pot-in-Pot coolers work very well. I had one when living aboard for 6 months. The sand got a bit green and had to be replaced, but that's Heathrow for you.

http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Pot-in-pot_cooler

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aidg/533787809/

 

[Liz_I]

When in Lanzarote at anchor we met a superb couple who had perfected a very simple solution. They hung a 'shoe storage' unit. 3 Cloth 'boxes', enclosed in netting to keep the nasties out and a plastic water bottle suspended above that dripped water constantly on the fabric. Now the 'unit' needs to be kept in the shade but needs breeze.
We have a simpler solution and it keeps veg and cans of beer really well. Suspend a netting shopping bag, in the shade but in a breezy situation! Chuck an old towel (attached) overboard. Wring out lightly and wrap the netting bag in towel, closing it at the top and leaving open at bottom. Keep moist, by dribbling seawater a couple of times a day, over the towel.

 

[Quidi Vidi]

i wish i could get my head around electrics. but every time i read a thread on the subject my eyes glaze over and my brain goes la la la... so, i've decided i want the least electrics possible.

I know how you feel, it would be easier to read Chinese writing! Some of the guys here are very good at explaining things though and i have found have great patience

 

[Poignard]

A cheapskate's method of getting cold beer

I just berth alongside someone with a big boat and invite them for a drink, hoping they'll say: "Look, why not come on our boat, we've got much more room?"

 

[Monique]

I would get... "small block of dry ice", wrap it in lots of paper otherwise, it will freeze everything, then place it at the bottom of the cold box. Should last 2 days... no water, no mess!

Beware, it releases CO2...

Another trick, buy some San Peligrino, (Bottle walls are thicker) drink the "agua con gas", refill with normal water, place horizontally in your freezer while leaving some room for expansion... and presto, you have ice which will become drinking water. Will keep the rest cool too. (Don't forget them in your freezer)

Keep the water next to the beer...

 

[snorkmaiden]

We use a 12V cool box - the sort sold for caravans, campers etc. It comes with an optional mains unit that we use in port. If I can I add freezer blocks or ice in a bag. It's a bit bulky but lives in the forepeak in the 'V' of the berth most of the time, and can be relocated near the chart table for the 12V supply if motoring on a hot, flat day. The only downside is that it hums annoyingly and doesn't have a thermostat so that you need to unplug when cool. But it's a solution that doesn't involve any structural work to the boat (a Sadler 29). And you can take the leftovers home at the end of the season.

 

[LeonF]

Why doesn't some manufacturer make a really small unit that will freeze those blue freezer blocks or small bottles of water ? Even the smallest Waeco is too big. Then with a good insulated coolbox, or even one of those freezer bags, one could refreeze the blocks quickly every couple of days.
Was doing fire extinguisher training yesterday, and the CO2 extinguishers got really cold..did make me suggest that carry an outdated one could be a means to quickly chilling a few beers or a decent bottle of white.

 

[ms.lau]

thanks for all the interesting replies so far... i have a camper van and over the summer i experimented with (i think they're called) zeer pots, an idea from africa - 2 terracotta plant pots, one 2" smaller than the other, one inside the other with the 1" space filled with sand. cover with damp cloth, keep that and the sand wet. keep it in the sun. evaporation draws moisture AND heat from inner pot. i thought it a very neat idea but it does need sun, and terracotta pots are a bit fragile for sailing...

i have been thinking of living aboard my boat and would like to do that somewhere warm - maybe an unbreakable zeer pot would work. fill a wire mesh with something like moss and keep that wet?.... hmmm..

 

[Searush]

I have posted this before, but I guess it was a few years ago, so here it is again;

The Sock Powered Fridge

This is a simple & basic design, utilising items freely available to any small boater. You will need one bucket or large bowl (plastic or canvas is quite acceptable). I recommend that you do not use the bucket that doubles up as a toilet - but it's your choice.

Part fill it with sea water - there will be plenty of this available all around you - unless you have managed to go aground - in which case you will need to wait a few hours for the tide to return. Take a sock - it can be one or a pair, clean or used - whatever happens to be available. Wet the sock & drape it over the side of the bowl or bucket with about 1/4 to 1/3 of it in the sea water inside & enough over the putside to hold it in place.

Capilliary action will draw small quantities of sea water up the sock & the warm air around it will cause the water to evaporate. This requires latent heat which will be drawn from the bucket & bowl, which in turn cools the water in it. Simply place your milk/ beer/ butter etc in the water in the bucket (using containers or plastic bags if preferred), and they will stay cool.

Of course, one doesn't need to use a sock, any material will do, but woollen socks are particularly good.

 

[ninky]

there are quite a few off-gridders (on land and afloat) who have re-learnt how to live without electric refrigeration.

a lot has to do with the type of foodstuff you buy. go for tinned food (you can even get tinned cheese especially in turkish / greek shops). rethink the ingredients you cook with.

then consider alternative food storage. truth is we've lost a lot of old skills on food storage and far too many people use their fridge like a food cupboard when in fact most the stuff doesn't need to be in there. for example, lettuce, salad etc keeps much better at room temperature in water like flowers rather than in fridges which wilts the leaves.

keep wine, beer etc low in the boat in the bilges and that acts as a form of natural chilling and of course can always be dipped in the water for added chill factor.

only cook as much as you want to eat so as not to create leftovers that need putting in a fridge.

 

[ms.lau]

these Pot-in-Pot coolers work very well. I had one when living aboard for 6 months. The sand got a bit green and had to be replaced, but that's Heathrow for you.

http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Pot-in-pot_cooler

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aidg/533787809/

ah, sorry sarabande, i tried to describe the exact thing your link was about..

not the best for rough seas but surely the principle is good. spoke to someone this evening who made similar thing with plastic food containers.. slightly boozy evening so will need to get details another time!