food storage

Firstly, hard luck. Hope you're coping OK. It's tough but it will get better. It just doesn't seem like it at the moment I expect.
Two things, first how deep is the cool box? If there is any spare space fill the bottom with polystyrene beads, get them from a haberdashers. It'll dramatically improve insulation. We put ours in food bags so they were nice and loose, means you can pull them out and clean under without the little b------ds going everywhere.
Secondly, could you fit a timer in the curcuit? At this time of year you could be generating up to 25A assuming 25% efficiency (daylight time/shadow etc), so if you ran it at a low cooling level during daylight and off from early evening your batteries shouldn't deplete.
Good luck
 
thanks Champagne Murphy,for the good luck post.
i'm actually coping far better than I thought I would.maybe 'cos at the moment it feels like a holiday! after 30 years in chains i've got freedom,and if not finding too bad,maybe i've done the right thing?
time will tell
 
born2sail61 said:
thanks Champagne Murphy,for the good luck post.
i'm actually coping far better than I thought I would.maybe 'cos at the moment it feels like a holiday! after 30 years in chains i've got freedom,and if not finding too bad,maybe i've done the right thing?
time will tell
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There's always ups and downs. Stick to your friends like glue, they'll help.
 
I guess i'm quite lucky in a lot of ways,don't mind living simply,my needs are easily met,'roughing it' is second nature. a cup of tea,simole meals,a good book,good music and i'm sorted.and there's still lots to do on the boat....
 
Bob Griffith said:
People disagree on how to preserve eggs, but most people don't even consider the best method of all. There is no need to go to great messy lengths of smearing the shells with grease or waterglass. By far the easiest way is to immerse them in briskly boiling water in a wire basket for five seconds. The problem is that the permeable shell and membrane must be sealed. Cooking a thin layer of the white accomplishes this while also sterilizing the shell. Use eggs fresh from the farm that have never been refrigerated, if possible. We carry a 30-dozen case of eggs, and even after two month's time we rarely find a bad one.
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On a boat as small as the OP's I wouldn't bother with a cool box.
 
If you have a car, can you not take the cool box with you when you drive anywhere- like the supermarket- while you are driving it can be getting cool, powered via a cigarette socket. Stick the stuff in as soon as you buy it & try to keep it shut as long as possible,
But if she has the car then you really are in stuck cos the dynamo on the bike does not produce enough electricity - unless you pedal really quick!!!!
 
When we were younger and went camping in the West Country we found the best way to keep food cool was evaporative cooling.
Put perishable food in plastic boxes, stand them in a tray of water out of the sun but somewhere where there is air flow, drape the boxes with wet tea towels, the water then wicks up and evaporate cooling the boxes.
For milk bottles we used a similar approach but SWMBO made some close fitting cotton sleeves to put over the bottles.
You could of course just make a polystyrene box and buy ice from the supermarket to keep the contents cool and use long life milk
 
AngusMcDoon said:
It's probably not those foods you list that has made you ill. Bread should not be refrigerated. Dairy products go rancid and let you know they are on the way out long before they become harmful. Cooked meats are the usual culprit, and some vegetables as well like cooked rice, and surprisingly, part used raw onions.

To your storage question - your 50W solar panel will keep up with the electrical needs of a small compressor coolbox which use very much less than the thermo-electric ones. I run my CF18 on a 30W solar panel. It's not cheap costing over £300, but is big enough to keep the important food at the right temperature for one person for a week. Mine uses about 10 Ah per day at 12 V. I open it only 3 times a day and usually put pre-cooled food in it straight from a shop.

http://www.obrienscamping.co.uk/por...e-cdf-18.htm?gclid=CIPYmpuq6r8CFVHKtAodBlcAiw
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Yes we have a CF25 compressor coolbox and they are extremely efficient-kept all our suff well cooled 2 months this summer. Alternatively down in the bilge below the waterline will stay at 15-18 degrees c depending where you are in the uk. Good luck with the divorce -traumatic at the time but time sorts all of that. When I divorced I was not best pleased with it all but then met a wonderful girl. I still think she is wonderful 40 years later!
 
it will be tough after 30 yrs,but regaining contol of my own life again means it will be worth it.for 10yrs she has tried to control every aspect of my life,censoring my post, taking control of my money,even trying to dictate what I wear!
 
My friend I have been there but pulled through, there is life on the other side. Good luck.

By the way if you get Typhoo QT it makes a very passable cup of tea it has instant tea and milk only needs hot water.

all the best


David
 
born2sail61 said:
it will be tough after 30 yrs,but regaining contol of my own life again means it will be worth it.for 10yrs she has tried to control every aspect of my life,censoring my post, taking control of my money,even trying to dictate what I wear!
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you have just described my own happy marriage

all the best houses are run by women - it is the natural way

D

PS -I sail with no cool box

red wine, cravendale or UHT milk, mayonnasie is squeezy bottle, can't beleive it is not butter, babybell cheese, warm beer, whisky, rum
 
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dylanwinter said:
PS -I sail with no cool box

red wine, cravendale or UHT milk, mayonnasie is squeezy bottle, can't beleive it is not butter, babybell cheese, warm beer, whisky, rum
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So did I, for many years, thinking that I was rufty-tufty or something, surviving on sweaty cheese and spam. Then I got a compressor coolbox and a solar panel to power it. Within about 3 days I couldn't understand why I had never had one before.
 
AngusMcDoon said:
So did I, for many years, thinking that I was rufty-tufty or something, surviving on sweaty cheese and spam. Then I got a compressor coolbox and a solar panel to power it. Within about 3 days I couldn't understand why I had never had one before.
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in my case not so much rufty tufty as tighty wighty

not a massive amount of room on Katie L

The Centaur has an insulated box under one of the seats = it seems to stay pretty cool just from the water = mind you only ever sailed her in two fleece weather
 
I know you didn't mention meat, but for 2 weeks I was using a cool box and buying ice from shops (when available), the ice bags leak though.... the meat stayed good for 2 days.
 
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