A cruising boat sails on it's stomach

 Fresh fruits, breads, dairy and meats make life aboard a sailboat a thing of joy.
Several years ago when we first moved onto the Omarsea the factory refrigeration gave up the ghost. When we moved to St Thomas in '07 Jean and I shipped a new fridge system down. It ran of the main engine and does a great job of keeping the food cold. The only caveat being that you have to run the engine 2-3 hours a day to keep it cold. That got  expensive when fuel reached  6$ a gallon in 2008.

So we purchased 12 volt battery refrigeration. Then we had to add a wind generator to keep the hungry fridge fed with power. It eats battery power like our kids eat food.  Keeping fresh food on board is a big concern of cruisers. With a full freezer and fridge you can go and see some of the most amazing places. Without fresh food - life gets pretty boring fast. So a yacht sails on it's crews stomachs as much as it does on the water.

 I was in contact with Richard Kollman of Ft Lauderdale, Fl this year. He wrote what is considered by many to be the bible of boat refrigeration systems. His recommendations led me to replacing the old icebox we had on the boat.

The New Box:
1-The inner liner is made of 1/2" epoxied plywood. It is contoured to follow the curve of the hull. Painted with bright sides marine epoxy paint it is smooth as glass and should be easy to keep clean.

2-To support the new box I built a shelf of 3/4" plywood. Three layers of 2"extruded polystyrene foam insulation were added on top of the shelf.  Then the inner box liner was set on top of the insulation. The sides, front and back were then insulated as well.  Once the insulation was completed I fastened the layers of foam with glue and added a moisture barrier of clear plastic sheet to the outside.

3- The Box liner is then epoxied the top insert made of 1/2 " plywood (epoxied). The liner is recessed 1/4" to allow for a rubber gasket to later be inserted. You can see the edge of the liner (White) beside the epoxied wood in the second picture. The liner rests on fiddles at both sides and will support the teak plywood veneer cover on the front.

4- The freezer and refrigeration plates are then installed. Copper lines are run to both the 12 volt and engine driven compressors.

5- A counter top, 1/2" plywood covered in granite looking Formica  is then placed on top and screwed down.
This picture also shows the new instrument and electrical panel. In the upper left is a pocket with three shelves. Here I have mounted the VHF radios and stereo. I will post more on the panel as I get more time to use it. The idea of being able to quickly swap out a faulty piece of equipment without modifying any mounting holes is appealing to me. The big hole on the lower right is a pocket that will hold DVD and CD cases for movies and music. A removable backing plate allows for access to the wiring behind the panel. (as seen in the pic) The Electrical panel flips down for easy access to the refrigeration expansion valves and additional wiring.
The new panel sits fully 3" further back so the work space is bigger. It will easily hold a NOAA chart, or let me spread out the ingredients for feed our small army at sea.

This week I will finish the refrigeration and move on to installing the long awaited solar panels.

Fair Winds

Scott