Freezer Only Aboard?

[Amapola]

We are fortunate to have both. We have a Norcold, a Waco Chest Refer/Freezer, a Uline ice maker, and a small GE chest freezer. If I had to give up something, it wouldn't be my Freezer.

[Islandloafer]

I have an Engel, which I use as a freezer. I rotate 2 large-ish freezer packs to my yeti knock-off cooler, swapping them out every day or so.

[john manning]

Freezer (definition) : The most useless item installed on yachts.

While a fridge is useful, its usefulness is greatest when you are tied to a dock (when it is least needed.)

Start thinking about dried meat, canned meat, preserved vegetables and fishing.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by john manning

Freezer (definition) : The most useless item installed on yachts.

While a fridge is useful, its usefulness is greatest when you are tied to a dock (when it is least needed.)

Start thinking about dried meat, canned meat, preserved vegetables and fishing.

How is a fridge or freezer useless? If you've got the means to power it, it's very useful, as it means you're not stuck eating only canned, dried, preserved, etc. stuff.

[john manning]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

How is a fridge or freezer useless? If you've got the means to power it, it's very useful, as it means you're not stuck eating only canned, dried, preserved, etc. stuff.

1. It is just my opinion.
2. It probably depends on the type of sailing you do. When I leave my berth it usually means I am away from shops for 1 week to 1 month. A freezer large enough for that amount of storage is not practical on a 39ft catamaran. I have a freezer. A good quality Isotherm unit, well insulated and very effective. Last time I turned it on was 2011, the year I gave up using it. It is now a storage box under a galley bench. Haven't missed it. I have been able to remove one 200A/Hr battery from the yacht since without any problems. I now need fewer solar panels. There is a good side to doing with less and fresh fish is a bonus.

[pbmaise]

I had a 12vdc water cooled compressor running a fridge with a tiny freezer section that was on the last legs. Rather I stopped using it completely since marine life had clogged it so completely barely a trickle of cooling water circulated anymore. I bought chemical solutions to clear the lines but never tried them.

In trying to come up with better solutions I finally resolved to buy a stand alone 48vdc freezer to run during the day from 4 solar panels....then to manufacture ice packs in the freezer that would be manually transferred to the refrigerator.

Instead of implementing this solution I sold the vessel.

[Mr B]

I live out in the Sticks,
I buy it all on the way home from where ever Ive been, About once every two months or so,
So all my food is mainly Tinned or Frozen,

Vegies, Fish, Meat, Ice Cream, Etc Etc, Bought in Bulk and Frozen at - 18 Celcius,
Meat, I buy in bulk and cut it up to whatever I want, Mince, Steak, Thin Slices for stir fry, Chunks for stews, Legs of Lamb, Lamb Chops,

Canned is for sauces, Champignons, Sardines, Herrings, Etc,
Packet food is ready to eat stuff, Just boil it in a pot, Pasta Sauces, Etc,

Fresh Vegies and fresh fruit last about two weeks if you keep them cool,

So moving onto my boat full time is easy for me as I already am living remote now,

As for eating dehydrated food, Hahahaha, Not on your Nellie,
I have eaten Good Food all my life,
And being on a boat full time isnt going to change that,

We are in the 21st century, Eating dried dehydrated food went out with the Discoverers of the planet, Or Mountain climbers that needed to conserve weight,
Scurvy, Lack of vitamins due to the food they ate, Dried packet food has its disadvantages,

My upgraded 500 Watts of Solar Panels and 920 Amphrs of AGM Batterys on a 34 foot Cat is more than I need for power,

360 Watts of Solar Panels and 400 Amphrs of Lead acid Batterys ran every thing on my boat 24/7 for 21 days at sea,
Minus the Freezer, I did have a Fridge Freezer on board,
But it wasnt big enough and I ran out of Steak and Coffee,
The new 90 litre Freezer will make sure I dont run out of meat again,
There is two of us on my new voyage, She also is a big meat eater,

I am looking at a month or six weeks between shops on my voyage,
Cairns to Weipa or Normanton, Normanton to Darwin, Darwin to Broome,
There are a few small towns in between, But charge like Mallee Bulls for food,
Running out of food isnt going to be one of my problems,

I like my new Freezer, It works great,

Cheers, Brian,
FWIW, My Plimsol line is still one inch above the waterline front and back,

[svbravo]

We find that the need for freezer vs fridge varies by our circumstances. While voyaging, both long passages and living in remote areas for long periods, the freezer has been most important. We use it before passages to freeze dinners to make passage meals easy to prepare and clean up when the weather is rough. Works a treat. Then, on passage, we often catch fish. A 10-15 kg mahi can be quickly butchered, and saved in meal sized baggies which all go into the freezer. And finally, when we're living in remote areas for extended periods, such as 6 weeks in Fiji's Lau group, we can keep a good quantity of food available without living on dried and canned foods. (The locals in many places, though eager to share, really are often just growing enough for their own needs).

In towns, either anchored or at marinas, we find that except for ice for rum, or ice cream, the freezer really isn't so essential. Shopping every few days is easy, and the fridge is much more useful for keeping freshies cool for the quick turn around.

So yes, for us, both are really useful, just depending on circumstance.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by john manning

1. It is just my opinion.

Well, that's different and each to their own ideas

However, even coastal cruising we find the freezer useful in extending the life and type of foods like fish and meat. Therefore willing to have extra solar to power a fridge and small separate freezer. We managed for 12 years without, but its nice to have that option, oh and ice for the gin too

Pete

[Old fella]

Originally Posted by Compass790

The other thing you can do is as you eat your way thru the frozen meat meat is you can freeze a bottle of salt water & put it in a chilli bin ( kiwi for cooler ) Then you can put stuff in the cooler. If you make a thick walled cooler out of polystyrene you can get quite a few days out of ice bottles. Also thaw yr meat out in the cooler to help its cooling. Might be good to put beer in.

If you cruise around BC & Alaska there are deer everywhere... just sayn.

This is what I do, works great. I put a 100w solar panel on the Bimini, and an extra battery which I isolate at night. Mind you, it is a h28 so I do a lot of motor sailing, otherwise I’d die of old age before I get there.

[Marathon1150]

Originally Posted by Compass790

The other thing you can do is as you eat your way thru the frozen meat meat is you can freeze a bottle of salt water & put it in a chilli bin ( kiwi for cooler ) Then you can put stuff in the cooler. If you make a thick walled cooler out of polystyrene you can get quite a few days out of ice bottles. Also thaw yr meat out in the cooler to help its cooling. Might be good to put beer in.

We did this when our fridge controller failed part way to French Polynesia. We also have an Engel that we use as a freezer and it was down to about half full when the fridge failed. So lots of room for 2 and 3l bottles of water in the Engel and when frozen they went into the fridge. These frozen bottles of water are also a source of cold drinking water which is very much welcome in a tropical climate.

[Marathon1150]

Originally Posted by Amapola

We are fortunate to have both. We have a Norcold, a Waco Chest Refer/Freezer, a Uline ice maker, and a small GE chest freezer. If I had to give up something, it wouldn't be my Freezer.

If the admiral had to choose between the fridge and the Engel freezer she would always choose the latter.

[jamhass]

OK as long as you have a proper solution for the beer.

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Im Retired so Time is Irrelevant,

Really? lol

I'm 55 in a few months, trying to retire in the next couple of years, starting to realize the opposite is true

[maijipo]

We have a very small freezer in the fridge. But it is very small and will not trust the temperature for long term storage. Breaking the cold chain can be dangerous.

The problem for us for a bigger one will be power. We only have 2 solar panels. Enough for our fridge, navigation, and light but I can't put much more.