Hi guys.

As we get closer to the Whale Watching Adventure Cruise I thought I would
share a couple of tips that I have found handy in the past.

These are simple tips that most of you probably already know, but I thought
I would share them with you just in case. Perhaps if others have some good
tips you can share them as well.


FOOD SUPPLIES:
Fresh Meat: What we normally do is go to our butcher and buy the meat that
we want to take and ask him to cry-o-vac it. When meat is cry-o-vaced it
does not need freezing and can keep for up to 6 months provided it is kept
refrigerated. This is what we do. We get the meat cry-o-vaced into meal size
portions. We then freeze it in the deep freeze for a couple of days. (I know
I just said you don't have to do this but there is a reason which will
become clear soon, so please read on before you interrupt again!!)
After a couple of days in the deep freeze, the meat is frozen solid. This
then helps to keep the temperature of your fridge down and it uses less
power to stay cool, thus conserving your battery power.
If you are using an esky then it will also double as ice. I have stuck our
meat around cans in an esky and the cans have frozen! It is a very effective
way to conserve power and room.
As the week goes on and the ice starts to disappear and the meat starts to
defrost it is still going to keep fresh because it is cry-o-vaced. If you
have a fridge and your power supply runs down then the meat will also stay
fresh provided the esky / fridge stays cool.
I stress though that for this to work the meat must be professionally
cry-o-vaced by your butcher and not simply put into a plastic bag or on one
of those foam trays.

Milk: We go to Big W and purchase a carton of long life milk. They sell
cartons of 12 for just under $12. This does not need to be refrigerated
until you open it which means you can store as much as you like on the boat
without fear of it going off.

POWER CONSUMPTION:
We have found that by replacing our 12v anchor light with a solar light, you
can conserve a lot of battery power. The ones we use were purchased from
K-Mart for $20 and they are perfect. They will run all night without any
problems. They automatically recharge themselves during the day. They also
switch themselves on at dusk and off at daybreak without you having to do
anything. Basically you set them up and forget about them.

I hope these tips help and please if anyone has any other tips they would
like to share I am sure it would be very much appreciated.

Best regards

Garry Beattie
Ocean Spirit Trailer Sailer &
Small Yacht Cruising Emagazine
www.ocean-spirit.com