HarryKrause wrote:

I appreciate all this, but...it just goes to the core of my point, and
that is, it is a hell of a lot easier to bring aboard a few six packs of
bottled water when we go out than go through what you are describing to
run a fridge or have decent tasting water.

We have a commercial icemaker at home. (I used to do a lot of fishing in
Florida, and took it with me from there to Maryland) I empty its
"product" out into large plastic bags during the week and put those into
our freezer. When I head for the boat, I simply grab the bags of ice and
when I get to the boat we're using, I toss the ice into an ice chest,
where it keeps, if I want it to, for at least a few days. Bottles of
water go on top, along with other liquid refreshments, and whatever food
that needs to stay cold. No fuss, no muss, no plumbing, no electricity,
no nuttin'.

I know this is not the elegant solution, but our 25-footer doesn't have
a generator, and I really do not want to find myself in the position of
trying to start an engine whose battery is down because the damned
refrig forgot to switch itself off when the voltage dropped or I forgot
to flip some damned switch.

If I were cruising for any significant periods of time, I wouldn't be
doing it in THAT boat, anyway. It's just a day or overnight kinda boat.

But I appreciate the elegance of what you are saying.

I understand what you are saying, and although we have a built in
refer/freezer on our boat, we also do not use it for overnight or day
trips either. We don't even do as much as you do - we just bring a
cooler with some 2 liter soda bottles of frozen water in them. (We
fill them with water and freeze them at home) If they do happen to
melt, we can drink the water.

Our kids gave us a 12v refrigerator for the car last Xmas, which we
intend to use for the boat for situations like that. It's too large
to be viable in the car.

I have trained myself not to need cold water to drink. When the
engine heats up the water in the tanks (as it will if it is on for any
length of time), I will drink water from bottles that we've brought
from home. (We don't buy water in bottles.)

Our home refrigerator has a ice cube maker in it, but it is not hooked
up.


grandma Rosalie