MacGregorSailors.com

Hello:
I have thought of using dry ice in a sealed lid on the cooler. It could be vented with a hose to a through hull. If the lid was insulated properly, the temp inside the cooler wouldn't be too cold and the dry ice would last a long time. I have also considered having the dry ice encapsulated with frozen water to insulate it. Make it into a slab that goes inside the lid that is sealed up.

SORRY, so now I am hijacking it.

Given the size and weight of the 70 Qt MaxCold, does this mean that the 5 gallon jug for the head sink has to be relocated... if not for space, at least for ease of access?

Frank, what are you using for water storage? Greg, what are you planning to do?

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Moe

Although a little smaller than the Engel we purchased an Indel from BWY for $399 a while back. This is a great price for a compressor type refer/freezer.

Moe,
I've not bothered with the head water supply, but I don't think it would be a problem. The cooler doesn't completely fill the space, but it's hard to trust dimensional memory. One of us needs to truck on over to Costco with a tape measure, then go measure the aft dinette (already done this much once before), and now post the results for archives!

I think a 5 gal. "Wally blue" watercan might fit at the hull-end, though mid-week access would be an effort. By such time though, the cooler would be half empty? When full though, it is a heavy beast. My cooler benefits from a little bit of scoot-space. That is, it can scoot in four directions atop its supporting shelf, easing the lifting of cover or grabbing the end handles.

I really like having the 70qt. capacity at the galley, but I've used two smaller coolers on departure day to provision the larger one. The capacity permits ample ice, plus ample food. Seems in smaller coolers, I've always suffered that ice vs. food trade-off ....
Truism - there's still no substitute for cubic inches!

Moe,

I haven't made any firm decisions on the water system yet, but likely use the Plastimo flexible tank for non-potable fresh water and supply both sinks from it.

Greg

Moe,
I agree that Don's ballast tunnel seems closer to CB trunk than on my boat. Guess that means one MIGHT get even more than his 16 gals. Can't really tell, but it seems maybe my tunnel is a little taller than Don's, too.

INSTALLATION NOTES for IGLOO MaxCold-70 COOLER
I installed a 1x2 ledger running parallel to the CB trunk. It rests on the ballast tank forward ... and rests on & is screwed to a 2" mini-ledger that's bolted to the dinette seat's aft vertical (the only ledger fixations). I think I just had to level the ledger to the forward ballast tank, and everything else ended up square ... amazing!

Then I cut a piece of 3/4" shelving to just fit from the ledger, crossing the ballast tunnel to barely rest outboard on the hull. Shelf edges are chamferred & corners radiused, of course, w/two screws down into the ledger. The cooler rides atop this shelf. Since the cooler fully fills the hatch opening, seems that it might contact the watertank's two elbows, depressing them slightly.

Don't yet have any cleats on the shelf to fix the cooler's position. It can slide four inches in every direction before striking a bulkhead, so it needs some study vs. those hoses. Scooting is good because I scoot it fore/aft to operate the lid, and scoot it beamwise to lift or drop the handles (see pix). This season though, I want to half-moon the hatch at each handle, and cleat the cooler to limit the beamwise movement. Undecided yet on the fore/aft scoot, but a half-moon at the center-rear hatch might obviate that too. Up near the window, I added a patch of velcro on the liner, and a mating fuzzy strap holds the hatch cover vertical, as shown. (Click for full size image).



My bilge has always been dry, but I'd have preferred something other than wood shelving. Seems the ideal material would be an eggcrate panel of some composite ... guessing about 12" by 40" but must remain one inch thick, or less. The picture reveals how close the cooler is to the hatch height. The blue handles illustrate that the cooler proper is less than 3" below the hatch, just enough for the lid to fit underneath the hatch cover.

Anyone have an idea for a non-wood cooler shelf?

Nice piece of starboard would do the trick frank, if you dont mind the $$$

Thanks for the details on the shelf, Frank!

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Moe

Frank,

Thanks for the information and the details. I'm going to stop at Piedmont Plastics to look at a few products they have. AQUA-PLAS V should be a good candidate for the shelf (it even floats) and I want to see if King Starboard XL can be used to make a new galley front and drawers.

How wide did you make the opening to allow enough room for maneuvering the cooler in and out and what did you use to cut the fiberglass? Does the cushion sit on the cooler top or does the cooler sit low enough for the cover to be installed?

Thanks
Greg

Frank, as an alternative to wood, I use that high density "styrofoam"--pink. That stuff you find left over from building projects. I am very weight conscious on my boat (and have low maintenace concerns). I shaped the foam to the contour of the hull to create a flat surface level with the tunnels. I usually apply a layer of clear plastic wrap (the type that has an adhesive on one side that is used to temporarily protect carpet in a high traffic area) around the foam. This keeps the foam from breaking up if it is gouged. This stuff carries heavy weight very well. I have used this platform for more than 2 years to carry my house batteries and no problems. Removal at a later date is simply as picking it up and tossing it--back to original.

I really like Billy's idea of contouring foam to fit the hull and spread the load on it. Additionally, it isn't a hard point on the hull that would prevent it flexing to absorb a nearby impact. I'm supporting our batteries on a piece of plywood on top of some small boat fenders to keep from putting the load of the edge of the plywood on the hull. I'm sure radiusing helps, but I'd prefer to spread the load a bit more.

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Moe

Plastic Parabolic Lens Covers for Florescent Light Fixtures (2'x4') = light weight ,strong (in these widths ) easy to trim, allows air circulation and cheap

Lots of good ideas - thanks.

• * $tarboard - yeah, weight & $$$.
  * The Aqua-Plas would work - bet it's expensive!
  * The styrofoam would work, but eliminates the vacancy for Don's waterbag.
  * Light grates! back of my mind, just couldn't place it ... need to stop by HomeDepot.

And in response to questions:

The opening needs minor trimming, evident when you measure the cooler & compare to width of the hatch opening. Two years later, my fuzzy memory is that I trimmed half-inch from each fore/aft lip (w/ jig saw) allowing the cooler a clean, straight drop. Then scoot some to fold the handles down. As oriented in my picture, raising the cooler's lid scoots it aft by an inch. Attaching a "lid-lifting" strap would permit cleating the cooler to a fixed position.

The closed cooler lid fits fully beneath the seating lip & closed hatch cover, w/ about half-inch clearance. Needs cleats to prevent it's scooting around down there.

Yep - must agree that having that shelf adjacent to the hull is disturbing, and maybe not really necessary. The only reason I extended to the hull is that the front of the ledger is not "fixed" and I didn't want the "shelf" to slide aft. Whatever replaces the wood shelf can terminate atop the ballast tunnel ... no compelling need to extend beyond it. Adding a block of foam outboard, plus a ledger along the ballast tunnel could "fix" the shelf in place without piercing any hull or ballast surfaces.