MacGregorSailors.com

If you havent checked out DUane's site above, you should,

He has this down to an art.....

I use the Igloo 72 Quart 5 day cooler under the aft dinette seat (see Mods section) The cooler under the seat works fine for food-only since it isn't accessed often. I installed a 32 gallon Plastimo fresh water tank under the cooler for the new on demand fresh water system and added storage pockets on the outside of the seat support, so that space is very efficiently used now.

We use the igloo Ice cube aft of the galley (cushion removed) for drinks. It fits perfect, but we are spoiled by the performance of the 5 day cooler. Maybe they will make a 5 day Ice Cube?.

Our 2 boys sleep in the rear berth. We fill 4 large laundry baskets with clothing and any needed storage items, lift the ladder and slide the baskets back in line. This makes a separate area for each boy on either side so they have their own space.
Greg

Well I am a webmaster in a portal but DUane's site is more than a portal, it reminded me that I do not use my boat enough. I understand that some people are lucky about their wives, or they are patient to wait enough for their children to love the boat. My daughter is 2.5 only and I have to wait a bit since sailing in the sea of Marmara is not like sailing in a river or a lake altough it is a inland sea:(
Thank you for your posts I understand that a combination is the best for long trips(more than 2 days), but since I cannot make longtrips I may stay with my solution.
Anyway I wonder why many of you do not use 12 volts ice chest instead of igloos? I was planning to buy one as soon as I install solar charger.
By the way my boats name is penguen not penguin, they mean and walk the same way:)) I don't know why the day I saw the boat it resembled a penguin to me
Yalcin/Penguen/Istanbul

Those new 12 V coolers with no moving parts don't really get all that cold, especially if the cabin temps are in the 90's. I think they drop the temperature 40 degrees F below ambient. 50 F is too warm for most stuff and certainly for penguens. Plus they use a fair amount of power I think I recall.

Ysayin,
I really like that name for your boat. IT DOES look like a penguin, black and white, goes in the water, or on land, pointy on one end, blunt on the other ...(cant' sky-fly).
My X-boat has gone for a year without a name; i have been waiting for it to name itself, but i never thought of asking it about "Penguin"
That's your boat's name.
But would it be ok to also name my boat Penguin ? I would promise to tape it over with Duckt tape, goose tape, or penguin tape if you ever launched into Percy Priest Lake here in Nashville. Not very likely you would ever see it in the Dardanelles, Hellespont, Constantinople Marina, or on Byzantium Beach.
Also i could do "Penguin II" or "Penguin Two"
Whaddya think ?? anyone else have any lore, precedents, or objections to mention. ? Any anecdotes, unknown portents, jinxes, or taboos ??

Hey ALX357
How about "Penguen Too" (Too, as in also)
Just a thought...

You could call it "boat"

Hows that for original and in the same vein as calling your stuffed penguin "penguin"?

glad I could help.

well, i got "My Computer", Wife, Son, Car, Little Kitty, and lotsa other things i have named, it's easy .....

Anyway I wonder why many of you do not use 12 volts ice chest instead of igloos? I was planning to buy one as soon as I install solar charger.

If you mean one of those 12VDC thermoelectric coolers, I have one and it is not reasonably usable on the Mac. After it killed my truck battery stone dead when I inadvertantly left it on overnight, I measured the current draw and it is 4-5A continuous. That is enough power draw that you will have to run the outboard almost constantly to keep the battery charged. If you literally covered the Mac with solar panels you couldn't produce enough power. Besides, the temp drop is maximum about 40 degrees (F, a little better than 10C) regardless of ambient temperature, so it doesn't work well on hot days. Frozen stuff stays frozen a little longer, drinks are cool though not cold, but I believe you'll be disappointed in the cooling performance compared to a "real" refrigerator.

You might think that you could supplement the electric cooling by adding ice on the hotter days, but besides the fact that the insulation is fairly thin and ice doesn't last long, the instruction manual says not to do it.

I find it works fine for keeping stuff cold inside the air conditioned tow vehicle on the trip to the launch ramp, as long as you remember to unplug it if you're going to be stopped for more than a few hours.

I experienced the same as Chip with a thermoelectric cooler. It went in the trash. However, even the small, efficient compressor types draw at least 18 amp-hours (AH) per day. For someone still using incandescent lights, we're pretty frugal and manage to keep daily electrical use to about 18 AH, including 8 AH for the overnight anchor light. A refrigerator would double that.

Keep in mind 18 AH is roughly the entire daily output of one 75W solar panel. It's about an hour's run time with a Mercury or Suzuki and near double that with a Yamaha or Honda. 18 AH is half of the "usable" 50% of a 75 AH Group 27 deep cycle battery.

I can see a refrigerator would be nice if your boat is in a slip with electricity, or if the most you anchor out is one night in a row, or if you motor a lot. But we're out 4-5 days at a time, and prefer to sail (which would shade a solar panel on the companionway), only running the outboard enough to charge the batteries.

I tried a 12V thermoelectric cooler on a trip about 2 years ago. Thought this is going to be neat--no buying ice. I found myself 50 miles across the Bahama Bank with no power---no lights, no radio, no GPS, etc. including no refrigeration--in the middle of the night. Fortunately, my engine battery is isolated by a combiner. I was able to start the engine, but the house batteries were so drained, I could not build up enough reserve to x-mit on the VHF. Be warned--those coolers are energy hogs. Like Chip said, they're OK in a vehicle while it is running.

On the same trip is when I was introducted to the Engel refrigerator/freezer. Another sailor was running his off a solar panel. I have since installed the 35 qt. unit on my boat in the cooler bin. (I think Eric did a mod on this.) I used this unit a few months ago on a 10 day trip in 90 to 100 degree weather and was well satisfied. It will freeze but takes a few more amps than in the refrigerator mode. It's not cheap, but it does work as advertised. Even when the batteries were too low for the inverter, the Engel refrigerator kept working.

We've used our 12V cooler for 1 night at anchor, used lights all night and watched a couple of DVDs on the portable player and still had enough power in the battery to start the motor the next morning. But this was done as a test. I still had the second battery and a portable power pack to jump it in case it didn't start. I don't think I'd want to push my luck going more than one night. We usually just use it when we're staying at the marina for the weekend on shore power and just going out for day trips or one night at the islands.

Thank you for your posts. Since I came across with a dead battery once I will not retest it with a 12V cooler, it is was a nightmare. I will search for a 240V(our system) cooler for the weekends around the marina. I didnot know they needed 4-5A continious.
For your naming problem ALX357, I would suggest "unstuffed penguin"
I did rename the boat without ceremonies, altough I came trough many problems I never thought that was the reason. So please feel free to name the boat as you wish. I would never dare going out of Dardanel with penguen so don't expect me to cross the atlantic with 26X.
But incase you do, just don't waste time searchin for Constantinople Marina or Byzantium Beach, like when I visited states I didn't search for a ticket to the Indian land

ysayin wrote:Thank you for your posts. Since I came across with a dead battery once I will not retest it with a 12V cooler, it is was a nightmare. I will search for a 240V(our system) cooler for the weekends around the marina. I didnot know they needed 4-5A continious.

Do not confuse 12VDC thermoelectric coolers with 12VDC compressor refrigerators. The former, that Chip despises, I trashed, and that left Billy powerless, do draw 4-5 or MORE amps continuously, or about 120AH per 24 hours.

12VDC compressor refrigerators, such as the Engel cycle on and off just like a home refrigerator. They draw about 3.5A when the compressor is running. Manufacturers advertise that they draw an average of 0.7A doing refrigeration, meaning they run about 20% of the time, which would be 17AH every 24 hours. Personally, I believe this figure is optimistic for marketing reasons and will probably be higher in warmer weather. They certainly run much more often and with a much higher average draw, when used as a freezer, which they can also do.

My point in posting this is that if you are going to purchase a refrigerator for the dock, a 12VDC model, powered by the battery charger that's also charging your battery, will do dock duty just as well (if more expensively). It will also cool while you're out sailing, for about 8AH/day, which isn't a big deal if you're back at the dock plugged in every evening.

we carry 3 coolers, 5 day with frozen water jugs for the frozen meat etc, smaller cooler with frozen jugs for sandwich meat, vegies, etc, most often used stuff and a smaller cooler for drinks. 5 day under cockpit, next cooler is in the area by the v berth, supports cushion at night. Drink cooler in head while under way- in cockpit while at anchor.