Reefer Madness part 1

This being Washington and all, you know how we love our reefer.  Whether its Norcold, Cool Blue or Isotherm, we just can’t get enough of that stinky R134A refrigerant and the intoxicating effects of eating food free of mold and salmonella.

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Melissa really exploring the space as we re-insulate our reefer box.

Thus begins a large and critically important project on the long list of large and critically important projects aboard Galapagos.  There was no refrigeration system on the boat when we bought her but it did have a seemingly huge insulated box  (approximately 13 cubic feet).  To our eyes, it seemed very well made and would require only a properly sized refrigeration system to allow us to store all manner frozen foods, cold drinks and fresh vegetables.

The box.  You can see the  lower (freezer ?) door at the bottom

The box. You can see the lower (freezer ?) door at the bottom

If only any boat project were so simple.  A former owner of  Galapagos follows our blog and privately emailed me that the refrigeration system was a constant source of aggravation and expense for him.  He could never get the system to work efficiently.  His suggestion was to gut the entire arrangement and build up a new system.

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The lower door. While well made, it seems a bit awkward to access.

After looking at various drop in units at the Seattle Boat show, Melissa and I thought perhaps we should buy a nice drawer type unit made by Vitrifrigo. We even drove up to Sure Marine in Seattle to have a look at their systems.

Interestingly when we showed the salesman photos of the existing box, he was impressed and thought it unlikely we could do much better.  He believed a little extra insulation and a good holding plate system would be superior to anything we could buy off the shelf.  That was music to my ears as my vision of a huge freezer/refrigerator was revitalized.  I have mentioned Melissa’s insatiable lust for power in a previous post. A lot of that power goes into keeping food cold and I tend to perseverate on our batteries and their condition.

So now we started in earnest to improve the existing box and install our own cooling unit. At this point, I don’t need to remind you of how much we like doing things ourselves. We never let a little thing like complete ignorance on a subject stop us from forging ahead, making mistakes and figuring this stuff out as we go along.

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You could climb inside this box.

One of the more highly touted holding plate systems we have looked at is called CoolBlue by Technautics. We have met Rich Boren, The owner, two or three time at the Seattle Boat show, flogging a very efficient holding plate and air cooled compressor.  Every time I’ve met the guy, I came away impressed with him and the product. Reassured by our visit to Sure Marine, I emailed Rich with some photos of our existing box and asked him for advice.

Rich, although busy flying from one boat show to another was quick to reply to our email asking for his opinion on how to proceed.  In short, Rich saw the large size of the box and the freezer door opening at the bottom as being the two biggest problems.  Every time that freezer door was opened, the cold air would spill out and be replaced by warm, moist air.  Besides having to re heat all that air again, the moisture would cause a rapid build up of frost on the plate which would further reduce its efficiency.  His suggestion was to build a new insulated bottom with three or four inches of well sealed  polyisocyanurate insulation and cover it with plastic or fiberglass panels.

So for about a hundred dollars, I bought a sheet of one inch R-Max Insulation, a sheet of FRP panel and a roll of Extreme Temperature Metal Sealing Tape. Along with some adhesive and caulking, I proceeded to create a new, better insulated top loading box. Once committed to the project, my only worry was what the final volume of the box would be.

Cutting the panels.  Use a razor knife to score the back of the panel (the smooth side) and then bend it slowly over an edge. This makes a straight line without a saw and the attendant dust.

Cutting the panels. Use a razor knife to score the back of the panel (the smooth side) and then bend it slowly over an edge. This makes a straight line without a saw and the attendant dust.

Polyisocyanurate insulation has a higher R value than the commonly used extruded polystyrene (R6 vs. R5 per inch) but it does need to be carefully sealed as it will absorb moisture more readily,  The foil tape I used was very heavy duty and has a really tenacious adhesive.  I can see keeping a roll of that aboard for other projects.

Taping any exposed insulation is important.  Check for punctures in the foil backing and cover those too.

Taping any exposed insulation is important. Check for punctures in the foil backing and cover those too.

In order to get some of the larger pieces of insulation through the door, I had to cut one side of the foil and break the insulation in two.  Once inside the box and ready to be glued down I would tape over this exposed insulation.

In order to get some of the larger pieces of insulation through the door, I had to cut one side of the foil and break the insulation in two. Once inside the box and ready to be glued down I would tape over this exposed insulation.

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The back wall of the box has a bit of slope that needed some extra fill. I used the spray foam for this and other small gaps.

 

Once we had four inches of insulation on the bottom, we went around the entire perimeter with another round of tape.

Once we had four inches of insulation on the bottom, we went around the entire perimeter with another round of tape.

It was nice to see the fresh new panels going in. It makes the whole box look brand new.

It was nice to see the fresh new panels going in. It makes the whole box look brand new.

After laying in the new bottom, I started adding insulation to the sides.  At this point I was starting to count cubic inches. Adding an inch of insulation to the side of the box has the affect of reducing the volulme of the box by another third of a cubic foot.  But I knew that if this system was to work efficiently it would be better to add more insulation.  I ended up adding another inch to the two of the sides of the box and using Reflectix on the other two sides.

I added an additional inch to the sides that would be facing the hull and the in the new freezer section.

I added an additional inch to the sides that would be facing the hull and in the new freezer section.

All glassed in. Just need to caulk the edges.

All glassed in. Just need to caulk the edges.

A high contrast shot of the caulked edges.  In person, you can hardly tell the difference in color.

A high contrast shot of the caulked edges. In person, you can hardly tell the difference in color.

In the end, the box has a volume of about five cubic feet and it looks like a million bucks. The new FRP panels totally transformed the interior of the box.  In addition to this main box, we still have  the lower section with the door.  Hopefully this area will remain cool without robbing too much  energy from the refrigeration system.  We think this area will be like a crisper and at about two cubic feet, it represents a pretty sizeable space.

One result of the extra insulation is that the stock holding plate for the Cool Blue system would be slightly too large. The stock plate is also 2.5 inches thick which I worried would steal more volume.  Fortunately Rich Boren will provide a smaller plate that will just fit.  That will be delivered next week.  Stay tuned for the next episode of Reefer Madness.

 

Workshop Makeover: Luxury or Necessity?

Owning a large, complicated machine means you need tools, and a place to work on said large, complicated machine.  This is true for a boat, a house or a car.  In case you missed it the last 25 times, Galapagos has a great workshop area; storage and a proper bench with a vice and lots of hammers for wanging on stuff.

The shop before we even owned Galapagos.  A bit messy but full of potential.

The shop before we even owned Galapagos. A bit messy but full of potential.

I won’t lie, I am proud to have a boat with a workshop. It feels like a luxury that I could never have imagined on our boat. But it is a practical luxury, especially if you intend to live and cruise for extended periods.  Both Melissa and I would far rather repair or build something ourselves than to wait for someone to do it for us. If something is broken, at a minimum I want to beat on it with a hammer for a bit just to make sure it stays broken.

So, while the shop is a great resource on Galapagos, there were some fundamental issues that kept the area from being as useful as we would like.  Firstly, the bench top was hinged which opened to reveal what I think was originally a sail locker. Now, all manner of tools, paints, unguents and rags reside in this large, incoherent space.

The workbench raised to reveal the large storage area.  Lots of room but awkward.

The workbench raised to reveal the large storage area. Lots of room but awkward to access.

You can see the problem here.   If  I’ve just torn apart a winch on the bench top and Melissa needs the paint stored beneath, somebody has to wait or clean up their mess. Of late, there is always some project going on and bits and pieces inevitably are left out.  In the photos you can see a cut out in the Fiberglas front that does give some access to the contents below but even that is an issue since stuff just always seems to be creeping out of that hole. Never the stuff you actually need at the moment though.

So, with a year of using this area under our belts, we had some ideas that we hoped would transform the shop into a more practical work area.  I spend a lot of time here and I wanted a space that I would enjoy for years to come.

While we both are pretty skilled at general carpentry, we realized that this project would require a higher level of competence than either of us could muster.  Fortunately, we met Larry Simonds from KnotEtAl.com when we were slipmates and he was working on a Cal 34.  Larry built a great drop down table for our Cal 34, Moonrise at that time, and he has done other small projects over the years. As a sailor and a woodworker, Larry has an appreciation of the vagaries of boat geometry. Together with his discerning eye for color and woodgrain, he is really a fine furniture maker. Fortunately for us, he likes to hang about the docks and can be plied with beer.  Be sure to check out his site for other examples of his work.

Larry Simonds: Chief, cook and bottle washer of Knot Et Al Woodworking.

Larry doing a little boat yoga

Larry doing a little boat yoga

Armed with our ideas and Larry’s skills, we set about to transform the space.  First on the agenda was to build drawers and tip outs into the space. With drawers, we could access items without having to raise the bench top.  The downside to this approach is that we lost some space but the space we do have is much more usable.  Larry made the drawers as long as possible, almost 22 inches to maximize storage. He also blended the stain to match the existing 40 year old coloring of the surrounding wood.  That’s how he rolls.

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Three slideout drawers with catches plus a beautiful Red Elm top. Organizing is still a work in progress.

Since the hull shape greatly restricts the length of the drawers lower down, Larry decided to steal an idea from another drawer on Galapagos and build tip outs for the bottom.  These are used for storing lighter items and I have already dedicated one to rags and nitrile gloves.

 

 

Tip out drawers at the bottom provide storage of smaller, lighter items.

Tip out drawers at the bottom provide storage of smaller, lighter items.

For the bench, Larry had a piece of Red Elm which is just beautiful.  In fact, I am a little afraid to use it as it is just too pretty. Melissa put a vinyl covering on the old bench and I think that might be a good idea for this one as well.

Too pretty for a workbench

Too pretty for a workbench

Now that I can move into this new space, some hard decisions are in order.  I knew that I would lose some volume for storage but I minimized that fact. Now I want to have all of the tools plus our great collections of screws, nuts, bolts, washers and other boat bits all in the same area.  It simply isn’t possible and some compromises will have to be made.  Melissa will come down and help me think this through.  She can see things that elude me.

So, luxury, necessity or a little of both?

Creeping Towards Victory

While Melissa was evacuating from her old office and attending the sailing conference, I spent another weekend in Astoria inching ever closer to that happy day when Andromeda is back in the water. We make progress, but slowly.

Since the weather was pretty mild on Saturday, I got to work right away sealing the cockpit sole and screwing it back down. The sole has been sitting loose since John, the previous owner removed the old engine sometime in September. That means that water has had an easy time flowing into the engine room and we had to keep the steering pedestal and other steering hardware down below. Now that the new engine is in, I really wanted to start buttoning up the cockpit. We have enough trouble keeping the boat dry without having the engine room practically open to a rainy Astoria Winter.

My Bear Trap.  This allowed me to apply the butyl tape and then lower the floor down with a minimum of lateral movement.

Melissa bought some grey Butyl Tape from This Guy after reading about its superior quality from Tate and Dani of Sundowner Sails Again. This was my first experience using this tape and I am so far very impressed with its ease of use and tenacity. I did have a bit of a learning curve when it came to applying it though.

Lesson one with butyl tape. Do Not Remove the paper backing until the tape is applied to at least one surface. This stuff is tacky!

I applied slightly overlapping runs of the tape to the cleaned and freshly wiped lip of the the sole.

Two runs of tape, slightly overlapping

For reference, check out our earlier post on getting the cockpit sole cleaned.

Once I had run the tape around the perimeter and gently lowered the sole back down, it was time to screw down the sole and seal the 32 holes that had been originally used. That’s a lot of 1/4 inch screw holes. Assuming 100 Kips of tension as the low end of the range for a quarter inch 304 or 316 stainless screw, clearly we are more concerned with the amount of attachment area between the screw and the fiberglass sole. I opted to screw down on both sides of each corner and once on each side, which comes to twelve attachment points for the sole. The remaining twenty unused holes were filled with epoxy.

Corners and sides are screwed and filled with Life Caulk. The unused holes are filled with epoxy.

I hope I don’t regret using the Life Caulk for the screws. After using the butyl tape, I think it may make a superior seal. It is certainly easier to work with.

We will refinish the sole at a later time. This may be an opportunity to use the Kiwi Grip paint. We will need something that provides a good grip but that won’t trap a lot of dirt. Suggestions anyone?

With the sole finally secured, I was really excited to put the steering pedestal and wheel back in the cockpit. I have knocked the pedestal over three times and am amazed that I haven’t broken the thing as we work around it down below. I had to repaint some of the brackets holding the steering pump and hooking up the rudder hydraulics is still a little ways off, but man it feels good to have an actual wheel back in the cockpit.

Sole and Steering pedestal re-installed

Sole and Steering pedestal re-installed

Since this post is running a bit long, I’ll save the engine alignment for Friday. But I do want to leave you with a final photo of one of Melissa’s projects. We brought home hundreds of pounds of hardware which Melissa meticulously went through and organized. We still have some weird stuff that I need to look at, but the screws, bulbs, O-rings, and a thousand other bits and pieces are now on Andromeda and labeled! Anyone who has ever just thrown up their hands and gone to the Chandlery for yet another bit of stainless steel will appreciate how great it is to have the ability to lay your hand on just the right sized screw for a particular application.

The metal bar with a dog leg is for the engine control cable. Finding the correct screw for the job was easy.

We have several containers like this which are divided by type, (Machine, Wood, Brass etc) The organization is still a work in progress but so far, I have saved hours looking for parts or going to the store to buy something we already have but can’t find. Thanks Baby!