There are three things that most full-time cruisers say will make or break a cruising experience.
ANCHOR: No one wants to deal with a dragging anchor in the middle of the night.
DINGHY: It’s got to be big enough to be comfortable but not so big that it can’t be manhandled when needed and your engine must, must, must be reliable. No one wants to motor ashore and then have to row back to the boat with a dinghy full of supplies.
REFRIGERATION: Who wants hot beer and sour milk?
Anchor? Check. Check. Since the kind of anchor you have depends on the bottom in which you are anchoring, we have two. Our Bruce anchor is good for anchoring in grassy and rocky bottoms and our primary anchor is a 33 lb. galvanized Rocna. It’s more of a “general-purpose” anchor. There’s about 400’ of rode between the two of them, and while we haven’t anchored out a lot, we’ve yet to drag.
Dinghy? Almost check. We have a 2003 Caribe C-9 dinghy with an 8 horsepower Yamaha engine. There’s plenty of room for the two of us and since FNR has davits getting the dinghy in and out of the water is no big deal. We don’t have a motor lift but use a halyard to lift the motor on and off the dinghy. Right now, the only thing between us and a reliable dinghy engine is operator error.
We (and by “we” I mean Steve) have only had to row once, but that debacle taught us (and by “us” I mean Steve) that it’s a good idea to made sure there is plenty of gas in the tank before taking me for a dinghy ride particularly when I need to be back at the marina by 3:00 to get ready for my week at camp.
And did you know that no matter how many times we (and by “we” I mean Steve) pull the rope, that engine absolutely will not start if there is oil in the carburetor? So how do we (and by “we” I mean Steve) keep oil out of the carburetor? We (and by “we”…okay you get the picture) do not lay the engine on its side when transporting it from Point A to Point B.
Furthermore, we all know that oil and water don’t mix. Well, neither do gas and water. “We” figured that out when “we” didn’t close the vent on the gas tank and it rained. Dinghy engines do not run well when there is water in the fuel line.
Luckily, the operator is definitely learning and even though we’re troubleshooting another fuel line problem, we’re close, very close to having a reliable engine on our dinghy.
Refrigeration? Ours is dying. It’s probably not original but it uses R-12 refrigerant and since that was banned back in 1996 due to its ozone depletion potential, it can’t be recharged. We install a small fan inside the box hoping improved air circulation results in better cooling.
Oh. My. God. Refrigerator shopping is not fun. It is hard, unbelievably hard.
What kind of condenser do we get? Do we go with an air-cooled, water-cooled or an air/water-cooled system?
Do we want a flat evaporator that can be bent to fit around the sides of the box or a bin-type evaporator?
What about power? 12-volt? 120-volt? Or one that that switches between DC and AC voltages automatically?
We get quotes from a couple of the boatyards in Solomons, and we (and this time by “we” I mean us) do not want to spend what they are charging to install a new system so guess what? We’re going to install it ourselves because you know what Steve says. The only difference between us and the people who do refrigeration for a living is experience and we’re fixing to get that experience. I hate it when he says that.
Currently, we have an air-cooled Norcold condenser with a flat evaporator that switches between voltages automatically.
Steve thinks we should get Adler Barbour’s SuperColdMachine CU-200 Condensing Unit. Good news? It’s an air-cooled condenser that can be converted to an air/water-cooled system. Water-cooled systems are more efficient in warmer climates and since we are heading to Florida, that’s a nice feature. Bad news? It’s not compatible with a flat evaporator. Of course. The only thing I care about.
M: So what are my choices?
S: I really think you’ll like the horizontal bin evaporator. The bin is a little freezer so if you want to keep something frozen you can.
M: How big is it? (Going online to look at it.) That’s huge!!
S: I really think you’ll like the horizontal bin evaporator. We can mount it above the inclined wall. That’s space we aren’t using anyway, and if we put it as close to the top of the box as possible, you’ll still be able to put stuff underneath it. How about I model one out of cardboard and install it so you can see what it will look like?
Zen In A Camper 