{"id":44096,"date":"2020-09-30T16:17:15","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T20:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/?p=44096"},"modified":"2023-05-06T17:44:51","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T21:44:51","slug":"installing-a-cooler-in-the-galley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/story\/how-to\/installing-a-cooler-in-the-galley\/","title":{"rendered":"Installing a Cooler in the Galley"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Yeti <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The problem was an age-old one for cruising sailors: How do we keep the brews chilled? Luckily my wife advised me to keep it simple. The solution was a Yeti Tundra 45 cooler, which meant I didn\u2019t have to rebuild the galley countertop, though I did need to slightly enlarge the access hole.<\/span>\n Onne Van Der Wal <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

My wife, Tenley, and I do a lot of coastal cruising in New England, mostly short 6- to 20-mile hops on our 1972 Pearson 36, Snoek<\/i>. I did a refit to Snoek<\/i> in 2016 in my backyard that was chronicled in a series of CW <\/i>articles, and we have since done tons of great cruising on her. One thing I installed in the original refit was an Engel 12-volt DC\/110-volt AC free-standing cooler that draws about 3 amps when it kicks (it runs off the Solbian dodger-mounted solar panels) and is super-efficient. It\u2019s perfect for chicken, fish, milk, butter and other perishables. But where do we keep the beers and soft drinks cold?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

That was something we still needed to address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Subfloor <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Once the subfloor was built and the cooler in place, I\u00a0drilled holes for Spectra tie-downs.<\/span>\n Onne Van Der Wal<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

At first we used the original built-in ice chest to starboard, but insulation technology in 1972 wasn\u2019t so dialed in; a block of ice would last about 12 hours on a good, cool day in June but not on a scorcher in August. I suggested to Tenley a proper compressor-style refrigeration system for the old ice-chest space, but \u201cthe boss\u201d said: \u201cNo, I like using ice. Let\u2019s improve that system some and keep our little boat simple.\u201d Music to my ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

I did some research and figured out that there was enough room in the original ice-chest space to fit a Yeti Tundra 45 cooler without having to rebuild the whole galley countertop. I did have to enlarge the access hole to the ice chest by about 3 inches on the long side and about 2 inches on the short side. This was done with a jigsaw. I then filled the exposed foam edges with wood strips that I epoxied in place with Thixo Flex. I then filled, faired and painted it. It looked like new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Building <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n For the lid, I glued varnished teak veneers to a piece of plywood.<\/span>\n Onne Van Der Wal <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

Next, I built a subfloor in the bottom of the ice-chest space from Starboard, first measuring it with a cardboard template. I then cut it to fit with cleats on the side of the box fastened with stainless self-tapping screws. Obviously, the Yeti cooler had to be lashed down in the space, and this was achieved with 1\/8-inch, low-stretch Spectra tie-downs through newly drilled holes in the top lip of the cooler. I looped the Spectra through two side holes directly below the Yeti in the starboard subfloor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n\n

RELATED: <\/b>Brewing Beer on a Boat<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n\n

The last thing I had to do was make a new, larger lid for the Yeti\u2019s access hole. I used a piece of 3\/8-inch plywood (varnished on all four edges and the bottom), and with more Thixo epoxy, glued a veneer of \u00bc-inch teak to the top. The teak was then oiled to seal it from spills and the hard environment of the galley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"cooler <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The finished project looked terrific.<\/span>\n Onne Van Der Wal <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

To sum it all up, it works like a champ, and the ice lasts for days with no worries about keeping the house batteries topped off\u2014just the occasional trip to get a bag of ice and another 12 pack of beer. The two items seem to last about the same time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Award-winning marine \u00adphotographer Onne van der Wal is a frequent contributor to <\/i>CW. His most recent Rizzoli coffee-\u00adtable book is <\/i>Sailing America<\/a>. For more on his work, <\/i>visit his website<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In need of a simple solution to keep drinks cold aboard his Pearson 36, this DIY sailor permanently installed a Yeti cooler in the galley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31817,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Onne Van Der Wal","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"20200930","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"164","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Instead of installing refrigeration in his classic Pearson 36 sailboat, this DIY sailor found a way to elegantly install a Yeti cooler in the galley.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"YTU3HQZ2IRFTLE2FVS5VOTNHQQ","arc_website_url":"story\/how-to\/installing-a-cooler-in-the-galley\/","custom_permalink":"story\/how-to\/installing-a-cooler-in-the-galley\/","arc_subtype":"right-sidebar","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":0,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[164],"tags":[581,270,1225,183,272],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44096"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}