At 09:57 PM 5/27/99 -0700, prmsims@whidbey.net (P. McCracken & N. Sims) wrote: >As for food, according to one source I found, "During a passage with >refrigeration, but no freezer, vacuum packed meat (beef, pork & chicken) >was still fresh at the end of 3 weeks." (The Underway Gourmet by Suzy >O'Keefe, http://www.bitwrangler.com/ug/provisions.html--BTW, a great >overall source of info about provisioning in general). That is a very good idea. My sister does something similar when they go for their "long duration" camping trips, which would work very well on a boat. (Sort of Pardey-style.) They have a very large well insulated cooler. They pack the bottom of it with dry ice, and then they pack all their meats on top of that. They will include packs of "Blue Ice," too. On top of that, they will put their ice cream and other things they want to stay frozen. She might pack this a couple of days before they leave, so that everything is temperature saturated at whatever the freezing point of carbon dioxide is. Then they may top the cooler off with either more dry ice, or something else to fill the space left empty by sublimating dry ice. The meats will stay frozen solid for at least a week or two in the summer, depending upon how often they open the cooler and certain other things. After that, the blue ice will keep the meats cold as they slowly defrost. If they are vacuum packed, they will then last a long time in the "chilled" cooler. It would actually be reasonable to live for a month in a Florida summer off of such a cooler. For an occasional cruiser, the cost of the dry ice would be much less than installing and maintaining a powered refrigeration system. >Oh, yes, I have great hopes for my little Compact II. What other uses have you dreamed up? +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ :: Paul and Cindy Kruse :: KJV Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, 165 South Kenneth Court :: my peace I give unto you: Merritt Island, FL 32952 :: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. E-mail: plkruse@iu.net :: Let not your heart be troubled, 407-453-6206 :: neither let it be afraid. :: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

> They have a very large well insulated cooler. They >pack the bottom of it with dry ice, and then they pack all their meats on >top of that. They will include packs of "Blue Ice," too. On top of that, >they will put their ice cream and other things they want to stay frozen. An alternative that I have used while ocean racing on sailboats is to similarly pack one of the small styrofoam coolers with each day's meals, then leave them sealed until needed. These coolers are light and cheap and they stay cold pretty well because they are not opened until the day of use. Mike T.