Tales from the Cold...

Good morning from the ferry from Culebra to Fajardo

We are still on cloud seven with the new Dometic CF50 portable refrigerator, which we purchased from West Marine in Fajardo. It is over a week ago that we plugged in the new unit...the fridge is cold, our batteries are full, and we have not had to run the engine or the generator at all! We are truly self sufficient now electricity-wise...wow! Our 210 W solar panel and our KISS wind generator produce more than enough energy to load the battery bank and run our equipment...sometimes they even go into diversion load, which happens when the batteries are so full that the excess energy has to be diverted...a pretty nice thing to happen :)

We changed our mind about using the Dometic CF25 as a designated freezer...the unit only runs of 12 V and is smaller than we had expected. With the kind cooperation of West Marine in Fajardo we are now getting the next bigger size, a Dometic CF35 which runs with either 12 V or 110 V just like the CF50 we already bought and use as a designated fridge on ORION. The CF35 will be our designated freezer on ORION. We are looking forward to this new unit...as soon as we have it running we will be free to take off and explore different anchorages around Culebra :)

We are using the fridge and freezer space from the retired cold plate system for storage of our canned goods now...it freed up an enormous space...but since we have an enormous amount of canned goods the space is appreciated and already filled to the brim, hahahaha...it's a good thing!

Right now my sweetie and I couldn't be happier about our change of power management...it is not cheap but it is not outrageously expensive either (less than 2K) and considering the savings in fuel and equipment (as we don't have to run the engine or the generator twice a day) it is so worth it! We also could close the thru hull from the retired system...it is no longer needed! The old cold plate system was using sea water pumped through a thru hull which basically is a hole in the hull of the boat (for our non-boating friends). We eventually will remove the cold plate system along with the compressor...this will free up even more space in the old fridge and freezer unit as well as in the engine room where the compressor is housed!

So happy :)

The biggest benefit to us is our peace of mind...honestly and truly...no money in the world can pay for that feeling of true independence...of not having to worry constantly about this very important piece of equipment on our boat :) The future is here...these compressor driven portable units with digital display are revolutionizing the RV and boating world...they are designed to work with solar and wind energy...they use very little amps...renewable energy at its best! In a way it is a good thing that our old cold plate system started to fail when it did...it gave us the opportunity to look into alternative methods of handling the refrigeration on ORION...and it happened whilst we were still on home turf so to say where things are available or can be ordered and shipped within a reasonable time for a reasonable price. So all is well :)

Will post again on the issue when we have the CF35 running...Happy Sailing in the meantime! And yes...will post pictures next time also :)