For the first few years that we owned Dasein, we cruised with the stock Pearson icebox. After a couple of summers of trying to keep this icebox cold, it was clear that Pearson had built a hunk of wortheless junk and called it an icebox: we found that we needed 2 blocks of ice per 3 days to keep it cold, and the front-load access allowed both the cold and meltwater to spill out. Over the winter of 04-05, Dasein was stored indoors where she was undergoing a complete exterior refit. During this refit, we planned to remove the raised cockpit icebox access hatch, which meant the old icebox had to go.

Smarter Than The Box

The first step, of course, was to remove the old box. I figured that this would be a relatively simple procedure. Ha. Since the box extended all the way to the hull, the first step was to remove the cabinetry along the port side of the boat. With this done I had to cut the box loose from the underside of the cockpit seat where it was integrally molded to the hatch flange. This proved to be a difficult task, as the access was nearly nonexistant. Eventually, I ended up cutting the entire flange away from the exterior which allowed me to jimmy the box slightly and get in with a Sawz-all and cut the thing loose.

The fit was still very tight and ultimately I had to enlist the help of my friend Tim. Between the two of us we were able to get behind the thing with prybars at different locations and eventually wrestle the thing loose, with nasty, wet and rotting insulation coming with it. With that done, it was time to heave the whole arrangement up and out of the boat. Easier said than done.

Tim and I muscled the extraordinarily heavy box into place on the companionway sill only to find that the thing didn't fit through the opening! After uttering a few choice words, we put it back down on the settee and hacked at it with pry bars, the Sawz-all, and hammers until we had removed enough of the miscellaneous projections to allow it to slide out the companionway—just barely. With Tim in the cabin and me in the cockpit we fought the heavy beast up and out. The thing was an amazingly complex unit, considering that it was just a box. And despite all the dead air space available, there was virtually no insulation around the thing. Dumb.

Drain!

With the new box gone, I was able to survey the space available and start considering a design for the new box. My basic plan was to follow Tim's experience with the icebox on Glissando. I had learned a few things from his experience with his box. Most importantly, I—and especially Heather—wanted to incorporate a drain in the box. Secondly, Tim's box had only a single, relatively small hatch. I decided that I wanted a much larger opening and decided to use two interlocking lids allowing me to just open one for casual access but be able to remove both lids for greater access when necessary.

The first step was to layout the overall position of the box. I planned to have the box follow the contour of the hull and extend as deep as possible. To this end I cut an opening in the settee plywood. I left a flange all the way around as it would be difficult to cut right up to the edges, and it would be simple enough to install the insulation in multiple pieces.

Next, I installed luan panels on the engine side and front of the box. I didn't use a panel on the back, as I didn't forsee much chance for damage of the insulation back there. I installed the panel for the engine side of the box about 1 1/2 inches farther outboard than the original installation. This allowed for a small, but not insignificant improvement in engine access on that side of the compartment.

I wanted a trap in my drain to hold some cold water and prevent the cold air in the icebox from flowing out the drain. Since the amount of space was so limited, I had to improvise a trap out of miscellaneous 3/4 inch PVC elbows. Building and installing the trap required me to cut and fit some of the insulation pieces simultaneously with creating the trap. I chose to use a double layer of 2 inch foil-faced polyisocyanurate rigid insulation for 4 inches of total insulation. I filled in the remaining gaps under and behind the the trap with expanding foam insulation.

Glass In A Box = Yuch!

With the drain assembly built, I next installed the rest of the insulation. I staggered the insulation at the corners to minimize leakage. I found that the foam didn't really want to conform to the curve of the hull, but with some banging and pushing I was able to convince it to fit. After installing the insulation, there was a gap around the drain which I filled with more expanding foam insulation. Finally, I installed cleats at the tops of the side panels, giving me something to screw the top into.

With the insulation in place, I turned my attention to protecting it. I didn't want an accidentally dropped block of ice to smash the bottom of the box! First, I cut and installed luan panels to cover the bottom third of the box where I thought it most likely that an errant block might crash. With the panels in place I created rounded fillets at all corners to help with getting a nice void-free glass installation.

I cut the necessary pieces of fiberglass which would provide some additional strength and would waterproof the inside of the box. I found that laying large pieces of wet-out glass into the box was unpleasant, to say the least. Anyone who has ever gotten epoxy in their hair will understand. I was able to get 3 layers of cloth in place and smoothly rolled out with only a minimum of heartache however.

Lids And Stuff

Once the box was glassed, it was time to build the lids and finish of the details of the new icebox. I installed the plywood top frame of the box, leaving a 1/2 inch margin of glassed-over insulation exposed, which the icebox lids would rest on. I then cut and fit the insulation for the lids and attached the pieces to the plywood lids with hot-melt glue. Where the two lids met, I staggered the insulation, to minimize air leaks and triple-checked that once the lids were installed I would be able to lift the inboard lid out of the box without disturbing the outboard one.

With that taken care of, I had to lay glass on the lids to protect and waterproof the insulation. I'm sure you can imagine how easy it was to get the glass to lay nicely on those shapes. Despite a few loud curses and cartoon-like steam coming out of my ears, I did manage to get this job taken care of. After the epoxy cured, I took the lids onto the boat and was relieved to find that the final test fit was perfect. The clearance between the lids and the bridge deck is tight but acceptable. Finally I sanded the box, did some minor fairing to deal with the worst imperfections, and finished off with a couple of coats of white Bilgekote—it really needed more, but time ran short before launch!

Final Thoughts

After using the box for two seasons, I can say that we are about 98% pleased with our new box. The performance is very good, with 30lbs of block ice lasting nearly two weeks during regular cruising. The picture here shows the remains of 30lbs of block after 8 days. The drain works well and the box remains dry unless an errant piece of plastic covers the drain. The two-lid arrangement has worked flawlessly for us: most of the time we only remove the one lid, but we really appreciate the ability to get at the whole box when necessary—mostly for loading and cleaning the box.

There are two things I wish I had done differently however. First, I should have continued the luan all the way up all sides of the box, and then used a layer or two of biax with a single layer of finish cloth on top. While I haven't had any issues yet, I sometimes feel that the interior of the box isn't quite as tough as I might like. Second, I should have taken the time to thoroughly and carefully fair the interior of the box. A perfectly smooth finish would make cleaning the box easier, as there would be no place for mildew to get a toe-hold. That said, the box is still moderately smooth, and it is mostly just the weave of the glass that shows through, and any mildew has been extremely minor, and relatively easy to remove. It has only showed up at the end of our cruises and I just give the box a quick scrub with Simple Green, then give it a light spray of 10% bleach solution.