I just read Sarah's post on the NB Warrior blog about fridges on boats. She appears to have picked up, through G2, on people giving up their fridges in order to reduce their carbon footprint. Her discussion on how to survive on a boat without a fridge is interesting and her description of keeping stuff cool under the foredeck of her former boat Andante, made me think about when we had Albert surveyed.
Before buying Albert we had her surveyed by George Gibson from Honey Street on the Kennet and Avon. George is an ex-Fleet Air Arm engineer and he certainly knows his way around vessels of all sizes. Albert has a traditional engine room so we have a relatively long prop shaft. It was while he was looking under the floor boards in the back cabin, where the prop shaft runs to the stern tube, that he said to me, "You know that this is the coolest place on any boat. It is where the Navy hide their beer." I am sure he is right and I certainly would like to contradict him.
We don't intend to discard our electric fridge, just yet, but we do have a ventilated cupboard in the well deck that is perfect for keeping vegetables cool. It is a bit like a meat safe (remember them?), and it does save space in the fridge for things that really need to be cold.
