The truth about the ice box.

[c_amos]

I have got to tell you, having spent the better part of the day becoming intimately acquainted with the ice box on Faith, I have come away impressed.

Say what you will about those (often) drunken Portuguese fishermen that I understand were the majority of the workcrew at Pearson when our boats were being assembled, I am impressed (I think that is who I should put it).

I have a buddy who does cabinet work. If he assembled cabinets like these guys built this ice box, it would take approximately 8 years to remodel a single kitchen.

TO back up,

I have a confession. I like my ice box (now past tense). I like my cabinets, the hanging locker, I even like the original Monel water tank up forward. I drank water out of it all summer and there ain't a thing wrong with me......

Well, anyway.

The problem is that I have never used my Ice box as an ice box. I use it as dry storage. I know that I would not use it while cruising, and frankly don't have a great need for lot's of cold storage anyway. (medium cooler suits me fine).

The ice box is very inefficient for dry storage (with all the space taken up by insulation), and I wanted to remove the lid from my favorite lounging spot in the cockpit anyway (as well as remove the potential off-shore liability).

Today was too damp to epoxy the holes left by the removal of the jib tracks. So the ice box was bumped to the top of the list.

Here is what my old friend looked like before I started.

I know, shameful. It was always good for collecting all the junk that piled up as I was working on everything else. The purple magazine rack..... that I will not miss.

[c_amos]

I don't need to give the procedures since that is in the manual, but I thought it was interesting to see how it was put together.

After I removed the teak trim, and the door I pried the top off (nailed on) and there was a 1" Styrofoam panel under it. (note the wasps nests, thankfully empty).

[c_amos]

Since I was not going to follow the same path as the manual, I wanted to preserve the inside bulkhead of the icebox. I removed the laminate from the front, which exposed the screw heads.

[c_amos]

Here is the insulation behind the front. Now, if this were it I would not think too much of it. The design goes on.....

[c_amos]

I thought I had gotten a couple more pictures between the last one ans here but I guess I was too into it.

Basically, there were teak cleats screwed EVERYWHERE. Under the box, was a layer of foam, and an air layer built of 3 layers of plywood, and cleats.

The week spots seem to be the doors (as Steve identified in the thread on his conversion from ice box to reefer).

[c_amos]

THis will be patched, and made fair.

Note how thick glass in the corner of the cabin liner is!

[c_amos]

Kurt,



also,


Just a reminder,

If any of the new Ariel owners need an Icebox door, the icebox cockpit hatch, or the hardware. I have them available.

[eric (deceased)]

I took the lid off,ground flat the vertical exterior retaining ridges,filled in the rectangular remaining void in the cockpit area,put a nice ceramic tile in the interior floor if the former icebox,and thats where I kept enuff pasta to get across the ocean {and back}.thass'whuh' ahll doo ness'time too.{ness'time cometh} one more thing----what would it cost to build an ariel today----just as they did it before the last ice age???I mean all the same chromed fittings---hand lay-up hull---EVERYTHING

[tha3rdman]

Where can I find the post ont he conversion from icebox to reefer, I tried searching to no avail.

[c_amos]

[size=3]Eric,[/size]



[size=3]

what would it cost to build an ariel today----just as they did it before the last ice age???I mean all the same chromed fittings---hand lay-up hull---EVERYTHING

[/size]



I believe it is about 90K. They call it the Alerion 28. Not quite as pretty though. IMHO



Third Man,

Search for Sirocco (Steve Arling’s wonderful Ariel). He had not modified the original ice box, but built a top loader. (as a front loader, it was not efferent enough if I remember correctly.)

On Edit:



Found them:



Here is the link on Sirocco's Refrigeration;



http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussion/showthread.php?t=73



Here is where you can drool over the rest of the work Steve did;



http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussion/showthread.php?t=433

[frank durant]

Here's to Steve and Sirocco !!! I got many of my ideas looking at his fine boat ! He did a GREAT job...Much more 'attention to detail' than my project'...just a beautiful boat.

[tsprat]

I have checked through the old post. what are people doing with the ice box. (keeping the ice box or removing it )
Tim

[josh#74]

I plan on rebuilding mine. just big enough for two gallon size containers on the bottom with access from the cabin, and a six pack on the upper shelf for quick access from the cockpit.

[kendall]

I just ripped mine out, fiberglass was all crazed, the wood was rotted and delaminated, so I figured I may as well tear into it. Planned to just replace it with a slide out shelf for a regular cooler, but then I decided I didn't like where the sink was, so the simple cooler shelf idea grew.

On mine it looked very good, and it wasn't untill I tried to mount something under it that I found out the wood was history.
I know from my triton that the factory iceboxes are only good for a day or so at the most.

Was hoping to have it done by this spring, but got sidetracked in clearing out and rebuilding the garage cabinets so I had a place to work, so far I have it laid out and most materials gathered, but nothing cut yet so unless I really make a hard drive at it, I may not get her in the water this year.

Ken.

[SkipperJer]

you're not alone. I didn't make it in last year after discovering rot in the cockpit floor around the tiller. Then my job exploded and so it went. She's in now after 16 months.