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]

Here it is with the original base in place. I will not be using it, except as a pattern but it gives a good idea of the size of table.

Just right for the manual!


I am leaving the side of the old ice box (inboard) to partition the space. It should keep the pots and pans from sliding ALL the way across the counter..... At least I hope.

[epiphany]

Excellent photo-series, Craig, thanks for showing us your icebox's demise. Did you have to take 1, 2, or more deep breaths before you started the destruction? Your new Manual table looks good, and is a great size for nav work. I really like the space you opened up there. I'm now pondering alternative icebox solutions to what I was thinking before.

Is it surprising to anyone else that the styrofoam, environmentally protected by a sheath of plywood, formica, and teak cleats, looks almost as good as new, even though it's *40'ish years old*? (Perhaps I need to sheath myself in plywood, to preserve what precious little is left of my youth. Yeah, that'll bring the ladies runnin'...) You read about how long that type of material takes to degrade, but these pics offer proof positive. Our landfills will be great sources of knowledge about our lives and boating habits for people (or something else) far in the future.

Last question, Craig - are you going to put the purple magazine rack on eBay, or let us bid on it amongst ourselves here?

[c_amos]

Did you have to take 1, 2, or more deep breaths before you started the destruction?

I am maybe a little but overly reverent about such things. I was actually a little uneasy about destroying this thing. I feel like it has endured for 40 years, and once gone it can not be put back. I want to make it better, and hope that this feeling translates into doing the work well.

Time will tell.


As for the purple magazine rack, sadly it was destroyed in the effort.

[Tim61N]

Craig,
I have that very same book on C-Nav that was in the (late) purple rack! Want to borrow my plastic sextant?
It looks like from your pictures you started out very meticulously removing pieces and then towards the end resorted to a more brute force/big hammer approach, judging by the big ripped out chunk of plywood in the last picture?
Are you going with the clear window over the table or are you going to glass it over?
Tim

[c_amos]

I basically gnawed it out like a dog.

I was prying, and pulling. The plywood tore as I pried it where I could not reach the screw heads (mainly the ones run from the inside that had been glassed over). I avoided the hammer, as much to keep from poking my eye out as anything

Yes, I am a student of celestial. I have a brass sextant, and a Davis 25 both. I have the theory down pat, and can successfully get a fix, at any time of day in any sea state that will firmly establish which hemisphere I am in.

I am going for the 'faired as though it had not been there' look. I like the concept, and the execution in the manual is excellent but I would rather not have to protect the lexan window. I want it to be very strong (thick fiberglass, well attached) and fair. I also like to lean up against the cabin at anchor and the refer door has not been a comfortable perch.

The inside will be cut clean, and trimmed. I plan to put a small shelf where the ice box top once was, as it is a handy place to reach down to when topside for small items like the hand bearing compass.

I have a small 10w 12v halogen fixture purchased from the poor mans 'WM'
that will mount nicely under the shelf and should be hidden from view by the overhang, as well as a pair of red led clusters for night time use.

[c_amos]

As the project continues, a couple of thoughts that might be helpful;

First an observation;

After removing the ice box, I noticed the boot stripe on the starboard side showed more.

I doubt that was the weight of the ice box it’s self, but rather the canned goods I had stowed there, being so far outboard. I can clearly see 1.5"-2" of the boot stripe that was not visible before.
The list was not so pronounced that I had ever noticed it before I removed the icebox. I think it probably came and went as I stocked and depleted my pantry which happens regularly as I kinda a semi-live-aboard.



Notes on the conversion;

You can kind of see in the picture in post #7, the cabin liner appears to 'frown' with the outer edges being lower then center. The cockpit seats also are lower at their outer edges then they are at the inside.

The cockpit seat bottom is not parallel to the chart table, or the cabin sole, or (or what ever plane you would chose as a benchmark). I plan to mount a small shelf at approximately the same height as the old ice box top. I have decided to mount it in front of, rather then under, the liner to account for this.

Do not underestimate the depth of the hole you will have to fill once you remove this lip. I epoxy-glassed 3/8" to the bottom and then laid up many layers of roving. If I had it to do over, I would have filled the center with a 1/4 ply core and laid more roving over the top. I kind of feel like a worker at the Pearson factory in that I lost track of how many layers of roving I laid up in that hole. Let's just say it is plenty thick.

Also;

*Cutting the lip out of the deck brought out the 'lip liner' as well. This additional flap of fiberglass was not attached to anything but the underside of the lip. I realize that this will make little or no sense with no picture, or if you are not in the middle of this job. It may, however be helpful to someone who is scratching their head as I was 3 days ago.


Got the fairing compound over it yesterday afternoon, hope to sand it and get the topcoat in the cockpit this weekend. Then again, I might knock the dust off and go sailing.


Decisions decisions........




* I wish I had a picture, but may help if you do the job.

[c_amos]

Don't know if anyone is interested, but......

IF anyone knows of an Ariel out there in need of some ice box parts let me know.

It seem like the ice box lid might be something that would be prone to have been dropped over the side over the last 40+ years. I also have a good door, and the latch is in pretty good shape (little light surface corrosion).

[c_amos]

[size=3] I am now attempting to make peace with the general lines of the remainder of the original interior in #226.[/size]
[size=3][/size]
[size=3] I have grown tired of tripping over the large box of stuff I removed from the ice box when I tore it out as I have worked on other projects. The natural place to put them is in the bottom cabinet under the drawers on the port side, but alas that is already occupied. [/size]
[size=3][/size]
[size=3] I took a few pictures of the mess aboard 'Faith' but am too embarassed to post them, let's sufice to say I need more stowage room. One mod I did not seem to find in the archives was to convert the hanging locker into a cabinet. Now, I know that there is a danger in loading too much stuff into it, but with prudence I think it will be ok.[/size]
[size=3][/size]
[size=3] Here is what I am thinking. Remove the coat bar, not a real loss since it only holds a couple coats anyway. Then put 2 or 3 shelves on cleats, with barrel bolts on top to make sure they don't pop out in foul weather.[/size]
[size=3][/size]
[size=3] Maybe something like this;[/size]
[size=3][/size]
[size=3]Top Shelf 12”: (light stuff) Bread, chips, nuts, etc.[/size]

[size=3][/size]

[size=3]Middle shelf 14”: Autohelm, Sextant, Flare kit, First Aid kit[/size]

[size=3][/size]

[size=3]Bottom Shelf: Plastic storage box with pantry items formerly under drawers on port side.[/size]

[size=3][/size]

Bottom cabinet under drawer on port side: Canned goods formerly in ice box.

Thoughts?

[epiphany]

Hi Craig -

I've been eyeing my icebox with intent towards removal/modification, too. One thing about it as it is set up right now, though - I like that upper "shelf" space, and the fact that it serves as a high step helping to make it easier/safer to get down below when there is one hatchboard in. So, after looking once more at your pics, I think I have a plan - leave the upper shelf/box-top in place, and remove all of the insulation etc from the lower portion of the standard icebox. I've some ideas for how to arrange the space this will give me - but first a question:

In this pic up in post #4 of this thread it looks like once I get the top and front off, it'll be easy to remove the insulation and inner structure. Am I being fooled, is this inner stuff attached in some way unknown and unseeable in these pics? The next photo where the "guts" appear they are somewhat mangled, as if they only came out reluctantly.

Thanks for any tip you can share. I'm gonna post a pic of the icebox I made over in Katie's Gallery thread in a few moments. I've added another inch of foam to it's interior, and it's working tip-top. I'll probably make it a bit smaller in the final version.

Also, I think turning the coat locker into shelved storage space is a good idea. I just read Lin and Larry's "Champagne Cruising on a Beer Budget" the other day - they suggested using restaurant steam table pans for drawers - sounds like a good idea, I wonder if you could find some of the proper dimensions...