Hi everyone. Merry Christmas!!
I am in winter mode, so that means I frustratingly driving myself crazy looking at things for a boat that is stored indoors at a marina 2 hrs. from me, and I am not able to just walk ouside and pull the cover off of. This is the first boat that I have not stored in my yard, and I am not sure if I will survive the whole winter without moving her closer..hehe.
Okay, so here's my question: We will be living aboard our 245 Sundowner for 4-7 days at a time. We will have shore power and access to bagged ice at the marina. My question is about the built-in cooler in front of the passenger seat. Is this a fully insulated cooler, or just a plastic tub that will let the ice melt fairly quickly? I want to add some sort of fridge/freezer to the boat, but if the cooler is sufficient, I could probably live without it. A good fridge that is designed for 110/12v operation and runs a compressor for 'real' cooling, not thermoelectric, will run me between $400-700, but my main issue is the heights will all be taller than the back underseat storage, so it will have to reside in the cockpit floor space, which is not appealing to me.
my other alternative is getting a well-insulated cooler, like a coleman extreme to use with ice and slide in and out from under the seat.
My main concern will be foods like hamburgers, steak, anc chicken, where I get concerned about food safety more than having an ice cold can of whatever.
Your input on the effectiveness on keeping things on ice in the built-in would be great. Thanks so much.
-Gary
