I'm about to cross the river to visit Robin. She should still be on land, since the boatyard manager promised to call before he launched her. Any day now, I expect to get that call.
But there's work to be done before then. The parts for the refrigeration -- a compressor and an evaporator -- are going to be delivered today, and I have to get the box ready for them.
First, I have to make sure the wooden walls are clean of all old insulation and caulk.
Next, I have to build a new wall on the port side of the box to support the insulation that I will install there.
This is the first work I've ever attempted on refrigeration, so I've done as much research as my attention span will tolerate. One question to resolve was what sort of machinery to get. I decided on an Adler-Barbour Cold Machine air-cooled compressor and a small, verticle evaporator -- which is actually an ice box that should get cold enough to make ice cubes and to refrigerate the rest of the the box.
The more difficult question to answer was how to insulate the box. I looked at high-tech insulation called vacuum insulation panels. From what I could learn, it appeared that it would cost something near $7,000 to insulate with that stuff.
Home Depot sells insulation panels that, in combination, will, for less than $100, give the ice box an R-value of about 19, which is close to the recommended R-20 that I saw mentioned on the Internet.
In truth, I have no idea whether R-20 is enough, but it is probably better than the old insulation that I've already removed. So that's the plan.
I'll buy a 4' x 8' plastic shower liner panel and use that to line the box once the insulation is installed. I'll caulk that panelling in place and caulk around the drain I'll install in the bottom of the box to make it possible to empty any water that collects into the bilge. Then I'll fit the old ice box lids over the newly created box, install the machinery and flip the switch.
Here's hoping something cool happens then.