The plywood fridge

Richard Hare describes the ply/epoxy fridge he built during the reconstruction of his Westerly Konsort galley

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There were so many alterations that I wanted to make to the galley on my Westerly Konsort, Cockle (PBO, April 2024), that the simplest thing was to remove everything almost entirely and rebuild it.

Reconfiguration included two sinks instead of one and a sink outlet that discharged speedily above the waterline, not sluggishly below it. This also enabled me to use the wasted space that existed behind the drawers and the basin drain pipe, which amounted to about half the cabinet's capacity. As to a fridge, my Konsort didn’t have one despite her being the fourth from last to be built. Instead, it had a massive, useless, cold box. There was no refrigeration capability.

So, if energy were not to be frittered away, the new fridge box would be a lot smaller and, consequently, more efficient. I could hit the ground running on this as I'd already built a similar fridge aboard my previous boat, the Golden Hind 31 Keppel. I cruised Keppel extensively in the Mediterranean and French waterways for many years, and every night the fridge was turned off, such being the high level of insulation built into its construction.

Visitors sometimes expressed horror at the thought of this, but all were convinced of its effectiveness when passed a small glass of milk from the fridge in the morning. It was always cold. In over 20 years of sailing in very hot cruising grounds, no one ever got ill.

The construction

INTERNAL

The box comprised 18mm plywood, screwed and bonded at its joints using filled epoxy. Dry wood is itself a very good insulator, superior to plastics. The box’s internal dimensions were 40cm (L) x 35cm (W) x 40cm (H). The eight internal corners of the box were rounded using filled epoxy, shaped with a lollipop stick.