When you put summer and sailing in the same context, the image of having a cold beer aboard a sailing yacht appears in minds of many people I know. This statement is proved by a survey made among some 100 males during the last summer. I agree it is a good idea to enjoy a refreshment under the sails in the middle of the summer, but sometimes it is not that easy to achieve.
Firstly, the onboard fridge usually takes some time to chill the drinks so you have to ensure that the drinks are cold before you embark. Secondly, the idea of having a cold drink almost always comes to you once you are comfortably placed somewhere in the cockpit or on the deck. “Darling, would you, please, get down and hand me a cold drink?” often doesn’t work because your beloved one is usually also lying a comfortable position, covered with sunblock and tanning oil, most probably with the earphones in their ears.
The salvation for such situations would be the deck fridge. Such devices are more likely to be seen aboard motor yachts, while sailing yachts (especially chartered ones) usually lack such comfort. However, some catamaran models recently released have deck fridges and/or icemakers as standard equipment, while monohull producers offer them as optional equipment.
Italian fridge manufacturer Vitrifrigo released their DW 35 fridge shaped like a drawer, which is pretty useful and easy to install in the cockpit or the flybridge of your yacht. It’s completely made of stainless steel, with a capacity of 35 l. It weighs 18 kg and has dimensions of 57 cm X 45 cm X 28 cm – not too much space to sacrifice if you really need cold drinks ‘on hand’. It can be connected to your on-board power circle on 12 V or 24 V, so attaching it should not be too difficult. My only concern about such drawer is about its protection. I think one should put a padlock on it to prevent thefts of your treasury…
I wish you a calm sea, a fair wind and a strong mast!
(Cover photo source: media-cdn.tripadvisor.com)