Starting the icebox

    I actually slept all night at work last night so I got an early start today.  Nice change of pace.  I started off at home by trimming down the engine box pieces to my new marks.  This would be SO much easier if I had a band saw.  One more thing for the wish list.  When I got out to the boat I put them in place and did a little final sanding around the edges to get them just right.  The piece dividing the engine box and ice box was a little tricky, but it finally slid into place.  The shape looks a little strange at first, but that is because I am trying to get a little creative.  I am going to build out a traditional icebox, but I am also going to make use of the old ice loading hatch.  The plan is to use that as a small, separate cooler for drinks and whatnot.  It will be accessed from the outside, and the front of it will be in line with the L shape you can see in the picture below.  It will run about 3/4 of the way across the regular icebox right about where my cardboard ends.  It won't be very big, but should be enough to get in 12 cans or so of my favorite frosty beverage and a decent amount of ice.  Sounds great, but I'll have to see how it works out in practice.

     With the engine box done for now I moved on to framing out the icebox.  Between nothing being square and the boat still being in the water, getting it all level was a bit tricky.  Hopefully I got it right.  I have supports for the top on three of the sides right now, leaving the hull side for later.  Once I have the top piece cut out I should be able to use that for a better idea of where to place it.  I plan on using some 5200 to stick it in place, so I want to get it right the first time.

     I was hoping to get the rest of that hole cut out, but it seems my Dremel Trio is hard to get bits for.  The local hardware store was kind enough to order a couple for me, but I have to wait until Friday to pick them up.  While I was there I picked up a piece of 1 1/4 conduit, a couple of 45 degree elbows, and some 1/2 inch clear tubing.  The conduit is going to run against the front icebox wall (underneath the insulation) from right behind the battery box up to the top of the existing shelf on the port side.  This is where I decided to put the new panel, and having a short and hidden path up there from the engine box will come in handy later.  The clear tubing is for drainage from the two coolers.  The plan is to have them run into the engine compartment with some sort of shut off installed.  That way I can either drain the water into the bilge or into whatever container I have handy at the time.  Thinking ahead will hopefully save some headaches down the road.

     Before leaving for the day I made some new templates for the top pieces.  I realized it will have to be two pieces, because I could never get one solid piece in there without ripping something out.  I'll take the easier method, thank you.  The seam will function partly as one of the edges of the lid so I don't feel too bad about it.  Of course when I got home I realized I left the cardboard at the boat.