Advice on fridge whilst on the ferry

CurlylandJan
CurlylandJan Forum Participant Posts: 16

What do we do regarding the fridge whilst on an overnight ferry for 24 hours.  Do we not put it on at all or do we leave it on leisure battery and should this last the duration of the ferry.

Moderator Edit:

We ask you not to use upper case text as this is against our T&Cs and is considered as shouting.  Your post has, therefore, been amended.

Comments

  • Oneputt
    Oneputt Club Member Posts: 9,145 ✭✭✭
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments
    edited April 2016 #2

    Whatever we may do Curly we don't shoutSurprised

    which ferry are you thinking of using

  • CurlylandJan
    CurlylandJan Forum Participant Posts: 16
    edited April 2016 #3

    Portsmouth to Bilbao

  • commeyras
    commeyras Club Member Posts: 1,853 ✭✭✭
    1000 Comments
    edited April 2016 #4

    A leisure battery does not cool a fridge it just maintains it in a cool (ish) state and anyway only runs the fridge when the car engine is working.  We filled some empty milk bottles with water, froze them and put them in a very cold caravan fridge before
    departure.  We found that the fridge was still cool 24 hours later.  But remember  there are plenty of shops in Bilbao so no need to take too much if anything in the fridge.

  • CurlylandJan
    CurlylandJan Forum Participant Posts: 16
    edited April 2016 #5

    Thanks for that we have water in the freezer as we speak Cool

  • oldagetraveller
    oldagetraveller Forum Participant Posts: 142
    edited April 2016 #6

    We like to make a meal in advance, a curry, chilli or casserole and freeze it.  It sits in the freezer keeping the fridge cool and is an easy meal to heat up on your first night.  You can't beat a homemade casserole with a fresh Spanish barra (baguette for
    you Francoplhiles) and a glass or two of Rioja.

  • milliehull
    milliehull Forum Participant Posts: 4,762 ✭✭✭
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited April 2016 #7

    Some friends of ours who have used the long ferry crossing used to run their fridge on gas for a couple of hours while waiting for the ferry and found that it really cooled the fridge down and it stayed cold during the crossing.  They did of course switch
    the gas off before the crossing!!

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,311 ✭✭✭
    5,000 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited April 2016 #8

    On a short crossing we chill the fridge before travel but it's turned off whilst on the boat. On an overnight long crossing we didn't have anything in it, just shopped on arrival at our destination. Oldagetravellers idea of a frozen meal slowly thawing as
    it chills the fridge is a good one too, serves two purposes

  • cyberyacht
    cyberyacht Forum Participant Posts: 10,218
    1000 Comments
    edited April 2016 #9

    I've found that a frozen shepherds pie is still partly frozen after a night crossing to Le Havre and a day's drive through France.

  • johndailey
    johndailey Forum Participant Posts: 520
    100 Comments
    edited April 2016 #10

    That's probably because the poor shepherd has been up on deck all night so he will be frozen.

  • Boff
    Boff Forum Participant Posts: 1,742
    1000 Comments
    edited April 2016 #11

    There is no reason to use empty milk containers, semi skimmed milk freezes fine, It goes yellowish when frozen, but white when it thaws.   Same with orange juice.  

  • Tammygirl
    Tammygirl Club Member Posts: 7,957 ✭✭✭
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments
    edited April 2016 #12

    We are currently on the Santander ferry 24hrs, in the freezer I have a chilli and a curry, also a frozen 2litre of milk, 2 freezer blocks and a couple of juice cartons. This is the longest crossing so far, usualy Hull to Zeebrugge. Normally everything is
    still frozen solid. I think a lot depends on the make of fridge. We have a Dometic at the moment but had a Thetford in the caravan which was rubbish.

  • Unknown
    Unknown Forum Participant
    edited April 2016 #13
    The user and all related content has been Deleted User
  • Tammygirl
    Tammygirl Club Member Posts: 7,957 ✭✭✭
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments
    edited April 2016 #14

    Off the ferry now, the fridge was off for a total of 29 hrs, prior to that it was on 12v during the drive from Stoke about 5 hours. All the food in freezer was still solid as was/is the milk and freezer blocks. The only  thing that had started to defrost
    was the small cartons of juice, possibly because it doesn't have a high water content. Chicken curry now eatenSmile

    AD, we saw 1 Whale this afternoon. At Cabo Mayor for the night, its dry but can see from the ground they have had a llot of rain. Heading to Madrid in the morning.

  • Stonehenge
    Stonehenge Forum Participant Posts: 16
    edited May 2016 #15

    We usually freeze the milk and some water bottles and a meal that we will eat on first night and that keeps everything else nice and cool, never had a problem yet. We have also used the frozen ice blocks method on site to supplement an inefficient fridge
    in hot weather if you have a friendly campsite owner that lets you freeze your ice blocks in the freezer.