To all commenting that the fridge should have gaskets, worry not, they are on the lids and make a tight seal. More or better gaskets would make no difference. The fridge/freezer is one compartment. Freezer plates on the freezer side, no cooling device on the fridge side. The air has to be able to slowly transfer from freezer to fridge and back, otherwise we would have a warm fridge. The more humid air from the fridge side makes the freezer frost up faster. It’s a quirk of the design. To remedy it, we would have to isolate the fridge/freezer from each other (like your house) To do that we would need another compressor unit to cool the fridge. Defrosting and cleaning every 8-10 months is not a big issue!

Your freezer trouble-shooting was spot-on! Frost in the freezer is not your friend. Probably once a month defrosting will be fine. Take the time now to add a pennant to your freezer and fridge lids. You are going to take a knockdown some day and you do not want a lid fying around the cabin. Install it on the inside, of course, and long enough to get the lid out of the way.

I am old enough to remember when you had to defrost your freezer on a regular basis, and I just about messed myself when you started poking at it with sharp objects.

That comment about the label maker sounded _dangerously_ close to an “I told you so.” You’re a braver man than I’d thought.

The issue with the freezer is those access lids. I remember back when you were building them. They are great but the issue is the weight of them. They technically seal but do not seal enough. The seal doesn't get the proper compression it needs. This allows a transfer of temperature from one side to the other. When made, I suggested putting some lead inside the lid for weight. This would allow for a better compression on the seal.

This is why the evaporator coils in freezers have defrost heaters, and condensate drains. The moisture in the air and on the foods will cause the coils to ice up in time. It's normal. It's good to have some kind of automatic system of defrosting the coil, thus a heating element. Temperature controlled is the most efficient. Otherwise you need to continue to do this process manually like they did with refrigerators 'pre-defrost systems'. Very wise using a label maker. Also wise to put the clear shrink wrap tubing over the labels. Well documented electrical systems are a joy to troubleshoot when the time comes. Can't rely on the memory. Undocumented unmarked wiring systems are a nightmare especially when you need to find / fix the problem in a hurry. Well done!

Classic New England seasonal walk-out freezer. 👍

Easy solution to soft ice cream. Never, Never throw out ice cream. Great video.

I see that y’all cook savory swine strips (SSS), the absolutely awesome way, in the oven! If it pleases the Captain, and his lovely First Mate, I shall share the complete easy cooking and cleanup wizardly way of preparing the SSS offering in the magical hot box from which so much goodness comes forth. PREP: Place the rack in the center of the hot box, and preheat to 425° Cover a baking pan with aluminum foil, making sure to extend the foil up the sides forming a complete liner. Make a blotting pad with paper towels. Four 1/2 sheets works perfectly. Set aside a piece of parchment paper that is the same size as the interior of the pan. Evenly lay four SSS in the pan, making sure to not overlay the strips. Now place the parchment paper over the SSS, folding the corners of the foil gently over the four corners of the parchment paper, just enough to hold it in place. Making sure as to not create any sort of passage for the grease to flow between the foil and the pan. COOKING: Place in the hot box, and set a timer for approximately 15 minutes. Your cooking time varies, depending upon the number of savory swine strips, and generosity of the butchers knife, the barometric pressure, and the crispness desired. When your desired level of crispness is reached, carefully remove the pan, being careful to not spill the grease. Remove and place the SSS on the blotter pad, set the pan aside, do not pour off the grease. After throughly blotting the SSS, place the blotting pad into the pan to absorb the grease, and place the parchment paper on top. After the grease is absorbed. Fold the edges of the foil up, encasing the blotting pad and parchment paper. Roll into a neat little ball making sure to not pierce of tear the foil and place in the trash. No muss, no fuss, and you’re left with a clean oven! Pair the SSS with perfectly pan fried yardbird seeds, and a glass of cold cow juice, or a piping cup of bean squeeze. Bon appetite!

When I was a kid and teen one of my chores was defrosting the freezer in the garage. Did it a couple times a year. "Frost free" freezers were an innovation when they came along but contribute to food getting "freezer burn" much sooner.

Ice cream, one of life's essentials. Guaranteed to quell an mutiny. Thanks for the video

Sailing ships used holystone (brittle sandstone) on their decks to keep them bright. Get a stiff bristle brush and wash with salt water and a detergent should keep it better looking. OR go old school with some stones!

defrost protip: boil a pot of water and put it steaming hot in the fridge, close it for 5 minutes and you're done. Also, you need gaskets, especially for the warmer more humid time of the year. You will otherwise forever accumulate condensate.

I was just looking out over Vineyard sound from West Chop and thought what a beautiful day for a sail. I hope you have the chance to get out soon. All the Best Tim

Defrosting the freezer…before frost free refrigerators this was a regular chore. Welcome to the 1950’s! 😊

Watching the life adjustments Steve and Robin are making to adapt to life aboard a sail boat is very interesting. Looking forward to the lessons learned when under sail. Two land lovers turned sailors, glad I’m here to enjoy their learning experiences as they learn them. Thank you for sharing their experiences. We’re from Missouri, not to many boats like Arabella in our part of the world.

The boat is looking pretty vintage already, even though it's not even a year old! The elements can be rough!

Steve, the chimney for the oil heater is very likely to be severly damaged if not completely taken down in heavy weather with high seas. If it can be shortened and still maintain a safe distance from combustables and maintain a sufficient draft, that would help. If not, guy wires are probably the fix of choice, but right now it is quite vulnerable.

Melting ice cream is a terrible thing to have happen. It's good you took care of that in time.

If you can find a small square 'Tin' or very firm plastic one, you can use it every few days to scrape it up from the bottom to the top of the freezer plate to remove and catch the frost that will collect on it. Frost will always form, mostly from water in the food, but if you keep it to a thin layer it shouldn't cause any false temp readings that will fool the sensors! 🐻‍❄🍨

Always good to have your priorities straight...

I am a retired refrigeration tech. You are correct about the evaporator frosted up. Some people turn it colder making it worse. A clogged drain tube, and or packing a freezer to full will prevent air circulation causing the evaporator to freeze up. Never ever pick at the frost. Stick repeated pans filled with boiling hot water in the freezer. Untill completely defrosted. Then check your drain to make sure its clear. You may have to install a drain defroster if in high humidity area. P.S. your freezer should maintain close to 10 degreese fahenheit.

Ben, those are some beautiful bass chords!

The sole looks amazing!!!

I might be the least handiest person in the world and I don't know much about sailing, but I have grit and persistence, and that's why I think I'm drawn to this channel. It's both amazing and encouraging to see someone work on living their dream. I might also be a little envious of Steve's wide range of skills, but that's OK. We all wish to have skills that somehow elude us.

You should take a mud knife to the freezer plate once a week to keep the ice off it.

Thanks for the experience!

good morning. this truly is the gateway to spring. may your adventures match and surpass your expectations.

Everyday living aboard,,,,, one of your very best episodes. My family spent years living aboard (landlocked), and it is fun to see the practical side of living on a boat.

As a sailor who has NEVER had a freezer, only a real ice box, ice cream on board would be just so awesome! That said, when cruising with my parents in the 1970's (on the same boat I still have), going to "town" once a week (any place there were showers, a grocery story, and an ice cream stand). For me the ice cream was the most important part (of course). I am just a little envious....

I’m not sure, but I think in the old days wooden decks would be scrubbed regularly with seawater to keep them clean and tight! Have a nice Spring and happy sailing!

Arabella looks so cozy, I'm jealous

Had to test that ice cream. You know... for science!

Ice cream quality control is essential and I am glad you are doing it. Thanks for sharing a bit of an average day. Gives the whole adventure a different and more nuanced look. 🙂

Looks like it's time to scrub the deck!

Ice cream is my favorite snack. Glade, you got the freezer working reminded me of the old freezers that were not self-defrosting.

Happy Friday and A2A day from Plymouth UK. Back from Australia and Mauritius

An easy way to prevent frost build-up without any scraping is to turn the unit off periodically overnight when it won't be opened and let it defrost on its own without a massive unpacking. Then turn it back on the next morning. Prevention is the best key though - keep that lid open as little as possible - having it better organized so you're not pawing through to find what you need will also make a big difference. - FM Julie - Schooner Huron Jewel

wow, Arabella looks so beat up already

Swab the deck! 😉

Great video with a wide and interesting variety of topics. Life on the boat segment was great. I was watching Cole complete her round the world cruise and was thinking of you two and how much weather beat her up. Looking forward to your progress in learning as much as possible before leaving sight of shore. I will be in New Hampshire and Maine in June. Would love to drive by the boat and just see her. (I won't disturb you, just love to see her). I'll watch your channel as always to try and estimate your location. Stay warm! Continued prayers for Steve's Mom.

Such a change from getting up on cold mornings and working hard to now having your morning icecream.

Retired Appliance repair tech here- Freezer should be anywhere from negative 5 to positive 5 - fridge around 40.........

So darn happy that you two met.

For the freezer, I would maybe look into getting a case of desiccant packs and just toss one in there occasionally to keep the humidity from building up. This would also keep items in the freezer from building up frost. Another thing you can do is fill the freezer completely with cold packs or whatever you have on hand that can take the temperature swings because a full freezer gets and stays colder more easily than an empty one because air is notoriously difficult to heat and cool. Obviously you don’t have to listen to anything I suggest but having a freezer that is running efficiently can save a huge amount on power!

Hai sodaraku,, videonya sangat menarik ,, solusi mudah untuk membuat eskrim,, ❤❤❤

The deck needs swabbing down with sea water every day, even if it is raining, also cold air will dry out moisture as quickly as dry air SWAB THE DECK IF YOU WANT TO STAY DRY BELOW DECK : )

Somebody told me to rub Vaseline on your freezer wells, and it stops ice build-up 👍👍👍 from Victoria Australia 🇦🇺

Just a thought. When you eventually replace the sail bags, you should make them a new color, that way, when later on, you can tell to a few years when a photo of Arabella was taken. First year, no bags, year 2-3 red brown, 4 - 7, blue . . . . .

My stomach was growling watching you make breakfast on Arabella! Yummy!

A few years back I splashed out on a fancy label maker. I absolutely love this thing. The fanciness of it is that a) it connects to my phone via bluetooth for more elaborate label design, like auto-numbering network patch panels, and b) you can slap in a cartridge of heat shrink tubing and print directly on it, it's AMAZING for boat wiring.

A nice chill video! Nothing worse than unintended ice cream soup.

For some reason chocolate ice cream is the hardest to freeze and works well as a”canary in a coal mine “ for refrigeration.

Good morning Akiva 🐺 and Crew 😸 / if the ice cream is melting give it to Akiva , he'll take care of it quick 😹😸😺

I had pretty good luck using non-electrical, particulate desiccants in our fridge and freezer to keep the humidity down. It didn’t negate the ice build up but it did slow it

Only cheese problem I've ever heard of is not having enough. Not sure that' what you're getting at Robin. :)

Cape Cod Creamery conjuring up visions of Cod flovoured Ice Cream!!! Cheers from SW Van.Island!

Great breakfast guys. I could live on Arabella no problem. A little food, a little warmth and my e-books would do it. ❤🇺🇸🍀

I have the same camp toaster! Love that thing!

Sea Frost seems very appropriately named. A throwback to freezers in the 50s.

It is nice to See how your live is Going and developing over to living in Arabella, thx for the great videos❤❤

Amazon has Heat Shrink Tube Label cartridges for the Brother label printers in several different sizes. They are amazxing! Melting Ice Cream solution: Milk SHakes.

Frozen water bottles fill up space equals less frost and freezer works less.Tally Ho is wetting the deck multiple times a week while still on the hard. Hornblower had the crew holystone everyday.

One of my all time favorites mint chip! Chips ahoy mates and full sail ahead! It’s the little things that make life worthwhile!;)

Time to get to work with a holystone. A tradition that sailors were all too happy passing into history with the advent of metal decks - unlike the rum ration

Puppy is waiting to snatch up any snack that manages to come his way.🐕

Nothing beats an amazing "Morale Meal" or treat when your going through the suck. Chunky soup, Kraft Dinner, chocolate bar, doesnt matter.

In my humble opinion using lid on pan, when You are preparing fried eggs yields much better results.

They making some three minute eggs😊 Better than mucking you fry pan😊 On another note, I’ve seen snow drops doing there thin in Chatham and day light savings time is coming this week end!, yeah!!!!

You are correct that defrosting is not that big of a deal but maybe you could put some desiccant in there like what you use in bathrooms

A tip for perfect fried eggs add two or three ounces of water to skillet then cover

Steve, on my boat I have a similar holding plate, it is a Technautics Cool Blue, about ever 6 months I have to do a defrost on it. When I do I just set a heater blowing in the box, let it all thaw out, then dry everything out thoroughly before turning the freezer back on. I have had that exact same problem with the probe getting covered in ice.

HASH BROWNS THE FOOD OF THE GODS !!

When I have defrosted a freezer I wash down all the surfaces with sanitizing liquid usually used for cleaning baby feeding bottles as a final step . There are several varieties to choose from in the shops but the advantage they give is that they are just about odour less and can be left as a damp finish in your freezer or fridge . Many folk have said you need a gasket on the freezer door seal and I understand why you do not think you need one due to the design . I reckon an experiment with a gasket would improve the icing up situation a bit , but it comes down to time and effort available . If dehydration , desiccant crystals do make a difference then a gasket would probably be worth thinking about , maybe ! Any spare space in a freezer will be holding humid cold air , so filling the freezer spare volume with water bottles or cheaper produce , like bread , should help too . I cannot wait for the warmer weather to return ( I am in the UK and actually had an inch of snow last week ! Now it is reported that we will not have a frost for ten days at least ) so we cab see you sailing again . Hope your Mum's health improves and best of luck . Dave

Ben - love the freezer to deck transition!

Melty ice cream?! That's not a happy Friday! Here's to the weekend, 'bella fam! ☕

And the work goes on, and on, and on . . . . . 🙂🙂

I definitely would not call your taste for cheese a problem at all. I support your choice of brand for the gruyère as well.

Pot of boiling water closed in the freezer next time. Simple and gentle and safe defrost. Repeat if necessary. Perhaps you should try reheating your tar deck seams to re-seal it. This is the problem with traditionally laid decks. I would always prefer to lay a traditional deck over a plywood or non-rotatable composite layer-done in a way with eventual replacement ease in mind, and seamed with a modern compound. Deck leaks in boats make for more difficult unpleasant living and damage of supplies and electronics and much more.

Air space in a freezer can possible be causing your problem. air does not freeze but moisture drops out (dew point) and causes ice build up on the plates. Every time you open it you introduce warm, moist air. Packing air space with polystyrene ( even toilet rolls ) reduces this problem and the compressor does not have to work so hard. This is a law of physic's not realised by everyone.

Living the dream ❤congratulations.

Now I know why Akiva likes boat life so much❤

@AcornToArabella. With the bitumen joints. Could I suggest and idea to rejected or accepted? If you take a heat gun to the bitumen in the joints, it will soften/melt and reform itself into a brand new seal. If this is done in cold weather then when the decking warms and expands it will create a tighter seal between the wood and the bitumen. This could be done before applying the linseed oil for the wood protection. Basically, as the wood shrinks due to cold and drying out/seasoning, warm the bitumen to allow it to sag and fill the gaps. I hope this makes sense.

Doing those blidge hatch handles, I wish this was smellivision! Nice sharp chisels.

Dirty decks, gotta get that holy stone working, before getting ice cream.

Yeah every time it's opened humidity from outside will freeze as a layer of ice. So the faster you can get in and out the longer you can go between defrosts

Ok you have me inspired.... time to start 'going through the motions' (in the yard doing launch prep and upgrades) :) Watching you work within the wiring jungle made me think: I learned and had it heavily reinforced (doing stage hand rigging) for me that when creating circuits.... 'Label, label and check your labels !!!".... along with 'Service loops and when in doubt, longer service loops !!!" :)

Robin you can cook for me anytime a master of the unbroken egg! Cheers.

Whittling down the honey to do list. Ensuring the ice cream stays just rite.

Loved the ice cream philosophy

you guys are mad cute. looks like youre starting to get used to living on the boat. enjoy yourself every day

glad the fridge and freezer didn't require major surgery!

Having a Husky helper in the kitchen mean you never have to worry about dropped food. Although mine never wedged himself between me and the stove/sink. But he was always close when food was prepared.

I have an egg holder and camp stove toaster exactly like those. I have always used mine camping on land, though.

Steve you need a panduit gun to tighten and cut the cable ties flush. Saves your skin from the sharp ends of the ties. The Boeing Aircraft company calls cable ties "panduit". The gun is on Amazon or eBay. The good ones can be calibrated. Price range is $20 to $200. The older metal ones from Boeing are ending up on eBay as they are replaced by the new ergonomic style ones. Sticking your hands and arms in dark places is bad enough with the other sharp objects in the space. Cable ties cut with "Dykes" have sharp ends that hurt.

Dear Robin , Anne, Steve and all others who worked on Arabella, Leaking from the deck is more common in wooden ships. In the Netherlands we’ve a lot of wooden ships and owners repair little leaks with Talamex Topcoat Gelcoat what we really can recommend to you. It’s a modern topcoat for ship decks based on what already was used in the Middle Ages. The freezer in Arabella is very well repaired so that’s good to see and WIlleke and I did love to see how Steve made recessed handles in the floor of Arabella to get easy access to the ship's hull. We look forward to to your next vlog and send you love from the Netherlands

put a sheet of the roll up cutting board up against the cleaned off plate in your freezer and the frost will build up on the cutting board, then all you have to do is tear off the cutting board to remove ice build up. we do this in our rv

Steven, any time you have frost building up like that it’s a sign that you must defrost. The amount of ice in your freezer is a red flag that there are likely other issues at hand. I hope you can reach out to the manufacturer and get some solid (no pun intended) advice.

Robin, Your not alone. I'm on a mission to lose half a human being in weight (lost 15Kg over the last 3 mths) but can't wrap my head around life without cheese and good coffee. The only people who have a "Cheese problem" are doctors and nutritionists. Normal folks just get on with life enjoy god's little pleasures and deal with the consequences as needed. Cheers Eric

Steve, A small electric fan would circulate the air so the the temp inside is "homogenous"... No circulation and you'll have a cold side and a warmer side..