Gear: Major Appliances

Face it, we're wimps. We take off our hats to the minimalists who travel around the world on pennies, live off the sea, tough out the heat, go without ice, don't have a freezer or even any refrigeration, wash their clothes by stomping on them in the shower, scrub the hulls with a snow scrapper, etc. We're going to make S/V Lynx as comfortable as possible, and that means adding some appliances (and the maintenance that goes with added complexity).

When it comes to major appliances on board, there are a lot of special things we want. So, let's take a look at which appliances we plan to add, starting with refrigeration.

Refrigeration

As we have mentioned, S/V Lynx is not your typical live aboard boat, sailing with just a couple on board. Our boat will constantly have crew, so we will, typically, have four to eight adults on board, and can go as high as eight to ten to twelve for short periods. This changes things, especially when it comes to refrigeration needs. We talked a little about this in our discussion of batteries (see Batteries).

However, let's talk about freezer and refrigeration space upgrades. We will need enough freezer space, in particular, to handle several months of food storage for our large crew when we travel between places where we cannot seriously re-provision. That means we need to have additional freezer space and, at times, more refrigerator space as well. The following options are what we are adding to S/V Lynx.

Smeg CB300UI
22 Inch Counter Depth Bottom Freezer Refrigerator with 9.19 cu. ft. Total Capacity, 2.3 cu. ft. Freezer Capacity, 3 Glass Shelves, Crisper Drawer, Right Hinge with Reversible Doors, Frost Free Defrost, Energy Star Certified, Ice Maker, LED Lighting, Fast Freezing and Fast Cooling.

For S/V Lynx:
This model's width and depth are compact enough to fit in our space at the end of the U-shaped galley, yet also tall so that it holds more goods, and that height fits in our salon. Very importantly, it has an icemaker, which is a requirement for us. We like that the freezer is below, as we will be getting into the refrigerator far more often and that will be up at standing height.

Features:
Width: 21.875"
Height: 71.4375"
Depth: 21.4375"
Type: Built-In
Style: Bottom Freezer
Total Capacity: 9.19 cu. ft.
Refrigerator Capacity: 6.89 cu. ft.
Freezer Capacity: 2.3 cu. ft.
Hinge Side: Right
Field Reversible Doors: Yes
Counter-Depth: Yes
Ice Maker: Yes
Type of Shelves: Glass
Energy Star: Yes
LED Lighting
Fast Freezing
Fast Cooling

Cost
- $2,499 (with free shipping.)

NL 125 LEGACY SMART REFRIGERATOR & FREEZER

The Super-Sized NL125 Legacy Smart gives serious carrying capacity with a relatively small footprint and remarkably low power draw! It can change from a freezer to a refrigerator or visa-versa. Typically, this will be our long term freezer storage unit. If long term freezer storage is not needed, like when we are at a location with regular provisioning stops, during that period we will just shut this unit down to save energy.

NL Connect Bluetooth® app
Single-compartment with digital thermostat
Stainless Steel exterior
60mm high-density insulation
Lockable stainless steel latches
Low-battery protection
Auto-switch between AC and DC (24v) power
Internal LED light
-30ºC / -22ºF minimum setting
8 x Baskets
128 Liter capacity (4.52 cu. feet)
9.6Vdc to 32Vdc
100Vac to 240Vac
835 x 495 x 735mm (Closed) *
835 x 495 x 1197mm (Open) *
Weight 37.8 kg (83 lbs.)
3-Year warranty
Base mounting plate – (optional)

NL 72 LEGACY SMART REFRIGERATOR & FREEZER

The ultimate in versatility: The NL 72 Legacy Smart Double-Door design allows you to select individual bin temperatures to suit your needs. Run as a combination of fridge and freezer, or set up as twin fridges or twin freezers. This is a configurable unit. We will often leave one side empty, ready for any fish we catch and want to freeze. The other compartment will either be used as a freezer or refrigerator, depending on our current needs.

NL Connect Bluetooth® app
Dual Compartment Fridge/Freezer with individual doors
Dual, independent temperature controls
Stainless Steel exterior
60mm high-density insulation
Lockable stainless steel latches
Low-battery protection
Auto-switch between AC and DC (24v) power
40W - 70W
Internal LED light
-24ºC / -11ºF minimum setting (left compartment)
-24ºC / -11ºF minimum setting (right compartment)
5 x Baskets
38.2L (left bin) & 33.1L (right bin) 71.3L total (2.52 cu. feet)
9.6Vdc to 32Vdc
100Vac to 240Vac
835 x 495 x 535mm (Closed) *
835 x 495 x 980mm (Open) *
Weight – 33.45 kg (74 lbs.)
3-Year warranty
Base mounting plate – (optional)

Washer/Dryer

So why get a power hungry washer/dryer? It's simple, we consider this a necessity for our comfort. We don't like dirty clothing and sheets, etc. We also hate loading them onto a dinghy, going to shore, finding a facility (if one even exists in that location) and then taking those clean linens and going back on a salt sprayed ride to the boat!

We have settled on these wall mount washer/dryers:

Daewoo Winia DWD-35MCWC wall mount Washer/Dryer

We will be purchasing two of these wall mount models, each of which will be placed in a compartment in the hallway of a separate hull. With two of these wall mounted models, we have redundancy and, if both are working, a 7 cu. ft. total capacity.

Daewoo DWD-35MCWC
3.5 cu. ft. Mini Drum Washing Machine and Dryer
220-240v 50hz
55cm(W) x 32.4cm(D) x 60cm(H), 18.2kg

Hull Cleaning

Next up, scrubbing the hulls. It's a nasty job, but somebody's got to do it! We know that the harder something is, the less likely you will do it. So, if we want to keep a clean hull by doing this job often then it has to be as easy as possible. Besides the standard gear: gloves to protect the hands, sponges for moss, plastic snow scrappers for barnacles, a wet suit hood to keep critters knocked loose from nesting in your ears (yeah, that's a real thing), we also plan to spend the big bucks for a submersible hull cleaner (see below).

This is a job that should be done at least twice a month! Once a week would even be better. But let's be realists, you aren't going to this nasty job every week. So, on a thirteen year double circumnavigation voyage, twice a month means 338 times we have to clean our two hulls (we are on a catamaran, after all). That's a lot of scrubbing! This tool may seem expensive, but if you divide the number of hull cleanings into the price, you learn that it comes to a measly $3.42 dollars per hull cleaning! We will gladly pay that small fee to make each job faster and easier.

Nemo Cordless Hull Cleaner

* 12 inch brush.
* 900 watts brush-less motor.
* 6.2 hours non-stop.
* Water proof hard case.
* Battery: 18V Li-ion 10Ah
* No load rotation speed: 120RPM/160RPM
* Net weight: 2.3kg
* Submersible up to 50m (164 ft)
* Keyless hex chuck(10mm).
* Brush size: 300mm
* Comes with 2 Brushes
* Price: $1,154.25

Sewing

When it comes to making custom canvas for things like covers, seat cushions, enclosures, sail bags, sail repairs, and dinghy chaps, you can't use a standard sewing machine. We will need something specially built to handle the thick and tough materials. There are quite a few options out there, though almost every sailor will, immediately, tell you to buy a Sailrite machine, and that's what we are going with for S/V Lynx!

Sailrite Heavy-Duty Ultrafeed LSZ-1 Plus Walking Foot Sewing Machine

The Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ-1 PLUS Sewing Machine is a perfectly portable, heavy-duty sewing machine that’s ideal for sail making, marine canvas work, heavy-duty home sewing and RV and automotive upholstery wherever you want to sew. Built from the toughest, most reliable parts, the Ultrafeed is well suited to live in a marine environment. Designed with sailors in mind, this versatile sewing machine sews both straight and zigzag stitches and has all the power you need to sew through heavy fabric assemblies. In fact, the Ultrafeed LSZ-1 is tried and true in up to 10 layers of heavy canvas and 8 layers of Dacron sailcloth. The Ultrafeed LSZ-1 PLUS Sewing Machine includes the heavy-duty Industrial Carrying Case, Elastic Protector Strap, EZ Set Stitch Length Plate, Integrated Thread Stand, Flex20 LED Light, Power Plus balance wheel, electronic foot control, 1 oz. cone of white V-92 thread, sewing machine oil, 4 bobbins, 4 #20 needles, tool kit, guidebook, and Ultrafeed Set-up, Use & Maintenance DVD. 2-Year Limited Warranty.

Reviews: Overwhelmingly positive.

Conclusion on Sewing Machines

This one was a pretty easy call, we went with a Sailrite, which we picked up on a sale. They are the best.