Ice on a 3 day trip

[Grescobia]

Heard a few comments from some of the anglers on the june bigE trip that they were just about out of iceand most of the coolers were just about cool water. Will this be a problem fo a 76 hour trip?

[Uncle Russ]

From my experience, you can do pretty well for up to 5 days if you have 1. One of the new super coolers and 2. it's kept in the shade. Block ice also keeps much longer than crushed--and if you don't have to keep fish on it, it should be fine for drinks, water, and food.

[Minnow]

freeze your bottle water will reduce your need for ice.

[awesum]

The ice chest I take on board with me for food and drinks is one of those on wheels (60 qt I think) that is supposed to keep ice for 5 days ...

On TBB07 last September I still had lots of ice arriving at the docks and may have had more if I hadn't handed out ice to some that were out. I stopped at Bucee's and filled it to the brim just before heading to the boat. But this time I will have more food and drink and less ice so I'm not counting on having ice left at the end of this trip.

The only tips I can offer ...... be sure your drinks are cold before putting ice in as warm or unchilled drinks will melt the ice mucho pucho.. It may help to freeze some of your drinking water bottles in advance.

[Rainbowrunner]

Good basic advice. Start your chest 2 -3 days ahead, ice down drinks, water, etc. Drain most of the water 1 day out, refill with ice and if you have a quality cooler, should not have a problem keeping ice for 3 days.

Originally Posted by Minnow

freeze your bottle water will reduce your need for ice.

[Gunsmoke]

My specialty is ice. I am the master of ice. You cannot have enough ice. I repeat. You cannot have enough ice. Ice is more important to me than any other item you take on a boat. It keeps your beverages cold, food chilled, preserves your catch, and is a necessity for mixing a cocktail after a hard day on the water.

The rocking motion of a boat combined with the outside heat and sunlight is a sure ice melter. The motion of the boat kills the size of ice cubes more than heat.

There is not a cooler on earth that can hold ice for three days on a boat in the month of July that is placed on the exterior of the boat. (crushed ice)

If you are an igloo fan, the marine grade coolers will outlast the so called
"5 Day Coolers". Expect 30 hours with those coolers. The marine grade igloos will yield you almost 40 hours.

The best portable cooler I have seen is the Icey Tek. They are now marketed under the name of Yeti. Expect 50 hours of decent ice with one of these coolers. Another excellent cooler is the Downunder five star marine cooler. I believe Dennis Braid bought them out. They claim it is a 10 day cooler. Forget all those days they all claim. I rate coolers in the real world of heat and motion. You might get three full days with an Icey Tek or 5 star downunder of usable ice.

There has been some good points listed above. (pre chill everything, frozen water, block ice) Block ice is a must for a three day trip. If at all possible, keep at least 500 pounds of block ice stored inside the AC cabin. An ice pick makes the best drink ice. Be careful of Styrofoam cups as the picked ice has very sharp edges. Styrofoam cups is almost as important as ice. You cannot have enough on board.

The ideal thing is a commercial grade ice maker on board that can produce about 200 pounds per day. That ice maker combined with a few tons of loaded ice should keep your mind at ease offshore for three days. Just remember , when the ice is running low, it's time to head to port.

[xs_tackle]

It's gonna be July. We have already had nearly 3 wks of 90+ degree highs; and there's no help in sight. So, where can you buy dry ice near the dock? I'm used to seeing it at HEB foodstores, among other places.

[BretABaker]

i was fine. i bought one bag. if i brought a nice cooler if buy a few. just buy microwave meals, youll be fine. if you want great meals then go for it. we got 2 platters of sashimi saturday night and it was wonderful. i probably ate a pound.

kil brought banana juice but i still got my limit thankfully

[hatidua]

Frigid-Rigid. Anything else is a very VERY distant second place. I've owned Icey-Tek's, Engle's/Ultra-Cool's, etc. If keeping ice for as long as possible matters, get a Frigid-Rigid. None of the others really even compare.

[PurEvl]

If you are really worried use dry ice in one of those fancy coolers.