>While were at it how about a small refrigerator.
> By gosh we've got a galley now!!

In all seriousness (and I've been a bit frivolous on this thread already) there are several coolers that use Peltier Junction devices. These devices use very low amounts of current and can be run for several hours off of a battery pack. I think Coleman and Igloo both make them. They are in the $80 to $100 range. The Peltier devices are available at electronic supply and surplus dealers. In addition to use in coolers, they are used in computers to cool microprocessor chips. You can either remove the guts from one of the larger coolers and mount them in a small cooler, or obtain a small cooler and mount your own Peltier device to it.

The way these things work is the opposite of a thermocouple. In a thermocouple, heat applied to the junction of two dissimilar metals causes a weak current flow. Your gas furnace and hot water heaters use thermocouples mounted above the pilot light to keep the main gas valve open. If the pilot light goes out, the cooled thermocouple keeps the the main valve from opening, so it won`t kick in and fill you home with lots of poisonous, explosive natural gas.

With the Peltier device there are many connections of dissimilar metals. When yo apply some current to the wires, some of those junctions get hot, and others get cold. If you reverse the polarity of the current, the `cold' side of the Peltier device will get hot, and the `hot' side will get cold.

The Coleman and Igloo `coolers' also double as warming containers at the flip of a switch.

Normally these things change the ambient temperature by about 40 Fahrenheit degrees. If ambient temperature is 75 degrees, the cooler can get to as low as about 35, or as high as 115. In Celsius, that is a swing of about 21 degrees, so on a day with a temperature of 24, the cooler would either be working at 3 or at 45.

A solar panel can provide enough electricity to run these things.

Even on a hot day, drops of water placed directly on these devices will freeze solid in seconds.

Consider lining an area between two bulkheads with foam for both flotation and insulation. Add a hatch for access A solar powered Peltier device heat pump would convert that area into an efficient cooler to keep your fish fresh, or your beer or soda cold.

Of course the low tech method is to make a foam-lined cooler compartment, and just fill it with ice. Paul Jacobson