VAN LIFE BEGINS……

FIRST NIGHT AND BEYOND

I have been a van traveller without a van for the last 18 months! So, it was great to finally have the van in my possession to start the real journey. As I eluded to in my last post, there is plenty I didn’t realise I needed to learn. Not only about the van itself, but all the systems associated with it. That is pretty much done now, but the van is yet to be tested on our first long road trip. The timing and destination is yet to be finalised but it is likely to be soon and the subject of a future post.

One thing, I did realise quickly was how tight space is and how living is more like camping with comfort than being in a caravan. We’ve spent a lot of time in a static caravan where the amenities are very similar but there is much more space. However, once you adjust to that, it really is quite comfortable. You just have to be very organised and put things away to maintain living space.

The first over night stay started early one morning about a week ago, when we drove the van to the bottom of the farm and parked up by the cliff edge. We planned to kayak along the coastline to a quite secluded beach nearby approximately 20 minutes kayaking away. The water was flat and we flew along. After spending the day lounging in the sunshine and reading we headed back with a few seals for company.

Not long after tying up the kayaks and climbing up back to the van, it turned colder and windy. So, after washing down our gear with the van’s outside shower, we quickly ventured inside for a shower to warm up as well as clean up!

The water was surprisingly warm and the van water pump ensured a reasonable stream of water to make for a good shower. We probably used a lot of water, but for this trial run it didn’t really matter but it certainly will in the future. Water usage and conservation will likely be the subject of a future post.

Once dry and changed, we cooked a meal, before watching the sunset from the roof deck with a coffee. The meal I cooked in the van kitchen…..successfully I might add. Under normal circumstances, I would always try and cook outside, reserving inside cooking where necessary for example inclement weather and the such like. We did have a comfortable nights sleep as the mattress is firm and the bed is really quite large. In fact the king sized bedding was tight and only just fitted.Just like camping, I was aware of the wind as it really was quite blowy but that’s something that’s not unexpected with outdoors living!

The following morning with the rising sun we had a coffee inside the van over looking the beach. We stayed inside as it was teeming down and the rain was coming in sideways. There is something really quite comforting when you’re all cosy and warm, watching the rain run down the window while you slowly wake, with a fresh brew cupped in your hands. In the future, check out the gallery, “a brew with a view”, where we will be posting our most memorable views throughout our ventures.

And the roof rack…absolute triumph!

Arguably, the most expensive modification to the build has been the bespoke roof rack. Many van conversions have roof carrying capacity, but this is often limited and constrained by “off the shelf” units that whilst not cheap do not offer any real flexibility. In many cases, the roof racks are so limited, to be barely usable and are only for show. A van with a roof rack looks so much better, so many have one, despite it being pretty useless. The same goes with snorkels, whilst mine is functional, many are again fitted for “the look”, believe or not! I know this to be fact, as up until the beginning of this year when Bravo snorkels produced a compatible installation kit there was nothing on the market for the latest Sprinter ( W907/10, 2018-) model.

So what’s different with this roof rack?

Almost every rook rack I have seen, does not have a full floor deck. That is because the roof in most vans contains roof vents, frequently solar panels, on occasion air conditioning units and even TV aerials/WiFi antennae. The roof vents usually one in the front cabin and one in the back, (in addition there is often a vent over the wet room in LWB vans) sit proud of the roof rack floor by about 25mm, so the floor has cut outs to allow for this and of course is necessary to allow them to be opened as necessary. See the image below to illustrate what I describe.

Now, for my mind whilst this roof rack and many other look great what use is it really? Even if you were to venture up there, what are the chances you’d put your foot through something?

HERE’S THE THING….

I had two needs:-

• Firstly, I wanted a full roof rack floor so it could be used as a viewing deck, from which to fly my drone and a space on which to place a deck chair or lounger to relax.
• And secondly, I wanted to be able to transport my kayaks, so that I can kayak any water I come across as well as cycling my way round the places we visit. A full deck would be necessary to traverse the roof whilst pulling up the kayaks to remove the risk of damaging the vents and solar panel located at the rear of the van. We would also need a “fixing” solution for the double J kayak carrier shown below. Finally, we would need a solution to how a single person would be able to put the kayak up on the roof which stands over 2 metres!

Along with these two specific requirements, we still needed to be able to open the roof vents when needed and uncover the solar panel in order for it to function sufficiently well.

Me and Jon Clare, chief engineer and designer set about coming up with a solution which required many meetings to get to the right specification and design.

In essence the solution involved several innovative features:-

• We elevated the height of the rack, so the floor sat just above the high point of the vents.
• Designed removable panels with locks to cover the vents and solar panel. The locks would need to have a flat profile to remove the risk of tripping.
• Drop the solar panel into a “cradle” so it could be covered with a removable panel as it normally would sit on top of the roof floor. Accepting this might reduce it’s efficiency but hoping by very little.
• Adding a rear roof rack ladder roll bar like the one shown below. To help with pulling the kayaks up from the rear after they have been leant up against the rear of the rack.

Here it is…….

So the fabricator took some convincing but accepted the design specification and came up with exactly what we wanted. There were some teething problems, which delayed delivery of the van by some 3 weeks but the wait was worth it. The main images shows the lockable panels with the kayak carrier and the rear roller bar seen at the bottom of the picture.

But does it work………

So I got what I wanted as per the agreed design….but would it work in practice?

So we decided to do a real time test a few days ago. We had some fun, not least because it was blowing a hooley with winds gusting up to 35 mph. Not the best conditions by far, but we’d come so far and needed to test the design. Our thinking being if we can get the kayaks up in conditions like this, you can do it single handed anytime. Check out this video taken at the time, watch just the first 6 minutes or so.

So despite the conditions we successfully placed a kayak and secured it easily. Having done one, we felt that putting up the second was unnecessary, as with one we’d proved it worked. We decided to go back to the caravan to take the kayak down which was easily done, as shown in the short clip below.

The weather has taken a turn for the worse this week, but soon as we can I’ll get the kayaks on top and travel somewhere close by for a days kayaking. Llanberis lake is one option we’ve tried before.

NEXT POST

FITTING OUT THE GARAGE

Now the kayak transportation is assured, the next step is to work on the garage space. Good efficient storage and stowage is important to safely maximise the space in the rear garage which houses the two bike. I’m currently exploring different set ups and working out what will be needed and how best to use the space before setting off beyond North Wales. Will hopefully post in a couple of weeks time.