The "Mini-Ship" has landed

We hear a lot about "the mother ship" in RV circles, However, because I've added a sun sail I have decided to call our little home on wheels a "mini-ship." Why  "mini?" No it isn't an automobile. The choice was dictated by the PC norms here in the U.S. in which midgets, dwarfs and other small people are denigrated if we use such terms. As of today, the term "mini" has not yet been relegated to the dustbin of racism or whatever, and so I will use it. I know, to call my little home on wheels a "mini" is neither poetic or awe inspiring. and that's the way I prefer it to be. Remember, this journey is about "A life of moderation."

So we arrived at our "tiny home on wheels" and set up the sun shade (I did it myself; rather easy, actually) and then I prepared a teriyaki ribeye steak while G made a salad of lettuce, cucumber, daikon root and onion with a splash of ranch dressing.

Sun Sail

The sun sail was a stunning success. It took three tent poles, one 4 ft wooden dowel and a 9 ft triangular sun sail. However, after two days of use we decided that it made a significant improvement in comfort.

We've been at a number of camp grounds or areas where there is limited afternoon shade. If the vehicle is pointed into the sun, even with Reflectix in the window the interior temperature at the front of the vehicle can become very warm. Last year, in Texas heat, the front of the vehicle was so warm I couldn't open the engine compartment without burning my hand.

The sail is held in place with two carabiners. This allows quick removal in the event of a storm. The poles and guys can be left up at night, or when storms move through, as they are this evening. So I lowered two of the poles, unclipped the shade and then folded and wrapped it, and put it in the storage compartment for the night, with our folding chairs.

Keeping the Mud Daubers Out

Screen held in place with magnets

One of the issues during the warm weather months is mud daubers, those industrious, solitary wasps that build nests made of mud.

They build these in all sorts of places, reportedly in RV furnaces and hot water heaters.

Recently, I've had ants attempt to set up in the water and shore power compartment of the Roadtrek. I now keep the power cable off of the ground. Then there is a red squirrel family that likes to hop around on the RT at about 4:30am or so. I heard the "thumps" again this morning and parted the curtain to look out of the rear window. And there, about 6 inches away and sitting on the spare tire was that red squirrel. We were eyeball to eyeball for a few seconds and then is scurried away. Is it going to set up shop in the heat pump/AC compartment?

Currently I'm dauber proofing the hot water heater, furnace and refrigerator compartments. These are "spare time" chores and the sun sail took precedence. Weather also interferes. We've had a lot of rain recently and I haven't found the access to the shop which is hidden somewhere in this Roadtrek.

I had purchased about $8 of aluminum screening at the local hardware store. This I've used to make a passenger window screen. I also intended to use this for the furnace and the hot water heater, which is why I purchased aluminum screening, rather than plastic. The furnace and hot water heaters have exterior steel covers and so attachment with magnets is easy. I purchased some 3/4 inch diameter x 1/16 inch neodymium high strength magnets. These are being used for securing aluminum screening to the passenger window, furnace and hot water heater. All three of these areas are steel and so the magnets stick easily. I'm epoxying steel washers to the interior of the Dometic refrigerator vents. Magnets will then be able to attache the aluminum screening.

Fastened this way, all of these are readily removable, which was a requirement.

I'll post more photos in a few days, weather and time permitting.

West Coast Trek - Lighthouses - Cape Meares

During our West Coast Trek we stopped at many lighthouses from Cape Meares in Oregon to Point Reyes in California.  This post will be the first in a series on those lighthouses.

Lots of seabirds:

Next on the itinerary: Oceanside Beach

Adding a screen to the vehicle passenger window

Trekking in my view is to be living a life of moderation. This is consistent with other aspects of my life.  To that end, using nature's breezes and ambience is far superior to air conditioning, etc. That's my opinion and my quest.

Our Roadtrek came with optional screens for the rear and side entry door. These are a good thing. The screen in the rear entry work well, because we don't enter or exit from those doors. I only need to unzip the screens for access to the storage below the rear king-sized bed/sofa.

However, the screen for the side entry is another issue. We enter and exit frequently via this door. I'd say it's obvious that a plastic screen with zipper won't survive long in that location. So we haven't used it.

However, to get good cross-ventilation we need a goodly sized front entry or exit point for those breezes. The side entry window includes a screen and the window pivots on a vertical hinge, and opens about 1/2 inch. This area isn't sufficient for the air movement we need. It is also a problem if the weather turns inclement.

The front of the vehicle also gets a lot of sun (infrared) load if it's pointed that way. In other words, the front of the vehicle gets hot. We really like the heat pump/air conditioner in the rear, but the front of the vehicle remains warm.

So I decided to improve the airflow. To that end I fabricated and installed a screen on the exterior of the passenger side window. With such an arrangement, we can open one of the rear doors with the screens attached and we'll get the cool breezes we love, sans insects.

This was easier than might be imagined. In fact, I'd suggest that Roadtrek offer this as an option for buyers. The screen rolls and is easily attached to the exterior with magnets. The thick black edging in the photos is not used to adhere the screen to the vehicle. Magnets at 8 points will be used.

To construct this I used aluminum screen, but it would be easy to do the same with a plastic screen. I purchased the aluminum to bug-proof the refrigerator and hot water heater ventilation.  I may post on that in the future.

This is a photo of the screen, temporarily held in place with 8 pieces of electrician's tape. Magnets will be used to do this in the future. The 2 inch black edging is "duct tape" which provides a thin surface for magnetic attraction and also seals the edge of the aluminum screening. I installed the black duct tape in two layers "back to back" with the aluminum screen sandwiched between.  However, about only 1 inch of the screen is sandwiched between the tape. The electric window can open and close while the screen is in place.

When not in use (when the vehicle is travelling, etc.) the screen is rolled for storage:

If I were wanting to get "fancy" I'd purchase tape which more closely matches the exterior color of the Roadtrek. I leave that for Roadtrek to offer!

Here's a photo of the screen while being constructed. If one wanted ultra-precision, I'd suggest the old trick of taping newspaper together to fit the area and then using that as a template. My parents did that to purchase a pre-cut linoleum floor back in 1955 or so. It worked then and it will work now.

After installing this, I asked G what she thought about it. She said it was a real improvement. Mission accomplished!

Add an external 120V receptacle

Every motor home or camper van may seem to be deficient a feature or two. I purchased a Roadtrek 210P and I've made a few improvements to tailor it to my personal "tiny home on wheels" lifestyle.

One thing the 210P does not have is an exterior 120VAC receptacle. This may not be a problem if the site one rents has a meter with both 30A RV power connector and 120VAC ground fault receptacle. In such a case, all that is required is an outdoor rated extension cord and we can power up lighting, an induction heat plate or even a boom box. However, if the campsite has only a 30A RV power receptacle then we face a dilemma. The only way to get power to an exterior device or extension cord is to leave a door open and use one of the ground fault protected 120VAC receptacles.

That solution was not acceptable to me, and so I decided to add an exterior 120VAC receptacle. The following video shows how this was done without violating the integrity of the RT body and fiberglass shell.

Alaska Trek - bald eagles

On our Alaska trek we took the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour. I've provided a previous post about that tour.

This post includes a video of the bald eagles we encountered, while on the tour.

Alaska Trek - Crab Fisherman's Tour

On our Alaska trek we spent a short time in Ketchikan and we took a trek on the Aleutian Ballad. The Aleutian Ballad was featured, and became famous on the Discovery Channel’s Emmy Award winning television series, Deadliest Catch. "On season two of that program, viewers watched in amazement as a crab boat was hit by a massive rogue wave, rolling it onto its side during a treacherous storm. That boat was the Fishing Vessel Aleutian Ballad, "

When we visited Ketchikan, Alaska, we took the opportunity to step on board and into the amazing world of Alaskan crab fishing via the "Deadliest Catch Crab Fishermen's Tour."

It was wonderful and we experienced a lot of nature, including swooping bald eagles!

On our Alaska trek, this was one of several highlights. Yes, it was overcast, and yes, it did begin to drizzle. But we were under a steel canopy, the seas in the inland passage were calm, the temperatures were mild at 55F. So we had a really enjoyable time on this 3-1/2 hour "adventure."

I've made a brief video of only a small portion of this wonderful, guided tour on a fishing boat which has been voted "Best Alaska Tour."

I may prepare and post a second video, including the eagles and other scenes not included in the first video. A link to the website for the "Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour" is included in the post.

Here's the link to the official website:

http://alaskacrabtour.com/