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Blog Posts

August 2021

Heading to South Dakota we are not going to visit Mount Rushmore again. We do however plan to revisit the Colonial House Restaurant in Rapid City.
When leaving on scenic Highway 285 towards North Dakota no stop at Mount Rushmore are planned. So far this trip has turned opposite of the origina…

Read more

July 2021

Last Edition I mentioned visiting old friends and some of them were places as well as people.
Our first in July was a stop at Wal-Mart in Arkansas City, Kansas where we got the motor home serviced and breakfast at a new place as our old favorite was closed Monday.
Daisy Mae’s was just down…

Read more

June 2021

The end of May and start of June we are still in Florida and our Air Conditioning bills are piling up!

The original plan was to have the sailboat finished and out of the storage yard by the end of December 2020, however the delays and problems as well as some necessary medical procedures ha…

Read more

May 2021

It is the beginning of May and we had to make a decision concerning the sailboat.
Well Folks the engine is BROKEN and for this season we are calling it quits!
What we did was to put the boat on the market and IF it sells great, if not I will rebuild the engine.
That is what I should have done in …

Read more

April 2021

 The big news for the start of April is that our Onan generator stopped working and would not start again.
It was a hot night at the boatyard and the Air Conditioner was on when it happened.
It was Saturday the 27th of March so we had to wait until Wednesday the 31st to take it into Fort My…

Read more

March 2021

The Month of March finds us still working to splash the boat.

After waiting 6 weeks for a part to come from England only to find that another place in the US had one in stock!

The frustration is that it caused us an extra $600 in charges at the boatyard!

While we were waiting many little jo…

Read more

February 2021

The month is half over and we are still waiting for the part to show up all the way from England, and naturally the delay is blamed on COVID!

 During the down time we have kept busy with little jobs around the boat and perfecting our solar use!
Our boat is now completely independent of the Yard…

Read more

January 2021

January finds us between the boatyard in Placida and Doug’s house to prepare Dawn Treader for a long journey!
Solar panels have been installed and new batteries as the Dawn Treader returns to life.
 
Repairing the Fuel Injection Pump was first on the agenda.
Some of the parts must come all th…

Read more

Boat and RV December 14 (Free vs Paid)

Boat and RV

December 14, 2019

Conestoga Charlie is breaking with the general format today.

There are 22 photos and not in the order of travel but rather in the order of amenities.

I was reading a piece about a very bad commercial campground experience, qnd thinking back I remembered some…

Read more

July 2019

Boat and RV

July 1, 2019

Conestoga Charlie with general ramblings and more about our Solar experiment!

This is the second day in Cabin Creek which is really easy access off the I-90  Exit 63 and even comfortable for a class A! (GPS Lat 47.2933 Lon -121.2877)

Something that is troubling …

Read more

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Blog Posts

August 2021

Heading to South Dakota we are not going to visit Mount Rushmore again. We do however plan to revisit the Colonial House Restaurant in Rapid City.
When leaving on scenic Highway 285 towards North Dakota no stop at Mount Rushmore are planned. So far this trip has turned opposite of the origina…

Read more

July 2021

Last Edition I mentioned visiting old friends and some of them were places as well as people.
Our first in July was a stop at Wal-Mart in Arkansas City, Kansas where we got the motor home serviced and breakfast at a new place as our old favorite was closed Monday.
Daisy Mae’s was just down…

Read more

June 2021

The end of May and start of June we are still in Florida and our Air Conditioning bills are piling up!

The original plan was to have the sailboat finished and out of the storage yard by the end of December 2020, however the delays and problems as well as some necessary medical procedures ha…

Read more

May 2021

It is the beginning of May and we had to make a decision concerning the sailboat.
Well Folks the engine is BROKEN and for this season we are calling it quits!
What we did was to put the boat on the market and IF it sells great, if not I will rebuild the engine.
That is what I should have done in …

Read more

April 2021

 The big news for the start of April is that our Onan generator stopped working and would not start again.
It was a hot night at the boatyard and the Air Conditioner was on when it happened.
It was Saturday the 27th of March so we had to wait until Wednesday the 31st to take it into Fort My…

Read more

March 2021

The Month of March finds us still working to splash the boat.

After waiting 6 weeks for a part to come from England only to find that another place in the US had one in stock!

The frustration is that it caused us an extra $600 in charges at the boatyard!

While we were waiting many little jo…

Read more

February 2021

The month is half over and we are still waiting for the part to show up all the way from England, and naturally the delay is blamed on COVID!

 During the down time we have kept busy with little jobs around the boat and perfecting our solar use!
Our boat is now completely independent of the Yard…

Read more

January 2021

January finds us between the boatyard in Placida and Doug’s house to prepare Dawn Treader for a long journey!
Solar panels have been installed and new batteries as the Dawn Treader returns to life.
 
Repairing the Fuel Injection Pump was first on the agenda.
Some of the parts must come all th…

Read more

Boat and RV December 14 (Free vs Paid)

Boat and RV

December 14, 2019

Conestoga Charlie is breaking with the general format today.

There are 22 photos and not in the order of travel but rather in the order of amenities.

I was reading a piece about a very bad commercial campground experience, qnd thinking back I remembered some…

Read more

July 2019

Boat and RV

July 1, 2019

Conestoga Charlie with general ramblings and more about our Solar experiment!

This is the second day in Cabin Creek which is really easy access off the I-90  Exit 63 and even comfortable for a class A! (GPS Lat 47.2933 Lon -121.2877)

Something that is troubling …

Read more

View older posts »

February 2019

Boat and RV

February 5, 2019

Conestoga Charlie back after a few days of intense packing!

One of the many things people say during our travels it how much they would enjoy the free lifestyle, however they also lament about how much stuff they have.

Those readers who are contemplating a mobile life on boats or in an RV know of this dilemma.

Our last 2 weeks have been helping some close friends remove and pack all the Christmas Decorations from their home!

It has been extensive and one reason is because they are involved in an International Ministry and each year they open their home and display the many things collected over the 49 years of working around the world, No! They are not even tempted to own any RV!

What of the rest of us? How many struggle between the desire for stuff and the reality of limited space? We see so much evidence of people downsizing all around us, and not just in the mobile sector. Tiny Homes have been popping up everywhere. Some people we know have built a small 1000 Sq Foot home on a beach in the Bahamas Island Chain after living aboard their boat for 5 years.

Many years ago just before I retired a friend gave me a book titled “Packing Your Bags for the Rest of Your Life” and in it the question “Does all the stuff make you Happy?”

I was already planning to live aboard a sailboat and so it hit home rather solidly.

Perhaps the decision to join the mobile community will be much easier if that realization that no indeed there is no real lasting happiness with stuff!

Today we use what we need but appreciate many things without owning them. We have almost trained all our friends and relatives that if we can’t eat it or wear it ---we just don’t need it!

 We have lived on boats and in a motor home since 2003, and long ago let go of many things. However weather camped on the side of a obscure road of 5 star resort, anchored off a distant shore or a classy marina it is always where not what. We come to this world with nothing and will take nothing out save our memories of our lives!


Boat and RV

February 11, 2019

Early this morning I received the sad news of the passing of a sailing friend and Disabled Veteran, Cliff Kyle. Cliff sailed down the Atlantic Coast overcoming his disability. He will be sorely missed by many of the people who knew him. WE thank you for your service!

Monday Morning with Conestoga Charlie in wonderful Tucson Arizona.

Our trip back to Arizona is necessitated by family issues and we expect to stay most of the rest of the month.

Sorry to say this is not a happy post and the trip back from Texas was not part curly a pleasant journey with some nighttime lows at 18 degrees in most overnight stops.

The trip did give us plenty of insight about the capacities of our batteries and propane supply.

I wrote about installing a second Deep Cycle 12 Volt Battery sometime back. That extra battery allowed us to run the furnace during the night without needing the generator. Even though we had the thermostat set at 60 we never used more than 5.5 gallons of propane which was about ½ of our tank!

Still I am not particularly interested in any hard core winter camping!  



Boat and RV

February 15, 2019

Conestoga Charlie with more ramblings about mobile living. Question of the day; what’s the difference between an RV and Boat?

I mean beyond where and how one travels in them!  

For instance, what do you do with the down time?

(I know, what’s down time?) For our purpose down time is when not sailing or driving.

Many times I have heard the expression that cruising is repairing a boat in beautiful places.

With an RV that is not quite as often, we hope!

Still there are always little things like the wood trim on the slide out that pulled away from the mount. (Today’s Project)

So what is the difference? How much does each owner rely on “Professional” help for repairing our vehicles or boats?

I started in 2003 after early retirement in 2002 and was a landsman through and through, but I had plenty of mechanical and construction experience. None of which was in my degree fields. It was my hobbies that gave me that experience. Also shortly before buying my first sailboat I totally remodeled my home to put on the market and learned to do everything!  

Today with Internet and available videos the  process is much simpler. The important thing is not to be intimidated.

The other is as Clint Eastwood would say, “A man must know his limitations”. This is not to say that one can expand them. When I bought my first sailboat, I believed everything had to be perfect before putting out to sea. Since then we’ve made many repairs on the fly so to speak. Many RV and Boat owners have similar experiences.

Question is, where do our readers draw the line. Recently, our diesel injection pump developed a leak filling the oil pan with diesel fuel. It will require replacement of rebuilding neither of which do I want to take care of. Personally it is worth the money to hire a Diesel Mechanic to take care of the job, in spite of the fact I have totally rebuilt many engines including a Volkswagen Diesel Rabbit! So it is not a “can’t” but a I don’t want to. Honestly I’d love to remove the engine, put it on a stand, and totally rebuild it, however I just do not have shop space and trying to do that in a dusty boat yard is a bit foolish.

So to all of the RV land Boat people: Where is your fiddle factor?


Boat and RV

February 16, 2019

Conestoga Charlie with a big shout out to those participating in the lively discussion in the Mobile Odyssey group yesterday.

That was one of the reasons that Mobile Odyssey was created to exchange information and views about life on the road or over the seas.

Those of us that live either full time in an RV or on a boat have a much different life. That life is more full I believe. We are much more aware of our environment especially when the slide out or deck hatches leak in the rain!

We are also unwittingly ambassadors for our lifestyle sometimes even intentionally.

Almost everywhere we go when people find out we live on the road so to speak they usually indicate they would love to live the same way.

Naturally we usually skip the down side, such as one member who had their trawler destroyed by Hurricane Irma or the hour and a half we spent on our boat during the same hurricane and my classic Volkswagen Westfailia totally destroyed only 150 feet away, or sitting on the

side of the road waiting for that Very Expensive Tow Truck for the motor home!  We talk of these things only among ourselves simply because thankfully that doesn’t happen very often.

We ourselves entered the RV world just last May and have lived aboard a boat since early retirement in 2002! Most of it has been great and some of the things that many people miss have been the mainstay of the adventure.

Quite frankly watching the song “America” actually come to life before us, and witnessing wheat fields stretching into the horizon, driving through those majestic mountains as well as just plain seeing the miracle of America at work.

Also in Polson MT there is a great Museum at 26094 Memory Lane 59860 Named Miracle of America Museum and is well worth the trip!

This blog has three goals, to stimulate discussion, to bring helpful information to new owners and veterans alike, and to present a travel log for armchair travelers.

Photos today reflect traveling in our great country, may we always preserve it!


Boat and RV

February 23, 2019

Conestoga Charlie and company survived a rather surprising snow storm in the Arizona Desert.

For all you winter campers out there here is some tidbits for after the fact preparations.

The propane use runs a bit higher; however the holding tanks are still prone to freezing. Adding RV (or boat) antifreeze to the holding tanks will prevent freeze up!

The other thing to watch is the propane gauge.

Our gauge was slightly below the ¼ mark yet there was not enough pressure to run the furnace. The fridge and cook stove would still work but they do not require either the volume or pressure that the furnace does.

When we got to the fill station it only took 7 gallons to fill the 12 gallon tank!

Welcome to Boyle's Law. The 20 degree weather last night reduced the pressure available.

We also had 4 inches of ICE on the roof from the snow yesterday.

We should be able to leave in another couple of weeks as the family emergency subsides!

Photos today are from our desert winter wonderland.

 

Port Charlotte, Florida


Boat and RV

February 28, 2019

Conestoga Charlie here with some boat tid-bits for RV people.

About 5 months and driving under a tree in a parking lot some leaks started during a rainfall!

The first problem we noticed right away and the fix was simple but a pain. The protective awning had separated from the coach. All that had to be done was removing the broken screws as well as the others and re-attach. EXCEPT the screws were totally rusted because they did not use Stainless Steel Screws! The pain part was drilling out the broken ones and then using a Marine Silicone compound re-seal the attachment.

 

Problem Solved---? Not hardly! There was still a persistent drip that came in under the slideout, and a puddle under the Air Conditioner.

My boat experience taught me that water does not flow uphill, but can come from strange places of which seem impossible. This leak traveled from the Air Conditioner over the top (inside) of the slideout down the side and along the rail to the CARPET! Found it by temporarily placing a tarp over the shroud on the roof (after chasing a lot of rabbits I might add)!

 

A new Shroud is $125 plus instillation, however it is mostly in tack and not a structural part so for about $30 a sheet of 1/16 inch plastic and a tube of 3M 5200 and the repair will likely out last the Air Conditioner!

For keeping things together and not leak 5200 is the best, however be sure it will not need to be taken apart.

 A lot of people love Butyl which is good for many things but for a permanent non leaking repair I just don’t like it. The roof vent on the Volkswagen Pop up was installed with 5200 in 2007 and was driven to Florida where Hurricane Irma destroyed it. The entire top and tent part was ripped off the the hinged part of the vent was gone! However the base was still held in place and I suspect if the rest of the hatch could be found it would not leak!

One big question to the RV industry is why standard galvanized fasteners instead of Stainless Steel. Almost every screw fastener on my motor home is rusted.

FV Builders take a lesson. Boats must survive a much harsher environment than any RV will meet. My 1981 Endeavour is still quite serviceable and all the screws and bolts still open, and my hatches don’t leak!

  

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