Camping challenge, 7 with a Beach.

[MattBW]

Ok so while it's possible to attach the roof box to the bike rack, I didn't immediately see how to fix it properly.
Guess we'll go for the roof-box-in-the-cali-approach, until after disembarking from the ferry.
We are only five until shortly after that and will have enough usable places. We'll put the box on the roof from there.

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What is the roof box model and how you find it for size on the cali? I'm trying to get something thats not too small that it looks lost on the roof but not so big as to be a waste of weight allowance.

I have the VW roof bars.

 

[zeratul]

It's a thule motion 800 with thule roof bars but that doesn't matter.
It's perfect. 800 litres is a lot. I stand on the wheels to put stuff in/out, it opens both sides.
Only disadvantage is that it should be empty when opening up the roof or it doesn't stay open.

Almost done packing. Trunk boot contains BBQ (Cadac Chef), Porta Potti, Waeco Fridge, a crate of food and a crate of hiking boots.
Will post a picture when finished. I think it will work out fine, with 7. We have the Vanessa camping window storage bags and all of our clothes fit in there.

But we don't have toppers, awnings, floor tiles, televisions, ..

 

[Digger]

Did it make much difference to your insurance when you notified them of 7 passengers? It made me re think with my Defender.

 

[zeratul]

Did it make much difference to your insurance when you notified them of 7 passengers? It made me re think with my Defender.

The Beach, when ordered with 7 seats, has factory 7 passengers max on paper. Our was (paper-) converted to camper with this Ikea Alex kitchen pod, and it's now officially a 7-seater camper. Insurance is ridiculously low because they think people drive less with a "camper" than with a car.

 

[zeratul]

So we are disembarking from Newcastle right now. I've chosen the roofboz on the roof and then mounted it in the bike rack before going on the ferry. Works so well that we are considering to leave it on there. Fully packed but we have a barbecue, porta potti, food, shoes, seats for 7, extra table, mattresses, pillows, pop-up tent,... and everything we need
Love the storage capacity of the beach!



Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[Amarillo]

So we are disembarking from Newcastle right now. I've chosen the roofboz on the roof and then mounted it in the bike rack before going on the ferry. Works so well that we are considering to leave it on there. Fully packed but we have a barbecue, porta potti, food, shoes, seats for 7, extra table, mattresses, pillows, pop-up tent,... and everything we need
Love the storage capacity of the beach!

Wonderful!

Seven camping in a Cali without a trailer - I'd have never believed it possible.

 

[hirsty]

Have a great time - you've got lucky with the weather as far as I can see so far, post pictures!

 

[Stuart]

Absolutely roasting in Edinburgh right now

 

[zeratul]

So we're back and we've learned quite a lot.
Initially we left with an empty roof box on the roof. Trunk was quite full but not too extreme.

For the ferry we put it on the bike rack, which took like 5 minutes, then after the ferry back on the roof.

Later when we were 7, we needed all the space inside the van so the Thule was never empty anymore.
Because it fits so well onto the bike rack, we left it on half of the time. It can be fixed really well with just the bike straps. It stores all bed equipment and still the tail gate opens easily.

Leg room with the Alex kitchen pod is a little limited but as we had one 4 year old child it was doable.
The bed setup, with the middle seats in is actually comfortable enough with just an Ikea mattress topper. It works fine. We've always eaten outside, we were lucky with the weather. A few drops of rain on saturday afternoon but not a problem. We did not have to use the awning.

 

[Hotel California]

When you are seated with 7 plus all the gear ....don't you think you are over the wieght limit?

 

[Amarillo]

When you are seated with 7 plus all the gear ....don't you think you are over the wieght limit?

The payload, excluding driver, for a Beach is about 640 Kg. If the six passengers combined weight is 450 Kg, that leaves about 200 Kg for luggage. With three of the passengers being children, there may well be an extra 50 Kg or so for luggage - I expect the OP was probably just about within the weight limit, it all depends on the weight of the six passengers.

 

[Hotel California]

The payload, excluding driver, for a Beach is about 640 Kg. If the six passengers combined weight is 450 Kg, that leaves about 200 Kg for luggage. With three of the passengers being children, there may well be an extra 50 Kg or so for luggage - I expect the OP was probably just about within the weight limit, it all depends on the weight of the six passengers.

Is that the weight of the xtra seats included?
250kg is very litlle , i see a bikerack , roofbox , extra camping table , probaly the tent in the background , then you need water , food , a coocker , fridge , portable toilet

 

[Amarillo]

Is that the weight of the xtra seats included?
250kg is very litlle , i see a bikerack , roofbox , extra camping table , probaly the tent in the background , then you need water , food , a coocker , fridge , portable toilet

I forgot about the weight of the two extra seats, I think they are about 25 Kg each, a significant weight.

 

[zeratul]

Our Cali with 7 seats and multiflex board and awning and spare wheel weighs 2440kg empty. I know exactly because of the homologation for camper it was weighed (incuding diesel, water, Alex kitchen pod).

We were 4 adults all under 70kg, say 280kg, the 3 children combined are 60kg. So 340kg. We can load up to 3080kg (4 motion) so we had 300kg for luggage.
I'd be surprised if we loaded more than 100kg (roof box and carriers 25kg, bike rack 10kg, fridge 10kg?, are the only heavy items.
I think we had more than 200kg left. So even 7 adults should be doable.
I love the beach...

 

[zeratul]

Oh and I forgot I can take 3150kg now that I have VB Air suspension
Though we did pass some wooden bridges in Scotland that said 'max 3T' and I knew we were close.

 

[Hotel California]

You would be suprised wow much all the small stuff weighs if you count it up.
But if you are aware it is a good startingpoint .

 

[jamessclarke]

Great to see the flexibility of the Beach again. We are 6. We could just about all sleep on board when children were younger but now 2 are adult size we use a small tent as well-also handy for storing bags etc too.

Biggest issue when you have both the middle row seats in place is making the bed because you have virtually no floor space when bed is deployed.

 

[zeratul]

Great to see the flexibility of the Beach again. We are 6. We could just about all sleep on board when children were younger but now 2 are adult size we use a small tent as well-also handy for storing bags etc too.

Biggest issue when you have both the middle row seats in place is making the bed because you have virtually no floor space when bed is deployed.

You could try the approach I did last weekend: fold the bench the other way (forward), slide the collapsed middle seats towards the bench, and put a mattress topper over the surface. If you sleep head near the tailgate, it works just fine. And quite some room in the middle. The cost is a slightly harder bed (middle part)