Challenges of long holidays in a Beach

[zeratul]

Looks like a great trip across Europe you are making. Impressive.

I also played with this idea of not ever having to move the bench and leaving it in the bed position. But it leaves very little living space. If you are traveling in a cold climate, in rain, and just need the space to sit around the table, it's impossible.
But I've installed the hack described elsewhere on this forum to be able to move the bench without folding it flat, just pull a little cord, and the Nr2 below the bench it moves, backrest intact. Gotten very used to it, it takes 1 minute, twice a day to move it. Plus a couple of minutes to move things around, of course.

 

[podge]

Oh and Satnav
The offline satnav was a gem too, we did use Waze and Google when data was available (on A roads usually) Interestingly, google and Waze wouldn't give us directions over the Applecross pass, when we wanted to go but only some 4 hour long route around. The trusty RNS315 though was happy to oblige.
It did at one point tell us the M6 was closed on the way home though and wanted to send us through the middle of nowhere but I assume that was someone in the office inputting an incorrect piece of data.

On this one, you should be able to download maps and all location data for use offline in Google Maps. The download remains valid for about 30 days before it gets removed by the app - but you can do everything you need to with Google Maps - without any data signal.. You can on IOS anyway

 

[X4 VWC]

Take a look at Icebreaker clothing ... you can wear their T-shirts (or even pants) for 2-3 days without any problem. Sounds gross, but actually works. At first, I was hesitant to spend £60 on a T-shirt and £30 on a pair of pants (yes, really, but watch out for sales for better prices) but I can't wear anything else in the summer now - they're so comfortable, and I can pack far less on trips.

 

[PhilSut1]

Very interesting post - thank you. Please can you tell me more about the solar power solution you use for the Beach - where you can buy it and where you fix it? We have the VW cool box and it only stays powered up for about 8 hours without hook up, which is frustrating. Thank you

 

[calimera]

+1 Icebreaker clothes . We use them for skiing -brilliant .

 

[DavidofHook]

Have a look at Rohan clothes too. Designed for travelling. Trousers and shorts have many and deep pockets with zips so they are secure. All can be worn for days without making you smell bad. T shirts are the same. All lightweight stuff. They also make soft containers for storing stuff while you travel, very handy, means you can fins stuff easily.
I am a Rohan bigot, I think that their stuff is brilliantly, we use it all the time when we are camping and walking.

 

[flying banana]

did 3 weeks scotland. here's a shot from the orkney. a beach on the beach. I find getting rid of the woman cuts out a lot of unnecessary luggage. we were wet alot. we had a dog too. but it was awesome.

 

[MattBW]

Very interesting post - thank you. Please can you tell me more about the solar power solution you use for the Beach - where you can buy it and where you fix it? We have the VW cool box and it only stays powered up for about 8 hours without hook up, which is frustrating. Thank you

The VW coolbox is an "always on" solution, so its not very power efficient and not good for longer stays without mains plugged in. You would probably find even a solar panel would not extend your stays very long with the regular beach battery. I use a Waeco compressor fridge which are more efficient (they only run when needed).

My solar is a cheap 50w suitcase style solar panel, I've fitted a fused CTEK adapter straight to my leisure battery and a similar connector and extension to my panel making it plug and play. In Bright direct sun it kicks out about 2.7amps, in practice this sits between 1amp and 2.5amps input. On very grey days its next to nothing. My fridge uses an average of 1.3amps per hour so generally it will extend my stays considerably.

The VW Coolbox probably pulls quite a lot more amps so a good way of extending the battery life is to unplug at night and plug back in when it gets warmer. You'd probably need quite a lot of panels to keep up with the coolbox during the day.

 

[MattBW]

Just had a look its about 5amps for those kind of coolboxes.

 

[Max-Felix]

We did four weeks in a Beach and five in a Cali SE and both are fine. Just pack super carefully and think what you really need. The more you do it the more you can refine, trim, be clever with the storage.

If anyone but anyone is thinking I should go solar then do it! Absolute best thing we did for our Cali full stop - I recommend simply shelling out for Roger's set up although if you are a bit DIY minded you can (as I did make my own set-up) save a fair bit.

One 100w panel and fit to the rails, absolutely go for the Victron Bluetooth set up with app so you can monitor it from your phone - it is truly brilliant and you have a wonderful smug feeling of endless peace of mind knowing you never need worry about power again, hook ups (both the hassle and cost!), battery deterioration, etc. Easy to fit and remove too. Go for the larger controller so you can add another 100w if ever needed.

 

[Amarillo]

If anyone but anyone is thinking I should go solar then do it! Absolute best thing we did for our Cali full stop

+1 for solar panels. They charge the battery reasonably well in cloudy weather but not in the shade of trees. I've yet to test them in short winter days.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu[/QUOTE]

 

[Amarillo]

EH??

Is the link broken?


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[Max-Felix]

No, just confused as the post quoted me posting a link...

 

[Amarillo]

No, just confused as the post quoted me posting a link...

Odd - on Tapatalk it doesn't show up as if I had quoted any part of your post. It was my intention to quote one small portion.

However, I was posting after a bottle of Nowack's Champagne, so anything's possible.

I hope all is fixed now. Apologies.

Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[soulstyledevon]

Have a look at Rohan clothes too. Designed for travelling. Trousers and shorts have many and deep pockets with zips so they are secure. All can be worn for days without making you smell bad. T shirts are the same. All lightweight stuff. They also make soft containers for storing stuff while you travel, very handy, means you can fins stuff easily.
I am a Rohan bigot, I think that their stuff is brilliantly, we use it all the time when we are camping and walking.

Another Rohan fan here.
I love their T-shirts, shirts, under layers and jumpers. Such great kit and it never needs ironing.
They have a store in Stratford.

As someone said above. Boxes for everything. Since our last trip we are ditching the suitcases for our clothes for boxes to fit on the sliding draw.
Also the sliding draw i made has been the best modification I've done so far. It really helped us stay organised and seem to eat up all our kit with ease

 

[soulstyledevon]

Another thing i would say is, awnings are really useful and a massive pain.
Before we were 3, we never had an awning, apart from the wind out which is a must.
I honestly miss those days.
I think a separate awning is great if you intent to stay in the same place for quite a few days. But we enjoy the freedom of roaming wherever we choose and often move on after a night or two.


We have a Quechua Base Seconds, which i think is brilliant. But can't wait for the days when we can finally get rid. Im sure once our little boy reaches 4/5 we can stop bring it with us.
Perhaps I'm lazy, i dunno...?

 

[PhilSut1]

Thank you Matt BW for getting back to me about the solar. A shame, as looks like I invested in the wrong fridge option! Good tip about unplugging at night though. Thank you also Max-Felix for further guidance on solar.

 

[MattBW]

I don't think its the wrong fridge, they are very good but if you want longer off grid stays then the compressor fridges are the ones to look at as they are so efficient.

One thing I have considered about the suitcase one is that if you move around a lot you may never get around to putting it out. A roof mounted may be less efficient but being always on will always be more efficient than still in the boot/trunk

 

[soulstyledevon]

What fridge is it...?
We bought a Webasto compressor fridge this year. Absolutely over the moon with it. Very nice build quality and wow are my beers cold

 

[Amarillo]

I think a separate awning is great if you intent to stay in the same place for quite a few days. But we enjoy the freedom of roaming wherever we choose and often move on after a night or two.

We are staying on our site near Logrono for 3 nights. We were intending just to use the wind out with panels, but had to make an unplanned trip to a VW service centre. It took me 15 minutes to put up the drive away awning, and another 2 minutes to detach it. On our return we had an audience of other campers, including four Californias. I managed to reattach in just a couple of minutes.

The real pain is packing in the wet.



Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[SE VanMan]

The battery monitor has given me massive confidence in my leisure battery and I think solar only really works well when you are in one place for a long period. If you are driving daily or even every other day (maybe even every 3 days) you will never run out even on one battery unless you hammer the heater.

Can you tell me which battery monitor you have and how it works ?

 

[MattBW]

Hey @SE VanMan apologies for the delay I missed this post for some reason...

I have the NASA BM-1 a bluetooth a little review here of it... https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/nasa-bm-1-bluetooth-review.20041/

Its certainly handy to keep an eye on capacity and battery condition. I think with hindsight something with a screen on it would be better but I couldnt be certain if it would mount in the seat base without hitting the battery. Another option would be to mount it on the right side seat which has nothing under it.

We also now have the window bags we spoke about, really great addition to a beach.

 

[SE VanMan]

Great piece on the battery monitor, Thanks Matt. I'm about to start my first season in the Beach.. going away with the family this weekend, so much to learn and so much to discover that I need!
The window bags sound like a very good idea, I can't see exactly how they attach but have seen them in situ, and may be on my list soon!

Happy camping.

 

[burnercan]

I can't see exactly how they attach

This shows it pretty well. I think they look like a must have.

 

[MattBW]

I got mine second hand from a lovely forum member and we love them. I am not sure if they are teh VanEssa ones they may be a different brand. I can check.

The ones I have, have metal tension bars that slot into the blind slots. They come with velcro too but we didn't find we needed any velcro, they seem to stay in place fine with the bars locked in place.

I can take some photos of the bars if it helps further