Maverick
Hi all,
I've been lurking in the shadows absorbing all the information that this forum has to offer and thought it was about time I said hello.
So I wanted to buy a boat. I'd convinced the 5 and 8 year old that they did too. The plan; to spend 4 years sailing around the world. Long story short but the long-haired General wasn't too keen. Something about sea-sickness and a fear that we'd all drown at sea in a storm. Oh she of little faith.
We'd thoroughly enjoyed a trip we did 3 years ago in a rented 1968 T2 along the south coast of France. I can thoroughly recommend 69Campers for anyone wondering if a Cali (old or new) is for them. Seeing as we all had this summer off we decided to buy a Cali and see a bit of Europe. We ended up with a T6 Ocean 150DSG (MY19), 50 miles on the clock and everything still wrapped in plastic, spec'd as we wanted. Picked it up on the Tuesday and set off for mainland Europe on the Thursday. We had a splendid 5 weeks travelling down through France exploring the alps, into Switzerland, across the Italian lakes, through Slovenia into Croatia as far as Split. Drove back though Slovenia into Italy again, down to Modena and Maranello to visit the Ferrari museums, across Tuscany, the Italian Rivera, Côte d'Azur, Bordeaux, Ile de Ré and back to the UK. Highlights were Lake Garda, Pula and Ile de Ré. 4000 miles down the road, what have I learned?
Firstly, I hate campsites, especially French ones with mandatory banana hammocks and (so-called) entertainment by the pool involving churning the water by dancing and splashing to techno music. This is inconvenient as the kids seem to love these sites. Our best nights by far were wild camping, especially in the mountains above Interlaken and on the Italian Rivera.
Secondly, that the Cali is a well thought out utilitarian vehicle. I stuck a roof box on top to put all my kitesurfing gear in. Everything else to keep us going for 5 weeks fitted easily in the back. We even came home with a couple of boxes of wine and a SUP! I started to love the processes involved in turning the vehicle into a bedroom and back again, refining them with each day. We didn't purchase many accessories prior to departure. There wasn't time and we didn't see a need. Our only purchases were some seat covers, Brandrup carpets, front and rear and a Cadac, all of which we are pleased with. It was pretty hot in Croatia so we purchased a super powerful fan from Bauhaus (hardware store) that works in the euro socket for downstairs and a small 12V fan for upstairs.
Having never had any desire to own a Cali I can say that I'm pleasantly surprised and have no plans to get rid of it any time soon. We're already discussing the next trip to Ireland in a couple of weeks and planning for Scandinavia beyond that. And definitely back to France. Although we saw a lot of Europe in 5 weeks we wish we'd narrowed our ambitions slightly and spent more time getting to know some of the areas better.
Anyway, I'm off to look at boats and see if a couple of sessions of hypnotism can change my wife's views on sailing.
Photo 1 is from a wild campsite in the Italian Rivera. Thank the lord that every campsite in the area was full!
Photo 2 was the original inspiration.
Photo 3 is self explanatory!
I've been lurking in the shadows absorbing all the information that this forum has to offer and thought it was about time I said hello.
So I wanted to buy a boat. I'd convinced the 5 and 8 year old that they did too. The plan; to spend 4 years sailing around the world. Long story short but the long-haired General wasn't too keen. Something about sea-sickness and a fear that we'd all drown at sea in a storm. Oh she of little faith.
We'd thoroughly enjoyed a trip we did 3 years ago in a rented 1968 T2 along the south coast of France. I can thoroughly recommend 69Campers for anyone wondering if a Cali (old or new) is for them. Seeing as we all had this summer off we decided to buy a Cali and see a bit of Europe. We ended up with a T6 Ocean 150DSG (MY19), 50 miles on the clock and everything still wrapped in plastic, spec'd as we wanted. Picked it up on the Tuesday and set off for mainland Europe on the Thursday. We had a splendid 5 weeks travelling down through France exploring the alps, into Switzerland, across the Italian lakes, through Slovenia into Croatia as far as Split. Drove back though Slovenia into Italy again, down to Modena and Maranello to visit the Ferrari museums, across Tuscany, the Italian Rivera, Côte d'Azur, Bordeaux, Ile de Ré and back to the UK. Highlights were Lake Garda, Pula and Ile de Ré. 4000 miles down the road, what have I learned?
Firstly, I hate campsites, especially French ones with mandatory banana hammocks and (so-called) entertainment by the pool involving churning the water by dancing and splashing to techno music. This is inconvenient as the kids seem to love these sites. Our best nights by far were wild camping, especially in the mountains above Interlaken and on the Italian Rivera.
Secondly, that the Cali is a well thought out utilitarian vehicle. I stuck a roof box on top to put all my kitesurfing gear in. Everything else to keep us going for 5 weeks fitted easily in the back. We even came home with a couple of boxes of wine and a SUP! I started to love the processes involved in turning the vehicle into a bedroom and back again, refining them with each day. We didn't purchase many accessories prior to departure. There wasn't time and we didn't see a need. Our only purchases were some seat covers, Brandrup carpets, front and rear and a Cadac, all of which we are pleased with. It was pretty hot in Croatia so we purchased a super powerful fan from Bauhaus (hardware store) that works in the euro socket for downstairs and a small 12V fan for upstairs.
Having never had any desire to own a Cali I can say that I'm pleasantly surprised and have no plans to get rid of it any time soon. We're already discussing the next trip to Ireland in a couple of weeks and planning for Scandinavia beyond that. And definitely back to France. Although we saw a lot of Europe in 5 weeks we wish we'd narrowed our ambitions slightly and spent more time getting to know some of the areas better.
Anyway, I'm off to look at boats and see if a couple of sessions of hypnotism can change my wife's views on sailing.
Photo 1 is from a wild campsite in the Italian Rivera. Thank the lord that every campsite in the area was full!
Photo 2 was the original inspiration.
Photo 3 is self explanatory!
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