Just back from first night away...what worked AND what didn't.

[Steve39]

So just back from our first trip in the Beach. Bit of a learning experience to say the least. Will post some thoughts on what worked well and not so well later...

....but overall it was brilliant. We stayed at Stonehenge Campsite (after seeing it on the YouTube channel of some fellow members). Before I go further this was a great site for our first night. Everything we needed, helpful wardens, and some very very helpful neighbors in a big Fiat thing (but ex T4 owners so that makes them OK).

Couple of Pics of our set up and happy family (so money well spent ).

 

[Sad]

Looking good

Great site, we stayed there a couple of years ago when we hired a Cali before buying...

 

[Hotel California]

Hope that pick-nick table folds up small or else there's no room left in the booth


Good you enjoyed it , takes a few trips to get a routine and to know your "essentials" to take with.

 

[Steve39]

Hope that pick-nick table folds up small or else there's no room left in the booth


Good you enjoyed it , takes a few trips to get a routine and to know your "essentials" to take with.

We've spent the last weeks telling everyone how cool the California's little stowable table is and then the first campsite we go to and they provide one for FREE!!!

 

[jts46]

SO what worked and what didn't?

 

[Steve39]

Ok, so let's get the bad stuff out of the way. The big one was storage.

Our little kyham toilet tent was a godsend as we kept all the cooking gear in it. Just room for that and the foldable loo we bought (more on that later).

Biggest problem was I felt like I was constantly in the boot rearranging, looking for and then putting stuff away.

Second issue was storage when in bed mode...no where to put book, glasses, phone etc.

We could see some of the advantages of the Ocean right away.

Answer? Hopefully a pair of VanEssa window bags. Had held off buying them because of the price but think they could transform the van for us.

Little niggles...a few but too few to mention. Except the lack of a reading light on my side of the bed (driver's side at the rear).

 

[flying banana]

get one or two of these from Halfords called transporter nets. them that usually go in the car boot. here's mine hung in the roof section. you can keep your night wear in it out the way. not much storage but hey I have a beach too and every little bit helps

 

[Steve39]

Thanks FB, I was referring to bed mode downstairs but yep a net is also on the list. The kids soon filled the little ledges upstairs with...well I don't know what with but I was passing things up to them all the time. Can't find that one in the Halfords website but will be popping in to try and find it.

 

[Steve39]

Oh yeah, one last negative. How the hell are you meant to turn the drivers seat if you're on a slight slope?

I've got DSG, so had it in P and it still rolled forward. Do I need levelling blocks? Should I've left the engine on? Should my wife have pressed the footbrake with her hand? We opted not to swivel.

 

[flying banana]

that's tricky. even on levellers I find mine rolls off them when handbrake released. even in gear. you have to have it perfectly balanced or use chocks. or anything you can find like a brick or lump of wood

 

[WelshGas]

Oh yeah, one last negative. How the hell are you meant to turn the drivers seat if you're on a slight slope?

I've got DSG, so had it in P and it still rolled forward. Do I need levelling blocks? Should I've left the engine on? Should my wife have pressed the footbrake with her hand? We opted not to swivel.

I fnd if you stop with footbrake then put the DSG in P, then take footbrake off and then apply handbrake. When I come to swivel drivers seat I get no movement taking the handbrake off. The DSG locks in P, with a pin engaging in a hole, but obviously has to line up with the hole. In the USA many drivers with DSG don't even use the handbrake, just P.

 

[Steve39]

So what worked well? Pretty much everything. Research done on here helped massively.

With the van itself we were surprised how comfy the downstairs bed was with comfort mattress. Yes it's firm but not overly so (no need to buy an extra topper for us). The bed is also huge (3 seat bench). We had loads of space and the kids came.down and joined us in the morning. Something they haven't done.for a few years at home

Kids reported upstairs was both warm and comfy, so glad I didn't spend money prematurely on a roof topper. We've got trips planned into mid Oct and then we'll stop until March, so we'll wait and see how we go.

So glad we went for the parking heater, it's brilliant. I did forget to take the remote to bed though.

Lighting was good apart from the lack of a light at the back of van on the drivers side (we slept heads to the rear). We did pay for the upgraded lights on the Beach but definitely worth it.

Also glad we went for the extra sliding window. I think I'll get some wind deflectors for the front windows. I've already taken to driving with the windows down, and they'll be useful for ventilation at night.

Windscreen was pretty misted up in the morning and there was some condensation upstairs around the metal parts on the hatch. Is this normal, will an external screen help?

Overall the van did its job as a tent on wheels perfectly. It's roomy enough for four and surprisingly comfortable. We'd never have gone tenting this late into Sept, so job done.

 

[Hotel California]

A external screen partly helps to prevent inside front windscreen condens as the diffrence in themp. in/outside of the glas would be less with a outside thermal cover .
But main thing is to ventilate , sure with 4 people in a Cali.
There are treads on how to ventilate .

 

[Steve39]

Some final thoughts on kit.

I really wanted to get a compressor fridge but due to work commitments and other holiday preferences we are planning to use the van for day trips and odd nights. So I resisted and went for a marine coolbox. Highly recommended. We got the Dometic Cool Ice 22 (litre). Kept food very cold for the 30 hours we were away, compact in the boot, no battery drain if we stop somewhere off grid, can be used as a seat/table, can be used for general food storage if we upgrade to fridge later. I think we'll be OK with it and it cost £60. See pic of boot above.

Also very happy with my stupidly expensive but lovely Primus Tupike stove. Best camping stove I've ever owned. Looks cool as well, with a stylish bit of oak on the lid.

And lastly a word about my loo. My god the hours I spent on here reading about people's preferences and habits (foldable buckets?). Followed by hours having the sort of conversations with my wife that we'd managed to entirely avoid in our 20+ years together. It all came down to one killer question. Is it better to go in a bag, or face a chemical disposal point?

We went with the bag and something I've not seen on here before. A PETT Toilet system. More comfy and toilet like than a Bog in a Bag. Quicker than a Popaloo as you just fold out the three legs. £90 but we got a free storage rucksack thrown in so not bad value. Can use bags from any system. And it has a proper seat that goes up and down with a lid. No actual pictures of ours...but link below. They sell mainly to relief and disaster agencies. It really is a brilliant bit of kit.

http://www.eps-retail.com/epages/es787787.mobile/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops

And on that note, message ends.

 

[Steve39]

I fnd if you stop with footbrake then put the DSG in P, then take footbrake off and then apply handbrake. When I come to swivel drivers seat I get no movement taking the handbrake off. The DSG locks in P, with a pin engaging in a hole, but obviously has to line up with the hole. In the USA many drivers with DSG don't even use the handbrake, just P.

Thanks WG. I'd never have thought of that. I think I'm putting handbrake on first (really paranoid about forgetting as my Golf has ebrake / auto hold. Much appreciated.

 

[Pineweasel]

Oh yeah, one last negative. How the hell are you meant to turn the drivers seat if you're on a slight slope?

I can swivel the drivers seat while sitting in the forward facing passenger seat with my right foot on the brake. I find this quite manageable, although I am over 6 foot.

 

[Mr & Mrs B]

Mr B usually stands outside and puts his foot on the brake whilst I turn the seat - seems to work okay for us.

 

[Sad]

I can swivel the drivers seat while sitting in the forward facing passenger seat with my right foot on the brake. I find this quite manageable, although I am over 6 foot.

I do it from outside the van, but yeah, 6'6"...

 

[Stuart]

Surely you just put it in gear? Or P for DSG.

 

[Pineweasel]

Surely you just put it in gear? Or P for DSG.

On a gentle slope, sure. But on levelling ramps it will move a bit, so I like to use the brake.

 

[Iron Van]

I use a levelling block which came with chocks, similar to the link.

http://www.milenco.com/products/levelling/mgi-wedge-levels-with-chock

 

[Stuart]

Fair point. I've never used leveling ramps

 

[zeratul]

Regarding storing and organising stuff at night.

Ikea ALEX (see topic on this forum https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/ikea-alex-kitchen-pod-diy.13922/) works very well in the beach to store lots of stuff. You could use it unmodified (without kitchen sink) and I will do it for the next version as well. More room, less work.
Also we have this shelve and hooks bar where we store things like sunglasses, mobile phones etc at night and towels to dry during the day : https://calitop.eu/?cat=c5_Shelves-Shelves-5.html&cPath=5

In my experience, after a couple of nights/holidays, you develop a system that limits the amount of stuff to move around and everything finds its place. We never bother swivelling the front seat anymore. To much hassle and we use the seat to store child seats and some bags during the night. We are 5 and we sit either 4 on the bench and 1 on the passenger seat, or 3 on the bench, one on Porta potti and one of the passenger seat. We do have a EU version though so the passenger seat is near the sliding door.

 

[Esandar#1]

So what worked well? Pretty much everything. Research done on here helped massively.

With the van itself we were surprised how comfy the downstairs bed was with comfort mattress. Yes it's firm but not overly so (no need to buy an extra topper for us). The bed is also huge (3 seat bench). We had loads of space and the kids came.down and joined us in the morning. Something they haven't done.for a few years at home

Kids reported upstairs was both warm and comfy, so glad I didn't spend money prematurely on a roof topper. We've got trips planned into mid Oct and then we'll stop until March, so we'll wait and see how we go.

So glad we went for the parking heater, it's brilliant. I did forget to take the remote to bed though.

Lighting was good apart from the lack of a light at the back of van on the drivers side (we slept heads to the rear). We did pay for the upgraded lights on the Beach but definitely worth it.

Also glad we went for the extra sliding window. I think I'll get some wind deflectors for the front windows. I've already taken to driving with the windows down, and they'll be useful for ventilation at night.

Windscreen was pretty misted up in the morning and there was some condensation upstairs around the metal parts on the hatch. Is this normal, will an external screen help?

Overall the van did its job as a tent on wheels perfectly. It's roomy enough for four and surprisingly comfortable. We'd never have gone tenting this late into Sept, so job done.

"Overall the van did its job as a tent on wheels perfectly". TENT ON WHEELS?!?!?!?

What we love about our Beach (the Cali generally) is just how quiet it is when in bed downstairs. Upstairs is like a tent - in terms of noise - but downstairs is hotel-like! (Well, a little poetic licence!) The bed in the 3 seater bench is jusy huge.

Levelling blocks are a must in my view, as very few campsites are flat and it yet with the levelling blocks (and the small spirit level that lives in our van) I can always get it flat, front to back, left to right. There are usually a few rocks or logs around that you can wedge under one wheel to allow you to take handnrake off to sweivel the drivers door.

Storage - we bought some large long thin Asda plastic boxes with sturdy snap on lids. The four boxes store most of what we need and the beauty is that as soon as we arrive on any campsite they can either slide under the van (very easily accessible but out of sight) or go in the pop up 2-man pup tent that acts as our store area / pitch saver (if we need to take the van off during the day). We alos bought some midge net and some small magnets and made two (waterproof) screens that allowed us to leave the sliding windows open but keep the mossies out. This we thought would be esential in Italy (at the Italian lakes this summer, but there were hardly any mossies to be seen anywhere in Italy. I think they all prefer the wetter climate of the UK!

There are some storage issues & solutions but we (2 adults, two boys aged 10 &13) toured Europe for three weeks this summer with a big fridge in the van (behind passenger seat) and managed without many rows! It was on this trip that finally we saw some value from the wind out awning.

Enjoy your Beach!

 

[Steve39]

Yeah sorry, 'tent on wheels' doesn't really do it justice. We seriously love it and just wish we'd been able to buy one sooner. I haven't set foot in my other car since we got it and have taken to wearing sunglasses when driving even when the weather is s@#t