New Beach owner!

[BeachLife]

Hello!
just wanted to say a quick hi. Feel like the most excited person on the planet right now as we’re getting our first California a week Monday! It’s a 2019 Beach in Indium grey, we’re a family of 3 (have a 3 year old) and I’m so looking forward to being able to get out and explore as soon as lockdown is over. A diesel heater installation is booked in for March, currently making a list of first places to visit so would love any advice!

sorry for the waffle, thanks for having me here!
Amy

 

[daveyboydanger]

Best van ever! You'll love it! And good choice with getting the heater fitted, ours is one of the best features - especially when waiting for kids football training to finish!

 

[AlisonF]

Lucky you! Beaches in the UK are like gold dust. Can’t wait to see pics of it whilst I await my new one.

 

[BeagleMum]

Hello!
just wanted to say a quick hi. Feel like the most excited person on the planet right now as we’re getting our first California a week Monday! It’s a 2019 Beach in Indium grey, we’re a family of 3 (have a 3 year old) and I’m so looking forward to being able to get out and explore as soon as lockdown is over. A diesel heater installation is booked in for March, currently making a list of first places to visit so would love any advice!

sorry for the waffle, thanks for having me here!
Amy

Congrats and welcome from a fellow Beach owner. It’s a fab vehicle you’ll enjoy it.
The parking heater is a must in our experience.

 

[BeachLife]

Best van ever! You'll love it! And good choice with getting the heater fitted, ours is one of the best features - especially when waiting for kids football training to finish!

Ah great, and that’s such a good point about the footie too!

 

[BeachLife]

Congrats and welcome from a fellow Beach owner. It’s a fab vehicle you’ll enjoy it.
The parking heater is a must in our experience.

Ahh hello fellow beach owner!! Great to know, quick question - can you run the diesel heater all night without the van being plugged into power do you know?

 

[BeachLife]

Lucky you! Beaches in the UK are like gold dust. Can’t wait to see pics of it whilst I await my new one.

Ahhh amazing, bet you can’t wait! Hope
you get it soon, and ditto to pics

 

[VWCoastbusters]

Hi Amy, it's Kate. Welcome to the forum - it's a fantastic place for knowledge and tips. Enjoy your Beach

 

[soulstyledevon]

I’ve done quite a few posts as an Ex-Beach owner.
Two best mods I did,
Diesel Heater
Sliding Rear rack.

Check out the latest issue of advanture magazine (issue 4) a guy featured, has made some great modifications to his Beach.

Advanture Magazine DE Ausgabe 04: Winter 2020

We are SO STOKED to release this issue and it is going out to more than 10,000 people who are now on the Advanture Magazine platform. In this issue, we have stories that start to dig deeper into who we all are, what we love, and what drives us to search for that next adventure. There isn't much...

issuu.com

 

[BeachLife]

Hi Amy, it's Kate. Welcome to the forum - it's a fantastic place for knowledge and tips. Enjoy your Beach

Thank you Kate, really useful - I’ve been watching posts from the sidelines for a while so totally agree. It’s so lovely to be part of a like minded community

 

[BeachLife]

I’ve done quite a few posts as an Ex-Beach owner.
Two best mods I did,
Diesel Heater
Sliding Rear rack.

Check out the latest issue of advanture magazine (issue 4) a guy featured, has made some great modifications to his Beach.

Advanture Magazine DE Ausgabe 04: Winter 2020

We are SO STOKED to release this issue and it is going out to more than 10,000 people who are now on the Advanture Magazine platform. In this issue, we have stories that start to dig deeper into who we all are, what we love, and what drives us to search for that next adventure. There isn't much...

issuu.com

Great, thanks so much, very useful stuff, will definitely have a read! Have a Planar heater booked to go in (by Planar Pete) - do you have any experience of this heater? It’ll be coming through vents in the B pillar with OEM covers.

 

[soulstyledevon]

I don’t know Planar Pete to be fair Beachlife. I had a Webasto system fitted. I think it was back in 2013.
Some things have probably moved on since then

 

[slipper]

We’ve had our Indium grey Beach 2 weeks now. Love it

 

[Aussie Cali]

Hello!
just wanted to say a quick hi. Feel like the most excited person on the planet right now as we’re getting our first California a week Monday! It’s a 2019 Beach in Indium grey, we’re a family of 3 (have a 3 year old) and I’m so looking forward to being able to get out and explore as soon as lockdown is over. A diesel heater installation is booked in for March, currently making a list of first places to visit so would love any advice!

sorry for the waffle, thanks for having me here!
Amy

Welcome, You're a brave soul travelling with a toddler, well done!!

 

[BeachLife]

Welcome, You're a brave soul travelling with a toddler, well done!!

Haven’t done it yet.... you might find the beach appearing in the classifieds in a few months

 

[Aussie Cali]

Dont do that, discover Phenergan, an anti histamine, which doubles as a sedative. in kids. We travelled extensively with our now 14 and 16year old daughter since birth, mostly by air and it worked a treat.

 

[BeachLife]

Dont do that, discover Phenergan, an anti histamine, which doubles as a sedative. in kids. We travelled extensively with our now 14 and 16year old daughter since birth, mostly by air and it worked a treat.

Haha! Oh yes, I was joking but none of the emojis worked so it looked a lot more serious!! To be fair, we’ve hired one before and he slept “upstairs” and loved it, generally speaking he’s pretty good at going to bed so hopefully it will be a fun few adventures (fingers crossed!!)

 

[John C]

I don’t know Planar Pete to be fair Beachlife. I had a Webasto system fitted. I think it was back in 2013.
Some things have probably moved on since then

Planar Pete had Pete fit our heater pre Covid, it works a treat. Workmanship is spot on.

 

[BeachLife]

Planar Pete had Pete fit our heater pre Covid, it works a treat. Workmanship is spot on.

That’s great to know John, thank you.

 

[Perfectos]

Amy and family

the Diesel heater can run pretty much indefinitely ( or until 1/4 tank of Diesel is reached).

 

[paul_f]

You'll be absolutely fine with a toddler. We have had our Beach for a year, but I have had a Splitscreen camper for years. We love the Beach, it's was fantastic in the bin lockdown parts of last year. Our kids slept better when camping than they did at home, both of them first slept in the camper when they were just a few weeks old.
Even now they sleep well, I think it is the fresh air!

 

[clarinetbcn]

Ahh hello fellow beach owner!! Great to know, quick question - can you run the diesel heater all night without the van being plugged into power do you know?

Yes you can, the power for startup and fan is provided by the leisure battery under the left front seat. The Beach only has one leisure battery, not two like the Ocean, and there is no battery charge level indicator. I've installed one for a constant read out, but many Beach owners use inexpensive volt meters that plug into the 12v outlets. Unless it has an on/off switch, unplug it when not using the van.
This voltage chart, from @Dellmassive on the T6 forum, will tell you your state of charge when the battery is at rest, i.e., nothing connected that causes a load.

 

[BeagleMum]

Ahh hello fellow beach owner!! Great to know, quick question - can you run the diesel heater all night without the van being plugged into power do you know?

Yes, but we doubt you would need it all night, we never have. If you set yourself up with the right bedding, when it’s cold you will probably be fine switching off as you get into bed and on before you get out. It uses very little diesel but as a precaution it will switch off if you only have a quarter tank full to ensure you don’t run out of fuel.

 

[clarinetbcn]

Yes, but we doubt you would need it all night, we never have. If you set yourself up with the right bedding, when it’s cold you will probably be fine switching off as you get into bed and on before you get out. It uses very little diesel but as a precaution it will switch off if you only have a quarter tank full to ensure you don’t run out of fuel.

On my last trip at the beginning of this month to ski tour in the Pyrenees, I did turn the heater off the third night to save battery. I had set the alarm on my iphone for 7am to meet my friends, but when I woke up in the morning it was -4C inside the van (I have a very good sleeping bag) and my aging phone had turned itself off from the cold. Something made me wake up anyway, and we had a spectacular day.

 

[Borris]

Haven’t done it yet.... you might find the beach appearing in the classifieds in a few months

Oh no you won't. All the little people I know adore life in our Beach and can't get enough of it. Think Wendy House on wheels.

We are on our second one and I can't think of another vehicle that gives as much fun and freedom whilst being so Über practical.

You will all have so much fun and create so many wonderful memories in your Beach. However, to help get the most from it, can I recommend three accessories. You have chosen to retro fit the first one. The Parking Heater turns the Beach into a 365 day a year prospect. You'll have somewhere toasty warm to come back to where ever you go and what ever you do.

Two further game changers on the Beach are:

2. A rear pull out boot tray.
The tray makes gaining access to anything in the boot so easy. Without one, the thing that you need will always be right in front of everything else and will involve stripping the boot to find it. This will involve burrowing under the Multiflex Board in the dark whilst kneeling, usually on wet grass!

3. An internal roof liner.
This accessory will keep the upper bed area warmer, much darker, completely dry and draught free. Yes, you can get external wraps but the internal one from Brandrup is a fit a forget product. After the once only fitting, all you do when you reach the camp site in the pooring rain is pop the roof and hey presto. An internal one involves no faffing around outside in the wind and rain. An internal liner will be more expensive than an external one but not by that much.

Good luck with your new Beach.