Pop top in high winds

[MelanieW1]

We are due to spend a week in Scotland soon and I wondered whether I need to be concerned about sleeping up top in strong winds. Is the van likely to get damaged? Should we sleep downstairs? What counts as too strong? I would try to point the back into the wind to make us more streamlined but is there anything else we should consider?

Thanks,
Melanie

 

[David Eccles]

apart from worrying about the flapping canvas and way the bus rocks a bit we have not had any problems, though sometimes I don't trust the awning ties and have been known to get up to wind that back in! It's lowering the roof in high winds that can be tricky....

 

[SimonB]

I spend a lot of time in Snowdonia and I don't have many nights that I can't sleep upstairs.
I have had to lower the roof in the early hours of the morning a few times when the winds got too strong. The direction of the wind in relation to the van is important. In my last outing up there the winds were gusting from all directions so I couldn't get the back end into the wind. My advice would be that when you feel the van rocking from the wind it is probably time to put the roof down. The repair bill is quite a lot if the lifting arms get bent.
Do make sure you have a bellows bungee fitted around the canvas as this helps to pull the sides in and if you are doing an emergency lowering you may not have the time to be as careful as you usually are.
VW do not to give figures of wind speed as I suppose they could potentially be held to them in the event of something happening.
There is a thread here from 2013 which might help https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/pop-up-roof-weather-resistance.3759/

Simon

 

[WelshGas]

We are due to spend a week in Scotland soon and I wondered whether I need to be concerned about sleeping up top in strong winds. Is the van likely to get damaged? Should we sleep downstairs? What counts as too strong? I would try to point the back into the wind to make us more streamlined but is there anything else we should consider?

Thanks,
Melanie

There is no hard and fast rule. But if you want a good nights sleep and you are worrying about the roof then probably best to lower it. You’ll learn with experience. The roof can tolerate quit high winds if properly positioned, probably more than you can without worrying.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Anyone in south west Ireland with their Cali who can do a field trial on Monday, when ex- (but only just ex-) Hurricane Ophelia comes through?

 

[GrannyJen]

We are due to spend a week in Scotland soon and I wondered whether I need to be concerned about sleeping up top in strong winds. Is the van likely to get damaged? Should we sleep downstairs? What counts as too strong? I would try to point the back into the wind to make us more streamlined but is there anything else we should consider?

Thanks,
Melanie

Pointing the back in to the wind is better than nothing but surprising how that wind can change. In 2015 I survived extreme winds in Scotland but not with the roof up. For me personally if I see an hourly forecast indicating that gusts of over 50mph will be frequent then I drop the roof. As @WelshGas suggested, it's not worth toughing it out at the expense of a good nights sleep and frazzled nerves.

Having said that, Monday Night / Tuesday morning just gone was pretty wild in North Norfolk and the weather forecast suggested winds peaking at 48 mph. I had roof up and had a comfortable nights sleep. Either my nerves are getting stronger or the forecast was wrong. I don't think the latter as the van was rocking.

 

[Velma's Dad]

If it's forecast to be a bit windy we now sort out the van 'downstairs' (bench-bed down, etc) before going 'upstairs', so we can make a quick relocation if necessary without indecorous faffing.

Leant our lesson on that one night in the Lakes when I ended up having to re-pack the 'boot area' from outside in sideways rain before we could make up the downstairs bed at about 2am.

Usually the signal to move downstairs is when one of us (normally me) says "well I think the dog may be getting a bit scared".

 

[MelanieW1]

Thank you all very much for your comments. Good Ideal Velma’s Dad to prepare the bed downstairs for a quick relocation if required. Glad to hear it seems to be able to stand quite a lot. Let’s hope there are no more hurricanes on the way then!