Thoughts on first proper trip in California Ocean

[Morsels]

First proper trip in our Cali Ocean, 9 days over Easter school holiday week. A few random things to share that may help anyone starting on their journey too/that we have found noteworthy:

• Cooking indoors is awesome - not sure at the moment why people would also take outside cooking equipment (we don't really fry/cook meat, maybe that's the thing). Loving sitting on the bench seat and prepping meals with everything in reach - we use the sliding drawer under the bench seat as our main larder, the left-hand bottom shelf in the kitchen unit with a basket for fresh produce that doesn't need the fridge, the shelf above for spices, brew gear etc, and the right-hand cupboard for plates, bowls, pots, pans, mugs etc.

• We have designated the aircraft-style cupboard as the "entertainment cupboard" for iPads, books, games, Bluetooth speaker etc. The wardrobe unit has shoes in its base, clothes hanging in it, and the back shelves of the unit (near the boot) have a zipped Eagle Creek bag each x4 (2 adults, 2 kids) with the rest of our clothes in it. That means that without opening the boot, we can access all we need to actually live and sleep in the van short-term

• The boot contains all our "camping" gear - our tent (a Cinch popup, which is great), our fire pit, extra chairs, sports gear (cycle helmets etc), a big holdall with "camping" stuff in it (cables, hoses, mallet, tools, other hardware) - basically all the stuff we'd need when staying somewhere more than a single night/doing activities

• Few QC issues: USBs have stopped working on the kitchen unit and the 12v upstairs has stopped working too - need to get the dealer to look at those on our return. fuse seems OK so it's not that. Also, the inside folding table fell off! It is held on to the kitchen unit by two nuts/bolts, and one of them came loose. No problem to put back on and tighten up, but not impressed by this, turned out the other was loose too

• We have a fold-up portable dog bed/kennel from Decathlon, it fits perfectly on the passenger seat sideways, resting a little on the driver seat (once turned 90 degrees clockwise). Pooch (11 month old Spanish water dog) is comfortable and safe in there while we sleep, kids (8 and 10) upstairs, us on the bench bed

• We have a Thule/VW bike rack set for four bikes, I'm impressed with it but it is a bit of a jigsaw trying to fit the four bikes on, we are still in the trial and error period with this

• We have noticed the popup roof drops a bit after a day, but not witnessed the kicking in of the famed auto re-inflate yet! It seems able to stand some pretty severe winds when parked with the back to the wind, although it does make for disturbed sleep being buffeted around

• The diesel heater is great - we set it to Level 6 and it keeps us warm but not too warm. We are in southern Spain and we are now just at the point weather-wise when it doesn't kick in at all at night any more, as the thermostat at level 6 seems to be around 20 degrees at a guess?

That's it for now - we are planning an eight-week trip over the kids' summer holidays, so this week away is a real learning curve for us, giving us lots of food for thought for the bigger trip in 12 weeks' time. Will report back at some point in the future with anything else that may feel useful to share

 

[66tim99]

View attachment 76095
First proper trip in our Cali Ocean, 9 days over Easter school holiday week. A few random things to share that may help anyone starting on their journey too/that we have found noteworthy:

• Cooking indoors is awesome - not sure at the moment why people would also take outside cooking equipment (we don't really fry/cook meat, maybe that's the thing). Loving sitting on the bench seat and prepping meals with everything in reach - we use the sliding drawer under the bench seat as our main larder, the left-hand bottom shelf in the kitchen unit with a basket for fresh produce that doesn't need the fridge, the shelf above for spices, brew gear etc, and the right-hand cupboard for plates, bowls, pots, pans, mugs etc.

• We have designated the aircraft-style cupboard as the "entertainment cupboard" for iPads, books, games, Bluetooth speaker etc. The wardrobe unit has shoes in its base, clothes hanging in it, and the back shelves of the unit (near the boot) have a zipped Eagle Creek bag each x4 (2 adults, 2 kids) with the rest of our clothes in it. That means that without opening the boot, we can access all we need to actually live and sleep in the van short-term

• The boot contains all our "camping" gear - our tent (a Cinch popup, which is great), our fire pit, extra chairs, sports gear (cycle helmets etc), a big holdall with "camping" stuff in it (cables, hoses, mallet, tools, other hardware) - basically all the stuff we'd need when staying somewhere more than a single night/doing activities

• Few QC issues: USBs have stopped working on the kitchen unit and the 12v upstairs has stopped working too - need to get the dealer to look at those on our return. fuse seems OK so it's not that. Also, the inside folding table fell off! It is held on to the kitchen unit by two nuts/bolts, and one of them came loose. No problem to put back on and tighten up, but not impressed by this, turned out the other was loose too

• We have a fold-up portable dog bed/kennel from Decathlon, it fits perfectly on the passenger seat sideways, resting a little on the driver seat (once turned 90 degrees clockwise). Pooch (11 month old Spanish water dog) is comfortable and safe in there while we sleep, kids (8 and 10) upstairs, us on the bench bed

• We have a Thule/VW bike rack set for four bikes, I'm impressed with it but it is a bit of a jigsaw trying to fit the four bikes on, we are still in the trial and error period with this

• We have noticed the popup roof drops a bit after a day, but not witnessed the kicking in of the famed auto re-inflate yet! It seems able to stand some pretty severe winds when parked with the back to the wind, although it does make for disturbed sleep being buffeted around

• The diesel heater is great - we set it to Level 6 and it keeps us warm but not too warm. We are in southern Spain and we are now just at the point weather-wise when it doesn't kick in at all at night any more, as the thermostat at level 6 seems to be around 20 degrees at a guess?

That's it for now - we are planning an eight-week trip over the kids' summer holidays, so this week away is a real learning curve for us, giving us lots of food for thought for the bigger trip in 12 weeks' time. Will report back at some point in the future with anything else that may feel useful to share

Sounds like you’re getting on with it well. If you could post a photo of your dog set up with the decathlon link/name that would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[bob_summers]

Great pic! We’ve just done a week on the north coast and it was pretty cold at night - some Calitoppers in use around site - and windy enough to blow our flimsy awning away a couple of times. Ours won’t arrive for the summer so our hols will be the usual mix of tent/van camping depending on what restrictions allow by then… I’ll be following your posts for tips in the meantime! Hope you get the usb problem fixed.
Btw does that inside table rattle while driving? Was watching a Spanish YouTube review of Ocean vs Marco Polo and you could hear the table rattling while they were driving.

 

[Morsels]

Sounds like you’re getting on with it well. If you could post a photo of your dog set up with the decathlon link/name that would be much appreciated. Thanks!

This is the dog bed - the medium and the large both fit fine on passenger seat, sideways.

We got a perfectly fitting cushion to go into it from Amazon, brand "Ellie-Bo".

Solognac, Foldable Dog Carrying Case

Crate Designed To Transport Your Dog Easily. Foldable, Light And Sturdy, Your Pet Will Enjoy A Comfortable And Safe Space When Traveling.

www.decathlon.com

Great pic! We’ve just done a week on the north coast and it was pretty cold at night - some Calitoppers in use around site - and windy enough to blow our flimsy awning away a couple of times. Ours won’t arrive for the summer so our hols will be the usual mix of tent/van camping depending on what restrictions allow by then… I’ll be following your posts for tips in the meantime! Hope you get the usb problem fixed.
Btw does that inside table rattle while driving? Was watching a Spanish YouTube review of Ocean vs Marco Polo and you could hear the table rattling while they were driving.

No, it clips back in to place and doesn't rattle.

 

[BeagleMum]

This is the dog bed - the medium and the large both fit fine on passenger seat, sideways.

We got a perfectly fitting cushion to go into it from Amazon, brand "Ellie-Bo".

Solognac, Foldable Dog Carrying Case

Crate Designed To Transport Your Dog Easily. Foldable, Light And Sturdy, Your Pet Will Enjoy A Comfortable And Safe Space When Traveling.

www.decathlon.com

Just for information in case you are not aware those type of fabric dog crates are not crash tested and would crumple if unfortunately you were involved in an accident.

 

[66tim99]

Just for information in case you are not aware those type of fabric dog crates are not crash tested and would crumple if unfortunately you were involved in an accident.

Thanks. Is there one you recommend?

 

[Morsels]

Just for information in case you are not aware those type of fabric dog crates are not crash tested and would crumple if unfortunately you were involved in an accident.

We only use it at night. That said, we just put the dog into it on the floor in the back when we are travelling, butted against the back of the front seats.

 

[BeagleMum]

Thanks. Is there one you recommend?

Yes and no, which probably won’t help you!
The best in our experience is a company called ‘TransK9‘ all their crates are independently crash tested and have been around for a long time. However we only have experience of them in a car we don’t have them in the California. Using the Cali as a camping vehicle makes it difficult for us to use a fitted dog crate, we suspect it may be similar for others.
Another company we have heard good reports of but don’t have experience or knowledge of is ‘Safedog’.

 

[AlisonF]

@66tim99 as @BeagleMum says - TransK9 are the favoured and recommended brand for many (one of my pups appears in one of their promo shots).
I don’t have one, and sadly they don’t do a 2x2 configuration (for the rear of a transporter / Beach).
I have just ordered a 2x2 one from AnimalTransitBoxes to suit my requirements. - and they seem to have a lot of other options.
Alternatively, non crash tested, I used to use Ellie-Bo foldable metal crates. The reason I have switched is I want access in event of an accident. Despite each crate having 2 doors, my set up with 4 dogs was not ideal.

 

[stephen watson]

Lovely photo!