Cali sleeping 4 with roof up in windy conditions

[OCCALI]

I've read on this forum that when the wind reaches a certain mph the roof needs to be lowered immediately to prevent damage . Surely that's no good if there are 4 in the Cali!

How's the Cali a year round camping vehicle for a family then?

I would love to know your experiences/opinions please...

 

[Alibee]

We've camped next to Lake Vattern in Sweden in F6-7 winds without any problems. We just pointed the back of the van towards the wind.

That said, it was a T4 we were in (manual roof) and the wind didn't change direction. Might be more of an issue if you couldn't park in line with the wind.

Lots on here use their Cali's year round, and lots use bungees to avoid damage to the bellows in windy conditions.

 

[WelshGas]

I've read on this forum that when the wind reaches a certain mph the roof needs to be lowered immediately to prevent damage . Surely that's no good if there are 4 in the Cali!

How's the Cali a year round camping vehicle for a family then?

I would love to know your experiences/opinions please...

As I stated elsewhere. It is really no different to camping or caravanning all year round. You take precautions and use common sense, and on the really rare occasions you have to lower the roof then you all muck in together and try to sleep downstairs. Having said that, if it is really that bad I bet you'll be outside helping the other unfortunates on your campsite who have lost their tents or awnings.

 

[BerndRos]

I have slept many hundreds of nights in my Cali and only slept down below once, all others nights were up top.

If Windy have the rear facing the wind, and if really bad I guess you would simply....go

 

[Neilgbj]

As per replies above and stated elsewhere.....the Cali is fine in virtually all conditions (as we have found out) but sometimes if it is blowing a complete 'hooley' (storm force) then you may have to make a common sense decision to all muck in and sleep downstairs, if anything for your own piece of mind..... this will be very rare........... I would rather be in a Cali than a tent or motor home/caravan in extreme conditions!

 

[Freeley]

I'm generally quite a heavy sleeper but I find it difficult to sleep when it's windy and the rain is hammering down due to the noise. It might not be bad enough to put the roof down but can be annoying for anybody that's trying to sleep up there!

 

[bigmac77]

I love it when the wind is howling and the rain lashing down it just makes me feel really cosy. Would be a different matter though if the roof got damaged but so far so good, find a high hedge, a tree or anything just to give a bit of shelter, point the rear end into the wind and hope for the best.

 

[OCCALI]

Thanks to everyone who has shared stories, opinions and advice....

 

[MattBW]

I think as above if you position it into the wind correctly you should be ok but if wind gets too high then genuinely consider your options be that moving the van to a more sheltered spot or even lowering the roof.

To give some context I camped on dartmoor in pretty strong wind and rain this summer, not much to start but rising to about 25mph. I parked it with the rear facing into the wind.

After I feel asleep the wind then started to get up, big gusts (probably 40mph tops?) and come from different directions. It woke me and was worrying me so I went to put the roof down. Suffice to say it wouldn't initially close properly and was slightly off centre (the beach is manual roof thankfully). For few trips after it needs a slight pull to one side to line it up properly when closing. All works fine but it clearly effected the alignment for a time.