Brenderup trailer

Steinbeck · Jul 27, 2020

Following a disastrous, wet, Cornwall trip with a Swift BaseCamp last year after which my partner announced that she would "never step in that thing again" I had to buy a brand new large Coachman caravan... again. However, my thinking regarding the 'get up and go' approach to our hobby has survived and I am now considering a new California Ocean. My partner, who is dead against this, points out that we would have exactly the same lack of space and storage problems that we had with the BaseCamp. She is, of course, right. As a compromise we will keep the Coachman and tow it with the California. However, I might well take the odd opportunity to push off by myself, with the dog. Again though, my partner points out that I will want a lot of the nice stuff with me and, not wishing to live in clutter it occurred that a trailer could carry the list of things that I wrote out this morning. This is a Weber Q BBQ, awning, large dog food box, dog bed, clothing bag, wet clothing bag for rainy days, ramps, portages potty, tent, el. hook up cable, 40L cooler box... and more. Having followed various posts on the website I have not seen much, if any, reference to the use of a trailer with an Ocean. Do people use them, or not? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

kurienp · Jul 27, 2020

Steinbeck said:
Following a disastrous, wet, Cornwall trip with a Swift BaseCamp last year after which my partner announced that she would "never step in that thing again" I had to buy a brand new large Coachman caravan... again. However, my thinking regarding the 'get up and go' approach to our hobby has survived and I am now considering a new California Ocean. My partner, who is dead against this, points out that we would have exactly the same lack of space and storage problems that we had with the BaseCamp. She is, of course, right. As a compromise we will keep the Coachman and tow it with the California. However, I might well take the odd opportunity to push off by myself, with the dog. Again though, my partner points out that I will want a lot of the nice stuff with me and, not wishing to live in clutter it occurred that a trailer could carry the list of things that I wrote out this morning. This is a Weber Q BBQ, awning, large dog food box, dog bed, clothing bag, wet clothing bag for rainy days, ramps, portages potty, tent, el. hook up cable, 40L cooler box... and more. Having followed various posts on the website I have not seen much, if any, reference to the use of a trailer with an Ocean. Do people use them, or not? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

With a Cali, always remember, less is more.

Weber Q BBQ - boot
awning - fixed on the side of an ocean - why do you need more if you're alone
large dog food box - boot
dog bed - stop spoiling him/her - passenger footwell or the passenger seat is very comfy
clothing bag - rear cupboard
wet clothing bag for rainy days - same as above, or use boot space
ramps - next to the underbed drawer in an ocean
portages potty - boot - or inside passenger area with a dunelm cover
tent - boot
hook up cable - under the hood.
40L cooler box - main habitation area - don't really need if you have an ocean.

why do you need a trailer?

Steinbeck · Jul 27, 2020

kurienp said:
With a Cali, always remember, less is more.

Weber Q BBQ - boot

awning - fixed on the side of an ocean - why do you need more if you're alone

large dog food box - boot

dog bed - stop spoiling him/her - passenger footwell or the passenger seat is very comfy

clothing bag - rear cupboard

wet clothing bag for rainy days - same as above, or use boot space

ramps - next to the underbed drawer in an ocean

portages potty - boot - or inside passenger area with a dunelm cover

tent - boot

hook up cable - under the hood.

40L cooler box - main habitation area - don't really need if you have an ocean.

why do you need a trailer?

Hmmm, it seems that I have to go to the next step and actually take a look at one properly, list in hand. Being a bit of a salesman’s delight this might be a dangerous move. And I was even thinking that it all might be too much for a camping trailer.
The dog is a Greyhound/Saluki Cross. Very little between her skin and her skeleton and yet she stretches out to be, err, a lot of dog.
Thanks for the reply by the way.

Erbster · Jul 28, 2020

kurienp said:
With a Cali, always remember, less is more. .....

why do you need a trailer?

Never a truer word said!

CaliVentures

Adventures in a VW California camper van

caliventures364847572.wordpress.com

Ting Tong · Jul 28, 2020

You don’t need a trailer esp if by yourself and if your missus can’t hack camping in a Swift Basecamp, she’s NOT going to like a Cali. How about taking the caravan and the Cali so you can have one each? We only tow our Brendrup when using it as a removal vehicle or if we go somewhere with our inflatable and outboard. I certainly wouldn’t want to tour with it.

HectorPascal · Aug 13, 2023

Steinbeck said:
Following a disastrous, wet, Cornwall trip with a Swift BaseCamp last year after which my partner announced that she would "never step in that thing again" I had to buy a brand new large Coachman caravan... again. However, my thinking regarding the 'get up and go' approach to our hobby has survived and I am now considering a new California Ocean. My partner, who is dead against this, points out that we would have exactly the same lack of space and storage problems that we had with the BaseCamp. She is, of course, right. As a compromise we will keep the Coachman and tow it with the California. However, I might well take the odd opportunity to push off by myself, with the dog. Again though, my partner points out that I will want a lot of the nice stuff with me and, not wishing to live in clutter it occurred that a trailer could carry the list of things that I wrote out this morning. This is a Weber Q BBQ, awning, large dog food box, dog bed, clothing bag, wet clothing bag for rainy days, ramps, portages potty, tent, el. hook up cable, 40L cooler box... and more. Having followed various posts on the website I have not seen much, if any, reference to the use of a trailer with an Ocean. Do people use them, or not? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

It’s taken us 6 years to learn NOT to take stuff.
Sounds like your other half will be a tough nut to crack though. We do have rules though - no pre-booking in general and simply don’t go if the weather looks very unsettled. Rain and Calis don’t go together.

CaliforniaPhil · Aug 13, 2023

Steinbeck said:
Following a disastrous, wet, Cornwall trip with a Swift BaseCamp last year after which my partner announced that she would "never step in that thing again" I had to buy a brand new large Coachman caravan... again. However, my thinking regarding the 'get up and go' approach to our hobby has survived and I am now considering a new California Ocean. My partner, who is dead against this, points out that we would have exactly the same lack of space and storage problems that we had with the BaseCamp. She is, of course, right. As a compromise we will keep the Coachman and tow it with the California. However, I might well take the odd opportunity to push off by myself, with the dog. Again though, my partner points out that I will want a lot of the nice stuff with me and, not wishing to live in clutter it occurred that a trailer could carry the list of things that I wrote out this morning. This is a Weber Q BBQ, awning, large dog food box, dog bed, clothing bag, wet clothing bag for rainy days, ramps, portages potty, tent, el. hook up cable, 40L cooler box... and more. Having followed various posts on the website I have not seen much, if any, reference to the use of a trailer with an Ocean. Do people use them, or not? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

We were/are caravaners. My wife was the one who suggested the California. She was wanting a day van to go out exploring with the dogs and have somewhere to relax and eat. We now take just the Cali if its a couple of days away, the Cali and caravan if its a week away. Depending on weather, we use the caravan awning as well. We are trying to keep the Cali as basic as possible.
This is working very well at the moment. Your problem is, a large Coachman it would ideally need a 200bhp and 4motion. You might have a different opinion when you see the prices though.

CaliforniaPhil · Aug 13, 2023

CaliforniaPhil said:
We were/are caravaners. My wife was the one who suggested the California. She was wanting a day van to go out exploring with the dogs and have somewhere to relax and eat. We now take just the Cali if its a couple of days away, the Cali and caravan if its a week away. Depending on weather, we use the caravan awning as well. We are trying to keep the Cali as basic as possible.
This is working very well at the moment. Your problem is, a large Coachman it would ideally need a 200bhp and 4motion. You might have a different opinion when you see the prices though.

And they don't make 4motions any more, so ex-dem or second hand. There were some orders coming through at the dealers earlier in the year but they were very expensive, into the £90k's

Loz2286 · Aug 13, 2023

I like the flexibility of owning a trailer. I use an Anssems camping trailer behind my Cali. Really depends on what kind of trip we are doing. Quick stop road trips we travel light. On longer trips, when we want a drive-away awning, larger BBQ, dog crate, comfy chairs.... then I take the trailer as we can't put much inside the Cali with our two dogs. This is the rig parked up on the Isle of Wight last year for an urgent (it was 39 Celsius that day) ice-cream stop.