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new owner introduction

  • Thread starter Duncan McInerney
  • Start date
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Duncan McInerney

Messages
3
Location
Stroud, Gloucestershire
Vehicle
T6 Ocean 199
Excited to find this site and join this community after aquiring our first Cali (after years of contemplation!). Ali and I are very proud owners of a T6 Ocean and are busy online sourcing mats, seat covers and bits and bobs to make it homely. We’ve been tempted for years, but now that the four kids are all independent and with foreign holidays looking unlikely, it seemed the right time to go for a smaller, super-flexible van and this community is an added bonus!
Any tips from those of you with years more experience of van life than us would be most appreciated - essentials, packing tips etc. Any neat, multi-purpose solutions for a small waste bin? Any neat solutions for stopping the awning flapping around too much in the wind?
Dunc and Ali McInerney, Stroud, Glos.
 
Excited to find this site and join this community after aquiring our first Cali (after years of contemplation!). Ali and I are very proud owners of a T6 Ocean and are busy online sourcing mats, seat covers and bits and bobs to make it homely. We’ve been tempted for years, but now that the four kids are all independent and with foreign holidays looking unlikely, it seemed the right time to go for a smaller, super-flexible van and this community is an added bonus!
Any tips from those of you with years more experience of van life than us would be most appreciated - essentials, packing tips etc. Any neat, multi-purpose solutions for a small waste bin? Any neat solutions for stopping the awning flapping around too much in the wind?
Dunc and Ali McInerney, Stroud, Glos.
:welcome:welcome:welcome:welcome
Keep it simple and more is less.
My rubbish bin was from Tesco and fits perfectly between front seats.
Get a tie down kit for the awning. See Forum shop or eBay. You can then tension the awning properly and have one leg high and one low so water runs off easily.
Pull out storage boxes for rear boot, IKEA or B&Q.
IKEA do storage boxes that fit into kitchen shelves.
 
Welcome here!
Keep it simple or spoil yourself or gear up for every possible situ - all up to you and how you like it. And every way is great! This said: It doesn‘t make things easier to choose what you need and often buy twice or change after a trip or two.
Bin? We just use some plastic bags&tie down bought one never used it.
 
Welcome on board Duncan. The best advice is what all have provided already - keep it simple. Use what you have at home in the van and see what works for you.

On the Awning - use it only when it is not Windy. Many horror stories on here with the wind picking up the awning and damaging the vehicle/roof. The awning foot has a place for pegs. Get some pegs and that helps to an extent. There is also a awning tie-down strap which is useful. However, the best advice is - if it gets blustery, wind in the awning.
 
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Welcome. Looking forward to seeing some pics.
 
Awning.
Tie-down straps a must for a first. If it's geting windy, always contemplate taking it down.
I may be over cautious, but I would prefer to take it down overnight night, rather than wake up in the middle of the night to find the wind has picked up and it's flapping around. A fly away awning can do a hell of a lot of damage.
 
Awning.
Tie-down straps a must for a first. If it's geting windy, always contemplate taking it down.
I may be over cautious, but I would prefer to take it down overnight night, rather than wake up in the middle of the night to find the wind has picked up and it's flapping around. A fly away awning can do a hell of a lot of damage.
Agree on the comments about taking it down if more than breezy, have seen them wrecked in minutes by ‘The Mistral’ on sites ....but different question....how have people solved the issue where rain overnight weighs the awning down?
We slant the awning away/down so rain can run off but ....it always pools, gets heavy, makes awning sag(or worse, collapse).
 
Agree on the comments about taking it down if more than breezy, have seen them wrecked in minutes by ‘The Mistral’ on sites ....but different question....how have people solved the issue where rain overnight weighs the awning down?
We slant the awning away/down so rain can run off but ....it always pools, gets heavy, makes awning sag(or worse, collapse).
I don’t have one of these, but looks very handy and better than slanting down on one side.

 
Agree on the comments about taking it down if more than breezy, have seen them wrecked in minutes by ‘The Mistral’ on sites ....but different question....how have people solved the issue where rain overnight weighs the awning down?
We slant the awning away/down so rain can run off but ....it always pools, gets heavy, makes awning sag(or worse, collapse).

When we have left our awning out we always slant the awning down at the rear of the vehicle, normally around 1ft different in heigh front to back should be enough to prevent pooling. Also worth looking at getting a centre rafter aswell so that it prevents pooling in the middle.

Having said all that I normally wind the awning in of an evening as the wind flapping the fabric normally keeps me awake lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Best advice in stuff I had is to hunt around the hose for something and try it out. If it does, you've saved yourself a few quid!

On the bin, we've got an Addis kitchen caddy that sits in the space between the front passenger seat and the kitchen unit - slot it in sideways.
 
Welcome Duncan.
First thingI bought, orange electric hook up cable, If the leisure batteries are like other electrical equipment it’s probably wise not to let them drain completely.
 
Welcome Duncan.
First thingI bought, orange electric hook up cable, If the leisure batteries are like other electrical equipment it’s probably wise not to let them drain completely.
But search on here for the best fit sockets for the cable ends; some are a better fir than others.
 
Hia was there a link missing ?

No, as time goes by you will see that I don't seem capable of providing links. It was meant to draw your attention to the fact that best fit sockets have been mentioned and you might find out what and where by using the site search function.
 
Welcome!

As a newbie I have posted a lengthy list of my must have accessories on my “all the gear and no idea” thread. I also have no idea how to quote or link the thread so you might have to search for it...unless some helpful person can assist....
 
:welcome Hi Duncan keep it simple and decide what you want as you go. We travel lite so we are not constantly shifting stuff around. Bin we just use a plastic bag. Awning I tie 4 guy ropes to ours secured to the ground with screw in pegs and if it starts to get really windy wind it back in.
 
On an iPad :
Find the thread you want , click on the “VW California club.com” at the top of the screen, this will take you to the URL for the relevant thread.

Click (touch) on the URL once, “copy” will appear , touch the copy option

Go to your post ( remove the keyboard from the screen if it’s still showing)
Touch the screen and “paste”



Enjoy your new found skill
 
Welcome and as @Perfectos says you most post some van pictures.
As others has said less is more - so try a weekend (when you can) first and carry the minimum.
We camp on sites with electric so a tip I got from the forum was to use a hot plate for cooking. Also a ridge monkey is also very multi purpose for cooking.
I have the club shop awning tie downs but never leave it up overnight as it literally takes 2-3 minutes to wind in.
:welcome:welcome:welcome:welcome:welcome
 
On an iPad :
Find the thread you want , click on the “VW California club.com” at the top of the screen, this will take you to the URL for the relevant thread.

Click (touch) on the URL once, “copy” will appear , touch the copy option

Go to your post ( remove the keyboard from the screen if it’s still showing)
Touch the screen and “paste”



Enjoy your new found skill

Thanks, but whats an iPad? I will experiment with your instructions using my wind-up tower.
 
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