Shake down run No 3

Shake down run No 3

I was out again last Saturday night as the forecast was for temperatures in the minuses and I wanted to try out the new sleeping bag under those conditions and one or two other improvements that have been going on.

My good friend Sue came up with the first handy gadget, a clip to hold back the galley top instead of my hand crafted bit of stick and it works very well indeed and it is made from copper so no rust there then.

Then there was a new way to put up the awning and again that worked great making a nice tidy job of it although in heavy rain or snow I will go back to the original way so the wet stuff slides off. I also tried disconnecting the awning and moving away leaving it standing and then reconnecting it and that worked as well. (although I did run over the "grey water" bucket but it survived)
Also the hookup cable arrived so we had mains power and I needed that for the next part of the cunning plan.

The offside wheel arch has been carpeted ready for me to make the lockers so I have somewhere to put all this mess, plus food, clothes and assorted odds and ends.

 But the big test came at bed time I put a small oil filled radiator in the cab and curtained it off so Ash would be warm but my bit would go down to the outside temperature, switched off the night heater and got into my new sleeping bag, After 5 mins it was ok nothing special, 15 mins and I was cosy, by 30 mins it was, where is that "£$%^&* zipper I was way too hot, and that is how I stayed all night long.

 And just for a change the forecast was spot on with a -2 anyway and it may have been as low as -6, I was told afterwards. It was certainly frosty enough when I woke up with the inside of the top was covered in ice as the condensation had frozen and where the sleeping bag touched it there was ice as well but the bag is water resistant so no worries there then.

This test was just to prove to myself that if anything happens to the night heater I will still be fine, what ever temperature I am faced with when I go away for X-mas. The site has been booked now BTW 5 nights over the holidays with a night wild camping on each end as I could not get an all year round site where I wanted one to break the journey.
No! not telling you yet you will have to wait and see for that bit of info, but I will say we are going otter hunting (with the camera I quickly add) still lots to do before then, curtains, new lockers, a proper back step and some better driving lights I think are in order, XOX's head lamps leave a lot to be desired and I would like some work lights on the back. I wonder if it will snow? Do I need to think about recovery gear? Where will I put a shovel? All exciting stuff, until next time dear reader.