I’ve been working on the van a little less this week, but on the plus side I’ve been kiting and climbing a lot more. We had a west wind most of the week so I got two good days of kiting at Dog Beach. It would have been three, but I had to call a mulligan on the first day because I had some issues with my lines and then lost the beach when the tide came in. There were a bunch of people still kiting at Nahant, but I was afraid of being blown out to sea and drown. A reasonable fear in an off-shore wind.

Continue Reading

So I didn’t think that mounting the solar panels would be too difficult as compared with the ladder and the fan. I was wrong. Again. But the end result came out reasonably well!

Continue Reading

I just cut a huge hole in the roof of the van! Scary. It was actually a lot easier than installing the ladder though. I traced out a 14″x14″ square, drilled two pilot holes, and made the cut using a jigsaw. Done.

Continue Reading

Drilling the first holes in my brand new van was the hardest thing I’ve done since deciding to purchase it. Not only did I not want my new home to look like Swiss cheese, but I really did not want to screw up the first step in the build out process. That would be a very bad sign. Fortunately the end result came out really well!

Continue Reading

My first week of fun-employment was spent visiting my mom in Fort Myers, FL. No climbing there, obviously, so I had plenty of time to flesh out the van’s electrical system. I decided early on that I needed power in the van. I really like to cook, so having a fridge (as opposed to a cooler) was a must. I also wanted lights and the ability to charge small electronics like my phone and laptop.

Continue Reading