A week later i was back at the van having a Tracker fitted www.tracker.co.uk/tracker not only for peace of mind but the conditions of the ins premium.
Nothing else happened until the 8th Jan 2011 when i had a mover fitted.this was a enduro twin axle model about £900 fitted by national vehicle solutions of Ilkeston http://www.nationalvehiclesolutions.com/ who came to the caravan storage to fit it.http://www.wrightstorage.co.uk/ the fitter informed me that the battery wasn't big enough but for some reason it had gone flat anyway....more expense.the battery supplied was an 85 amp when I needed at least a 110 amp.I got a 125amp one off Amazon for £140 and a battery charger from Halfords for £26.
So we are ready for our 1st excursion and decide on a site not too far away for just one night on the 16th Jan,basically its a seeing what plugs in where exercise.We book the caravan club site at Cromwell in Nottinghamshire,a distance of about 25 miles.But first we have to retrieve the van.....but its good to see the battery hasn't lost any charge,the van is hooked on the car,but again when i test the connection by winding down the Jockey wheel to see if the car lifts the jockey wheel is at an unhealthy angle,but the rear end lifts up so electrics are connected,lights checked and we're ready.
So its onto the M18,then the A1,up to 60 mph cruise control on and its a nice steady run as there not much traffic with it being Sunday.In no time at all we are pulling onto the Milestone caravan site http://www.milestonepark.co.uk/ and checking in at reception (16.95 for the night) we are given a swipe card for the barrier and told to pick our spot.We pick a pitch not too far from the toilets and showers and decide to use the mover to park the van.
Again when unhitching i only pull the handle to the upright position(rather than up.slide back slightly and unlock) so again i am trying to lift up the car as well and the jockey wheel slews off at an angle of about 45 deg. But i quickly realise and release it.The van is adjacent to the pitch but the angle is too great for the mover to negotiate,so i decide to hitch it back on the car and reverse it in.This is done with no trouble at all,but to be fair the nearest van was about 50 yards away.
Legs wound down, level it up......the only spirit level i have is on my iPhone...that will have to do,
Electric connected,no trouble there,water connected,OK,waste water container put in position ....wheres the pipe ?caravan is turned upside down but cant find it.Surely they gave us one with the starter pack.no its nowhere to be found.I go back to reception and explain my predicament and they kindly donate a small length of pipe so that's that sorted.
Better get the heating on as its getting a little chilly,we have a 16 amp feed so can use 3 kw.everything switched on but nothing......i notice a timer,which luckily is similar to the one we had fitted at home just prior to Christmas so its an easy task to get that sorted.
This has taken a good couple of hours since first pulling on the site,so I decide to take the dog for a walk while Martine sorts out the interior,on the way back i call in at reception to enquire where the nearest pub is and am dismayed to learn its a good couple of mile away.So we have to take up the only option we have and go in the car.we find the pub and go in to see a huge plate of some sort of sponge and custard being served up.We order drinks and a menu only to be told they stopped serving food 20 minutes ago ........Brilliant
so we go for the other option that the lady at reception had given us and go to Muskham Ferry Inn Riverside,
Ferry Lane,
North Muskham,
NEWARK,
NG23 6HB
(01636) 704943
Where we have a nice Sunday lunch washed down with a couple of pints of real ale......Quality
We arrive back at the van to find the windows steamed up,condensation everywhere and the dog panting.The heating was blaring out at about 26 deg !!!!blaringblaring
The dog (Jazz) is taken for a walk and then its time to chill bit ,then match of the day 2
Then we're in darkness.........find the torch,go and check the electric box.....everything OK there,in the van one of the circuit breakers has tripped ,reset,everything OK again.10 Min's later,click its gone again,this goes on for the rest of the night,the longest time being about 15 Min's wrong here ? We end up with the heating on 1 kw and one light on but still it keeps tripping.
The next Morning its still happening at similar intervals so we decide to ring Couplands http://www.couplandscaravans.co.uk/ to see if they can help....after much explaining of problems and and possible causes its decided to take the van back the next day so they can check it out,something i will have to do alone as Martine will be at work.
The site info we were given says we don't have to leave bang on 12 so we have a leisurely breakfast and then start packing everything away.at about 12.30 we are ready to hitch up.Again the jockey wheel has a mind of its own but i manage to get the van hitched to the car,but when the jockey is wound up in the storage position it just falls down and wont lock in place for travelling,it appears the long rivets holding the bracket to the tow bar have pulled away from the the tow bar so i decide to remove it all together,and after completing all checks of lights and everything locked that should be locked we are finally ready to leave.
We ring Couplands again to inform them of the jockey wheel problem and decide to take a detour to take the van back to lets them carry out the nesesaryy work.
So the day finally arrived,off we trots to Louth a drive of some 65 miles,after a breakfast stop we arrived around dinner time.
Completed all the paperwork and were then shown around the caravan,the electrics,water,toilet,heating....everything ....god knows how we will remember all this.Then it was time to hook up for the first time.All lights checked ,mirrors on ready for the off.
God its big ........Had to negotiate a quite narrow driveway(well narrow for the first time tower)out of the yard,then it was onto the road ....here we go.
Felt quite good ...but must have smoked 10 fags in the first mile.After about 7 or 8 miles we decided to stop and rechecked everything again.
How different the countryside looks at a sedate 50 mph....we eventually reached the M180 and were whizzing along at 60 and even passed a couple of lorries !!!
Oh god junction 3 M18 looming..........reversing exercise coming up.
It turned out surprisingly easy having to do only one shuffle but to be fair there was only a caravan on one side so the gap was quite big but the lessons paid off.
The probs began when we came to unhitch it .........
Lifted the locking bit of the tow bar,started to wind the jockey wheel,hold it says Martine the whole car is lifting up.Cant be i says I've unhooked it,wind it down and starts again ....same thing happens,so I'm thinking perhaps it needs winding up some more to get it off the tow bar.But the jockey wheel is at a unnatural angle ......hmmm something wrong here....try the handle again...it came off in a flash the car bounced down the caravan up ....but it was off.
it appears you have to life up the handle to about 80 deg then sort of slide it forward and it just plops off ,,,oh well know better next time.
Right now to fit the hitch lock .Retrieved it from the locker at the front of the van and split it.looks pretty straight forward to lock on.Push down the handle and ........this is like pushing against a wall ....wont budge ....now what.....keep pushing I'm sure this was never mentioned in the show round...keep trying ..god my arms are aching ...this is never right.Couplands had said any problems to give then a ring....its starting to get dark so we had better try them,the chap on the phone said he was sure we had to lift up the arm for it to disengage....this surly cant be right it weighs a ton ..(i.m trying to lift up the whole van)......give the phone to Martine and use both hands.....he's consulting with the workshop....loads of swearing from me .....sweat rolling down the side of my head...he's back on the phone .....there should be a ball to put into hitch part ....A ball ????....there's no ball whats he on about .......more pushing against the arm ....more sweat ....more swearing .....sod this need a minute.....resting against the van ...sweat rolling off my head ....looks inside the locker,whats this?......a ball with a square piece on a sort of handle.Is this it ? i push it into the hole and the handle just flops down on its own .......we fall about laughing...what a nightmare,i spent a bout an hour pushing against the hitch and it went down on its own !!!We thank Couplands for their and apologise for the language and hang up.
Now for the next obstacle ...fitting the wheel clamp.This looks like it could be a Chinese puzzle.....but hey presto it basically falls into place on its own.
right lets get home ...everything locked alarm on ....check everything again and we're away...arms aching head drying .......
Better sort somewhere to keep it ,again we think how hard can that be ?loads of places round here ...........D'oh all full .One local place did put us on a list but said it might be March before any vacancies might come up.Better start looking further afield.
We went to look at a place at Doncaster that i found on the Internet,only about 15 Min's away and right by the M18.We found the place,it was situated on a business park,entered via a car park.We went in the car park and saw the storage was all properly security fenced with numerous CCTV cameras dotted about. We drove slowly along the perimeter fence that bordered the car park a couple of times and liked what we saw,but had another place to look at.
As we turned to leave there was a barrier across the exit........i didn't notice that when we came in did you ? No replied Martine......how the bleeding hell are we going to get out.No body about no way out .....shit.....
hang on there's a building across the road,with a reception of some sort ....I'll have a walk over and see if they know how we can get out.
A security man cane out and met me half way across,I were just looking at the caravan storage,but the barrier has come down do you know how we can get out ?
I'm sorry he said I shut the barrier because you were driving round slowly and i didn't recognise your number plate ....I'll let you out.....I told Martine what he said,that's it she said we'll have this they are on the ball here.(this was the man from the reception where you have to get the key when you want to enter the caravan compound)
So that sold it for us 24 hour security with 24 hour access 7 days a week.We went back the next day and payed a deposit of £50 the balance (£300) to be paid when we bring the caravan for the first time .So that was it just about ready ....i think
