Trials and Tribulations (but at least it's happened early).

We plan in a year or so to take our 21 year old motorhome on the road for a couple of years and just live in it and tour. On Sunday I noticed a blown corner in the bathroom. Upon further investigation I found a nasty little leak, that's allowed the ingress of water between the external aluminium skin and the internal wallboards which are made of hard Polystyrene foam, covered with quarter inch ply, finished with decorative vinyl wallcovering.

I have also found a cross member totally rotted out, so much so that I can pick it out with just my finger. It’s a bugger to say the least.

Third party repairs look like they could empty the coffers quicker than a one eyed prime minister. Therefore in addition to the ongoing preparations for the trip, I now have to factor in me stripping out the internal space in the motorhome and repairing it, if it’s within my ability to do so (it’s not a lack of skill or confidence, it’s a question of legality and certification) after all, if it fell to bits on a motorway would you be criminally responsible for dodgy or non-standard fixes? ... let’s hope that never comes to pass and I am as good as I think I am.

On Tuesday 14^th of February we went to the Motorhome Caravan and Camping Show http://www.motorhomecaravanandcamping.co.uk/ to look at alternative options if all else fails and our old shed on wheels needs to join the choir invisible. We were going anyway as we wanted to replace the oven and fridge (and maybe the shower ironically). Frankly there’s only one candidate as a replacement.

One of these, http://www.vantagemotorhomes.co.uk/sol-info.php, but at £44k minimum, it’s a big ask. If I was to be entirely blunt about the MHC&C show, it was an enormous letdown, full of ostentatious, cramped (despite large external dimensions) luxury motorhomes that in my opinion are suitable for retired, wealthy individuals who want to spend their days in their motorhome on pristine lawned campsites where mud and children are banned... not in the middle of nowhere surrounded by sheep being battered by hail and rain (no escaping days like that).

 The Vantage units on the URL above, on the other hand combine all the benefits of a solid metal box panel van streamlined at source, combined with a built in the UK by the companies owner interior that is at same time comfortable enough and practical. If they have a disadvantage, it’s the lack of storage space internally, but there are aftermarket options to deal with that issue.

So I guess for a while at least this blog will have small updates on the state of repairs and refurbishment of our existing Moho, and I’ll throw in some pictures as well. As the post title says Trials and Tribulations. There is nothing like a challenge, except a challenge that gets challenged. In a word “Bollocks”.

It’s the 1st of February 2012

We’ve both been flattened for three days by a bug of some description. Symptoms: severe dry tickly cough, ulcerated throat, lethargy and aches. We’ve both had to take time off work, and because of the nature of what I do at work and the levels of activity my work involves, I have to stay off until the 6^th as a minimum. It’s a sobering reminder of the sort of stuff that can come from left field and send your plans into a nosedive for a few days.