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Hull 505 - Galway Girl Made it to mile 0. Updates later.

This is Ruth. About the Facebook group experience: Some people are more familiar with the Facebook format than the Forum structure. Me, for one. When I’ve had an issue with my Oliver, and try to search on the Forum, I rarely manage to find anything that’s helpful without reading through a lot of unrelated stuff. My problem, I know. With the FB group, someone always seems to be browsing, and people who are having problems at zero dark thirty get a response and help within a few minutes. Trying to maintain a positive, helpful environment, we have dumped some people for ad hominem attacks, and also for bashing Oliver regarding component problems when they haven’t even contacted Oliver about their problem. And then, other folk, usually not owners yet, who pile on the bashing. Sometimes, we make mistakes. We are human.

A bit of insurance trivia, but you can have the Oliver on your (USAA) auto policy as a trailer, but that's where you end up with Actual Cash Value (ACV) coverage...just like your car. Getting a standalone policy for an Agreed Value either directly with Progressive ( or Progressive through the USAA General Agency) or other carrier remains the way to go. Other than major collision, fire or badly flipping one, like someone experienced on here, it would take a lot to total an Oliver, I expect. You can play with deductibles a bit also, you may be surprised that the premium difference isn't that great between deductibles. The downside of a low deductible is the tendency to want to claim against it...and claims frequency will come back to bite you over time, i.e., pre-requisite to a non-renewal letter. Location is the big premium driver, so comparing to other's premiums doesn't have a lot of value.

I tossed my kit after two years - it was very unreliable, and the transmitters ate batteries. I really love the Mopeka rubber halos, they are fantastic. They should come as standard equipment on new Ollies… They provide a tight fit into the circular rim of the tray, and they completely prevent paint damage and rust on both the tanks and the trays. John Davies Spokane WA.

More pic’s from Gros Morne I

This is just my opinion. At some point you have to make decisions. At some point you are going to say "man if I just waited". I have a 2022 Oliver, sure we wish the Truma was available when I purchased mine but the one I have does the job. I also learned on here about alternatives if I wish to upgrade. We are still using our Oliver in the summer even with the Dometic, we just run it alittle before we come in for the evening to cool off the place. When we purchased our Oliver we made a decision to change the "status quo" for us and begin to discover things and places we always heard about but have never experienced. I cant imagine owning an Oliver and barely using it. We both still work and yet spent many weekends in state parks near us enjoying the Oliver and outdoors. If you are looking for reasons to sell it then sell it.

When fiberglass boats are made, the hull and deck come out of two separate molds. The seam, where the two parts join, is sealed with fiberglass tape both inside and outside. The outside seam seems to be taped in and there is a raised ridge of fiberglass all around. I think John is probably right that the inside seam is secured with some sort of pins. Not sure if there is any sort of aluminum framing between the shells but the pins must secure the top to the bottom and the inner to the outer shells.

Our trailer is over 10 years old. Belly band still right where they originally installed it. In fact, I don’t recall ever having any problems that I couldn’t fix.myself.

It generates a lot of heat. There are tons of videos on YouTube that can give you an accurate assessment of its cooking capabilities. It gets hotter than the Weber. Mike

Our first 3 nights were at Grand Codroy campground, 30 minutes north of the Channel-Port aux Basques ferry terminal. The campground overlooks a large meandering river. We found it to be very peaceful and well maintained. A short drive from the campground is the most westerly point on the island. The next 3 nights we are at Sandbanks Provincial Park on the southern shore of Newfoundland. It’s a four hour drive from our previous campsite, where you perfect your pothole avoidance techniques. There are beautiful sandy beaches a fairly short walk from the campground. We are heading north from here, to Blow Me Down Provincial Park.

Most likely there were 1/4” plastic pins inserted when the two inner halves were glued together, to make sure that the alignment was perfect, or perhaps “as designed” might be a better term. Then they were cut off flush. This is an educated guess, I never worked with fiberglass molds, but they have to use jigs to hold stuff in position until the adhesive cures. John Davies Spokane WA

Thanks much, Dave and Bill Curious... what are all those drilled holes around the perimeter?

Progressive writes an Agreed Value policy. It's not replacement cost, but if the trailer was totaled they would pay the policy limit. You don't want an ACV policy on a Oliver...or be prepared to justify your perceived value at the time of loss.

John, Here is a pic of an area under the belly band. If this area has a lot of old tape residue or powdery residue naturally it will need to be completely removed. If not fresh double sided tape may not work for the long haul. My SWAG is that at the plant when all the interior gelcoat is polished some powdery polish residue is not removed along this seam when the BB is installed the BB adhesive just does not adhere well long term. (Look closely at the pic you will see a powdery residue) I used rubbing alcohol to prep the area removing any polishing residue from the hull seam before adding gorilla tape and it has held up great. As @SeaDawg and others mentioned it’s all about the prep. Note - The back side of the BB chrome strip has two fairly narrow strips of what appears to be a thin and not very robust VBH tape. I don’t know of any other solution to replace factory BB. As long as mine stays put and it has so far, I plan to just leave it in place. Hope this helps, Patriot🇺🇸

This trip and an Alaskan adventure are on the top of our lists. Thanks for all the wonderful pics and information on camp grounds!! Enjoy the rest of your trip and Safe Travels.

It has to do with state insurance laws. In Indiana my truck camper and now our Oliver E2 are insured by USAA.

II am trying to get a sense of how much heat it generates.

It is with a heavy heart that i signed away the papers on #1285 today. She lived a brief though exciting life and her replacement will be loved just as much. A few trips with my parents around the Texas hill country and an incredible trip from San Antonio TX to Fairbanks AK and most of the way back. For those that were ever curious, while Ollies can certainly hold up significantly better than stick trailers if rolled the repair cost is simply too great and insurance will likely total it as they have mine. Im not interested in nitpicking why it rolled other than saying it was my own fault as there were several compounding mistakes i made that caused this. Fortunately there is a bit of a silver lining in that insurance payout will actually be more than i originally paid for it and will sufficiently cover the cost of replacement which should be before the end of the year.

In addition to Patriot's photos above. Here's the adhesive side of the of the 2" belly band. With Gorilla double sided tape still installed, one piece of tape slipped and some of my grey hairs. 🙂 The hull gap depth to the sealant between hulls varies around 1/8" to 1/4". The hull gap width is about 5/8" wide. The original adhesive strips on the belly band are about 1/2".

Yes, you can put a pan on a Blackstone griddle and boil water. I suppose you could use a skillet, too.

I have a Coleman Roadtrip. The regulator comes off so I can use it with the quick connect or direct to a tank. Accessories include a griddle top and a frame to convert it to a regular cooktop pans.

If I were to buy another camp stove, which I am not going to do, it would be a Partner Stove, probably their 18” two burner. The REI aluminum roll up table works well. I don’t know how it happened, but I ended up with a collection of backpacking and camping stoves, including the Coleman white gas stove my parents had when I was a little guy.

We started with a 22" Blackstone with quick connect hose to Ollie. It had 2 heat controls which was nice but it was a bit of overkill size-wise. Bought a 17" Blackstone and very happy with it. Neither model will fit in basement. Whatever you opt for, definitely get one with a cover for cooking in cold and windy conditions.

The Blackstone griddle is not a grill. Griddle only. It still does a fine job on steaks/burgers/etc. Perfect for breakfast bacon and eggs. Mike

Can that be used as a grill, or is it only a griddle?

So glad you were not hurt or worse with this accident!! We can get our Oliver's replaced in the end. Enjoy your new Ollie and Safe Travels.

Blackstone 17" Griddle with cover. Love having the LP quick connect.

We’ve been using a Weber Q1000 since we picked up in 2016. I added the cast iron griddle plate. We’ve also been using a 17” Blackstone the past few years. I also have a 22” Blackstone that we use at home. Both the Weber and Blackstone hook into the quick connect on the trailer (Weber regulator removed). Sometimes we travel with both, sometimes just the Blackstone. The Blackstone is more versatile, you can cook more on it than the Weber. Mike

Yep, my main complaint about the Weber Q. The grease is always oozing into the drip tray while traveling, and sometimes gets messy when moving it’ around. The Blackstone griddle cleans up easily, packs much smaller, and has more cooking options. I’m probably going to carry that one most of the time going forward.

We are currently using a Blackstone 17 inch. I built a special rack in the truck to hold the two parts of it. It cooks really well and is now easy to pack. I run it off the onboard propane tanks.

We won one of these at the 2022 Rally. It was so big, I was barely able to get into our 3500 Silverado to take it home. I sold it within a week, never took it out of the box. Just way too big for me to consider.

So here’s my setup and I like it a lot. REI metal roll up table (Apparently they are green now) which I’ve had for over 20 years. Weber Q 1200. Torjik converter for the Weber. All works flawlessly from quick connect at front of trailer. If I want to convert back to using an unregulated propane tank I just use the adapter for the propane tank. All links below pic. https://www.rei.com/product/217993/rei-co-op-dining-table https://torjik.com/weber-q-grill-compatible-rv-quick-connect-conversion-kit-12-m-f-qc-hose/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B095YDZMH4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Berry Hill campground

We got the Weber Traveler that was offered by Oliver at the time of purchase last month. It's extremely portable and folds up into position in seconds. I also bought the griddle plate for one side to allow making pancakes or anything else that would fall through the grate. This makes the Traveler even more camp friendly. Weber Traveler Traveler Griddle

Most camp stoves will require the removal of the pressure regulator as the Oliver gas pressure is already reduced at the regulator mounted at the propane tanks. Lots of YouTube’s and articles on this. See this forum link for more details. Weber Q1200 Regulator I have a Weber Q1000, with a Torjik conversion kit. I also have a Blackstone 17” griddle, with a low pressure hose connector. I take one or the other, not both, but they both work well. And last but not least, I have a 30 year old Coleman Classic that’s been used countless times. I’ve not found a safe low pressure conversion for it nor any reference from anyone that uses one connected it to their Oliver via the low pressure QC. We often take the Coleman along for cooking outside with pots and skillets. I use small disposable propane bottles or a 20lb tank if I have room for it.

We have had USAA for 3 decades for all our ☂️insurance coverage. Yes, we have seen our rates jump without ever having filed any claims. All said it would require a deep discount for us to switch carriers only to see the slow creep price increase of signing up with a new carrier. Sure a local carrier can tailor an insurance policy to your needs but ultimately you will eventually see your costs creep up it’s economics. Not a full subscriber to just stormy weather in the south causing rate increases. New construction costs, storms, wildfires, mudslides, and floods naturally do contribute to rate increases across the board. So I believe there is a far bigger picture such as insurance companies are taking on massive losses. State Farm and Geico recently made the decision to stop doing new business in job killing California due to over regulation. Also factor in social unrest in many states with businesses being looted and eventually closing their doors. We live in interesting times. It would come as no surprise to me to see other large insurance companies walk away from other over regulated states. For times such as these! https://www.foxbusiness.com/small-business/recalifornia-killing-another-industry-families-need Patriot🇺🇸

The closer to water the more bugs and there is a lot of water here.

How's the bug traffic?

I made reservations for each stay, but so far the campgrounds have been maybe 10 to 30 percent full. It’s early in the season here, I suspect they will be a lot fuller in July. Most of the Provincial Parks have no water/electricity at each site but have water and dump sites in the park. A few have electricity at the camp sites. All have been really nice and beautiful camping sites. The private and National Parks have more facilities at each campground site. Our current camp site at Gros Morne National Park, has water and electricity.

Yes they do, here’s another set. We are now headed for Gros Morne National Park

@Skipster, FYI, you can edit your post by clicking on the 3 little dots on the top right of the post. You don't have to reply and quote yourself to add info. Glad it's working out for you.

RV owners & techs have posted helpful YouTube videos covering replacement of Suburban 6 gallon hot water heater parts and maintenance, if needed.

You could expand the universe of buyers, a bit, by posting there. I'm a member, though rarely interact there. Your mods, and ollie,,are well known here. It's a pristine, well cared for, well modded gem. Someone will get lucky.

We will be on the rock for 2 months.

Sully, Have a wonderful time in Newfoundland! I went several years ago and it was a month of exploration I'll never forget. Don't miss the UNESCO Viking settlement, L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site on the northwest tip (looks like you're heading that way). At Twillingate, you can catch a boat tour amongst the icebergs and if you take a ferry on the north shore, to Fogo Island, you may even have an iceberg run aground right behind your campsite! As a group of people, I found those in Newfoundland to be some of the most friendly I've ever met. How long do you plan on remaining on the Rock?

Kathy and I called and spoke with Anita last Monday and she is now at home and still recovering. She is busy with PT and is very grateful for everyone’s thoughts and prayers of support. We text with her regularly and check on her. We let her know that everyone is thinking of her and still lifting her up in their prayers. Patriot🇺🇸

Propanegear.com. call them and they will set you up. They got me what i needed for the camp chef grill and the outland fire pit . They are outstanding

DavidS - If your friend is looking for someone else to give a CampChef to - I'm available! 😁 Bill

ThomB87 and DavidS, Thank you both for this info...very helpful. After my post this morning I did a little deeper dive and also found this valuable link. I ordered a 20’ hose. https://www.netjeff.com/wp/?p=1238 Many Thanks Again, Patriot

I posted about modifying my Weber grill some time ago. The YouTube videos I found useful are HERE and HERE. I bought the Weber Q RV Quick Connect Kit from propanegear.com for $49.99. The SKU for the model I got is not currently on their web site, but they have two versions available with eight foot or twelve foot hoses. Connecting the Outland bowl is easy - just change out the hose. I bought this adapter hose. If you are going full propane quick connect, be sure to get a couple of extension hoses so that you can position your devices where you want at your campsite. A friend gave me a CampChef stove, and we love it. Sometimes I want to have the CampChef and the Weber connected simultaneously, and so I bought a Y-adapter.