SeaDawg

One more tiny project before we take the trailer to Hudson on Monday is complete. While I was checking the thermocouples, and cleaning and polishing the stainless SMEV cooktop yesterday (I like Ceramabryte stainless polish), I noticed the spiders/grates were getting some rust spots on the underside. I braved the holiday traffic to get some odd size nuts and bolts for Paul at Ace today, and picked up some high heat spray paint. While I was gone, Paul prepped the spiders for paint. It's matte, instead of the original glossy, but I kind of prefer the look--like super skinny wrought iron. Should help keep the old SMEV in good shape for a number of years. (I'll work on the little bits of rust on the hinges this summer on a rainy day. White vinegar is really good to loosen surface rust, I've found.)

I added to the kitchen storage with this little item from Aldi. (Bought it last year, on discount. About $12.) It came with four small cutting boards, but I put two away for future use, leaving me more room for hard to corral kitchen tools. It only takes up a few inches of the little tabletop, but holds all my knives, and all my tools. Fairly heavy, with nice nonskid feet. I'll shove it in the closet or a bin for travel. It's like gaining an entire drawer, for me, and made room in the odd drawer for my new little wok pan.

The bird flew

I know. I wasn't trying to be snide, either. It's a good thought for their future. Changing up markets, at this point, when production is sold out into 2022, would probably not happen. At least, my opinion. Like I said, cool trailer . If I were 20 years younger, it might be on my radar.

Portable generator, $400 to $1500. Pick what you like.

That also depends. There are people who prefer to just depend on battery, then go marina to marina, or park to park, to recharge. Those of us (like you and me), who depend on solar, see things very differently. I, too, think 340 watts is anemic for 630 ah lithium. But, I know of a guy building a mostly electric boat with 1500 ah of battery, and 300 watts solar. It depends on your goals. And everything else.

Respectfully, I don't think the overland market is Oliver's demographic target market. Edit to add: the Manta is a cool trailer. Just not going there at my age. Thanks for the share.

So, the short answer, it depends. You need a good monitor, so you actually know how much power you use. And, you also have to know your comfort level, and conservation abilities, and desires. If you want to run ac off battery, it's a whole other ball game. That is probably the target market for 630 ah lithium. A generator is much cheaper.

I'd tend to agree with Scubarx. We use , maybe, 50 ah, overnight, when we run the furnace, and we have an all-electric, danfoss/secop fridge. Without furnace, just careful use of lights and occasional fan, and the electric fridge,, we are usually down 27 to 30 ah in the morning. We, however, are power misers. And, I do have to be careful, as we only have at max, 105 ah available, and try to keep useage to 50 ah overnight. We only have two 105 ah agm batteries. 630 ah could power us for a really long time... like a week to ten days, or more,, with zero solar, if we didn't have to use the furnace fan. (We don't have an inverter, either, and all our gear is 12v ,led, or propane.) I'd rather use solar, and less (expensive) battery power, personally. You know you can always add additional lithium, right? As opposed to lead acid or agm, where the entire bank should ideally be of the same age?

Doesn't bother me at all. I don't drink water from the tank, and haven't, since the 70s. Using smaller containers, usually from home, for fresh water for drinking and cooking helps conserve fresh supply for cleaning and showering, anyway. I'm sure it "are" lawyerese, but I know few people who use the tank for drinking water, anyway.

Congratulations. Every rv lives big on the outside. We've loved the compact space of our Oliver, for 13 seasons. Enjoy! And, we'll look forward to photos from those new smaller (and often awesome) spaces you find.

I'm not sure. The grand canyon has a higher weight rating at bench height. This one says 60 lbs., no difference on height listed. We have an older, square Timber Ridge that has been great. But not adjustable height. It's light and easy to assemble, disassemble. My only complaint is rusting screws in otherwise (10 year old-ish?) aluminum table Since you can pretty much take anything you don't like back to Costco, it's not a big risk, for a great price, was my thought.

After years of

So, most projects are complete. Last big two left: take the Oliver in next week to get the two fogged windows repaired in Hudson, and then, restock and reset the empty camper. I'm starting the reset with the cupboards, as in paper, plastics, cleaning supplies. I'll wait on the rest til the Oliver is back home. Sailing season is almost over. Let the camping begin!

@hobo I saw this one on Costco website today, and thought of your thread.

studied "Travis picking"

And whaddya get

@doug14 (#451) hasn't been on the forum in 18 months, but maybe they're too busy camping!

I checked with a neighbor who used to live on Marco about storage. Unfortunately, they didn't have an rv then, just a boat. I did notice a farm site listed probably 40 miles away on Harvest Host. Maybe you could check about storage there, and camping on the way down? I'm not a hh member, so I could only see the general location...

They also have 800 amp hours of lithium batteries on Delos. And other boats I've followed have even more battery power. And, they live full time on the boat. I was skeptical about induction on sailboats, at the beginning. Worried that the magnetic field would mess with expensive electronics. And, also worried about non-gimballed, slippery ceramic cooktop underway. Wondered about the amp hours consumed. Several boats I've watched have added a slim silicon sheet for non-skid on the cooktop. Some have added a fiddle (railing), and some have re-used the gimbal of their old propane stove for a new electric/induction stove. None of these are important in Ollies, where we only use the stove when stationary, of course. And ah consumption, as reported, has been not as high as I would have expected. I could definitely see a good induction cooktop in an Ollie that had a way to power it. I love cooking with induction. Fast, clean, minimal extra heat, no fumes, etc.

Galway Girl, I split your post to a new topic, so that you get your own comments. Good luck with the upgrade. We'll look forward to your progress !

Duran Duran stalked

Awww. Thanks. Edit: not all in the Ollie. Another debate subject.:)