miketomcat

I think I had less go wrong on Ladoga. Mike

It won't be this year. Fuel prices made a significant impact on this trip. We are also re-thinking our camping arrangements. The tipi and caranex worked fantastically well, the stood up to the wind very well. The downside is the tipi is designed for cold weather and when the sun did come out it became quite warm, don't get me wrong it has very good ventilation and it wasn't any worse than any other tent. The caranex and trailer worked really well for storage and toilet tent. However on a normal campsite you would get charged for two tents and it took far to long to set up (2hrs) and pack away (3hrs) especially when you need to do it in a hurry to catch a ferry that didn't run. Again it could be simplified with less kit and a bigger trailer. Mike

Not from a cost point of view and I'm short on time. I have considered this. Anyway as I have a caravan thread probably should get back on topic. Mike

I keep meaning to but going up it's normally the small hours when we pass your direction. As for coming back this time well we're a day later than planned and I've got work in the morning.... That not going to go well is it. 😴

Wednesday I stripped the head off to make sure it was only the head gasket. Thursday parts arrive so I put it all back together and get it running again. Not bad for field mechanics really. We spent a few days enjoying the beaches and living off grid completely in our tipi with wood burner for cooking on. Now because our holidays are never dull and we purposely intended to do very little this year. Someone had other ideas.... We end up stubbling across an RTC which left a pick up on its roof in a ditch. It happened moments before we arrived and we were first on the scene. Suffice to say no one was injured, we checked on everyone then directed traffic till the police arrived. (We met the couple in the pick later in the week and they confirmed they'd got off very lightly with just bruises and stiffness). Obviously with a holiday going this well getting home wasn't going to be boring. We learned there was a problem with the ferry and it had been taken out of service. But that's alright because they're putting on a replacement boat on the Friday we're due to leave. Trouble is there's three days worth of cars trying to get home and we now find out they are only running one trip. We get packed up the night before we planned and crashed on the mother-in-laws floor so we can get down to the port to see what can be done. We end up in the stand by lane with little chance of leaving the islands that day. We didn't get on and are told to leave the truck in the stand by lane but with even less chance of getting on the next day. Long story short we finally manage to get booked on a ferry from Stornoway late Saturday night. The up side is I'd always wanted to see Lewis and Harris. However it ment a 5am start to get the ferry across to Harris. The ullapool boat didn't get in till 2am Sunday morning and we've just driven around 700 miles in 14.5hrs back to Southampton after precious little sleep in the preceding 48 hrs. I'm home now knackered and ready for bed but I doubt we'll forget this trip in a hurry. Mike P.S. I know want to go back and do Lewis and Harris properly.......

My mother-in-law lives on the outer Hebrides, North Uist to be precise. Obviously with COVID etc we haven't seen her in a while. At Christmas plans were made to go up there this summer holidays, the ferry got booked along with time off work. All loaded up ready to go, I'll just check the water.....hmm that's suspiciously low. Well nothing for it top it up and keep an eye on it. We fill up on Skye and as we pull away there's a load of white smoke....well that answers where the water went and it also explains the lock up whilst doing the stem seals a couple of weeks ago. The head gasket has blown I'm sure of it. Well can't do anything about it now, must get to the ferry and I'll order one to be delivered to mother-in-laws. We made it across on the ferry but not without it hydraulicing on start up (needed to rotate it buy hand to clear it and then start it quick) then getting a bit warm on the other side due to water lose. We made it to mother-in-laws field to set up camp in the rain. The first week was mostly spent walking the beaches whilst waiting for the head gasket set and bolt to turn up. Nice spot.

I haven't settled on a trailer yet but the biggest driver will be cost versus robustness. Caravan chassis are pence but flimsy. Plant/box trailer chassis are robust but normally £1500 plus. Military trailers tend to be cheaper and robust. I'm not frightened of modifying it or of IVA ing it. Mike

Having just spent 3 hours packing up our tipi and caranex etc. I can really see the appeal of a camper, especially when the ferry's then cancelled and we need to spent 2 nights trying to get a ferry home. On the bright side we were staying at the mother-in-laws so slept on her floor. But I do feel a caravan build coming on, anyone got a rapier trailer or a Tesco's delivery van body kicking around......... Mike

But you could put it through IVA...... Mike

Nah plenty of room in the tent though sometimes I wish they did. Mike

In other news,It's alive. Head gasket arrived today, I've just finished doing it. Had an inlet manifold bolt snap on the way in bit I managed to get it out and found a bolt to replace it for now. I'll have to change it later though. Mike

We've had it for a few years. It's a great tent we run a wood burner in there which is lovely in the winter or if it's wet. Ours survived force 9 up here a few years ago and a steady force 6/7 for the rest of the time. Mike

Yes we are. Hence the postal issues. Mike

Just shy of 800 miles towing a trailer and a canoe on the roof with a blown head gasket, it's not bad really. To be fair it's not a holiday without an issue of some sort. The tent is a helsport varanger camp 8-10. Mike

The gasket on there is a girling, not sure what the one coming is until it gets here. Choice was limited due to postal issues. I'm not so bothered about it being a typical land rover holiday as A, it got us here just and B, I'd be bored if I didn't have something to do. Mike

Heads off. Head gasket blown between pot 3 and water way, pot 2 was well on its way to. Just waiting for a new head gasket to arrive, but it is a nice spot to do it. Mike

I'm trying to convince the wife a domino pimlico is a good idea. Mike

Personally I would either talk to @Nonimouse nicely or find a local club go have a chat with the committee/chief marshal. *cough* shires seven sisters event is in September, I and several others off here will be there and happy to take you for a bimble. Mike

Having spent far to much time looking at this over lock downs, my money would go on an early or the military spec 4x4 iveco daily. The wife had a 2wd one for a while, it was big enough without being cumbersome and iveco dealers are everywhere. https://images.app.goo.gl/ihSkB3MaAVT4pBmU6 Mike

Assuming I can keep it running long enough to get to my destination, had to un-hydraulic it to get on the ferry. A new head gasket and bolts should arrive in a couple of days. Mike

The good news is I've now worked out why it wouldn't turn over by hand when I did the stem seals. The bad news is I have a head gasket to change in a field if I can get one posted here. Mike

And it's not mine I've only got jems now, mind I'm loosely looking for a domino pimlico. Mike

I had subaru impreza seats in mine. I also have moulds for fibreglass seat shell's both wide and narrow fit. Narrow mould. Wide mould. Seat out of the pink mould. Mike

I guess the customer pulled out because there is no way a company would build that on spec. Mike

Spanish windlass. Mike