10 Friday Jan 2014
Posted in Blog updates, General, Navigation, Tips
Back in the day, practical things used to be taught. One of the things I learnt was how to navigate using my wristwatch. The first time I piloted a single engine aircraft across the Atlantic even though we had accurate GPS navigation on board, I still used it as a gross error check. So what use is it when out in the caravan, motorhome or even tenting? Continue reading
07 Tuesday Jan 2014
Posted in Blog updates, Facebook, General, Web sites
Tags
Caravan, Caravan Chronicles, Caravanning, Caravans, Facebook, Touring, Towing, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
A number of people emailed me and asked why Caravan Chronicles wasn’t on Facebook? Well after some procrastination as of this morning Caravan Chronicles has a Facebook page… https://www.facebook.com/caravanchronicles
So if you have an urge to click “like” on Facebook… just make sure is Caravan Chronicles!
S
PS… Not a clue how this is going to work out, so you might have to be patient!
31 Tuesday Dec 2013
Posted in Blog updates, General, Reviews, Web sites
Tags
2013 Review, annual report, Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Touring, Towing, travel, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for Caravan Chronicles – one of the fastest growing blogs in caravanning & travel in 2013.
Here’s an excerpt:
The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 98,000 times in 2013. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 4 days for that many people to see it.
29 Sunday Dec 2013
Posted in General, LPG, LPG Refilling Info, Maintenance
Tags
Calor, Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Gas Cylinder, LPG Refilling, Maintenance, refillable gas cylinders, Safefill
Safefill are well known for their red 15 litre (7.56Kg of LPG) refillable gas cylinders and we have been using one these for around two years now. We have saved quite a bit of money when compared to using the rental/exchange cylinders that are available.
One of the biggest advantages is we can always set off camping with a full cylinder of gas and never have to worry about running out. We can easily check the contents through the semi transparent cylinder and if required, take the cylinder out of the caravan, put it in the car and re-fill at the nearest LPG station. There are a growing number of Morrisons petrol stations (over 50 at the time of writing) that have LPG pumps and we have never had any problems filling our cylinder in Morrisons.
Image (c) Safefill
However one of the things people always raise is ” it’s not big enough, we would need two cylinders” OK fair comment and to answer this Safefill have now introduced a new blue 20 litre cylinder… that holds 10.08Kg of gas (that is the equivalent of two and a half 3.9Kg Calor gas cylinders or over one and a half 6Kg Calor gas cylinders) and one of the best things is the price is exactly the same as the red cylinder – £149.99.
At an average LPG pump price of 80 pence per litre, that means it will cost around £16 to fill up from empty… how much would it cost to exchange two 3.9Kg Calor or one 6Kg Calor? (At the time of writing a 3.9Kg Calor is about £15.50 and a 6Kg Calor is around £20.00)
So if you use a lot of gas or are travelling in Europe (European filling adaptors are available) coupled with the weight saving that a refillable cylinder gives over steel cylinders (are you struggling with your nose weight?) and the advantages of being able to always set off with a full cylinder of gas what’s not to like!
To find LPG refilling sites have a look on the Links page or download the Safefill Refilling POI’s for your GPS from their web site.
S
PS… When we bought our Safefill cylinder back in 2011 I did a review – Safefill refillable gas cylinders
18 Wednesday Dec 2013
Tags
Briafields, Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Cheltenham, ISO 11446, Manchester Caravan & Motorhome, Touring, Towing, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
For all that were waiting for our blogs and tweets from Cheltenham Christmas Markets last week, well we never made it. Unfortunately some work we were having done at Caravan Chronicles Towers over ran and the day we were due to set off, they were just erecting scaffolding on two sides of the house!
I emailed Scott & Jo Sanderson from Briarfields to let them know we would not be able to make it, offered my apologies and hoped to see them next year (Cheltenham is one of our favourite places to visit and shop). So we missed out on the Christmas Market for this year… Ho Humbug. On the up side, we do have some bottles of mulled wine that need testing!
Anyway, what it did mean was I could spend some time planning for next year. I have a two or three projects planned for the DIY enthusiasts amongst you and maybe a couple of new things too. I’m also hoping to be able to do a bit more of an in-depth review of the Manchester Caravan & Motorhome Show at Event City in January as well.
I also managed to finish a little piece about ISO 11446 after Roger contacted me via email with a question. Roger had his vehicle fitted with 13 pin electrics at the main dealer and after a fridge defrosting towing session found out that the fridge connection was missing from the factory fitted 13 Pin towing electrics. This is not uncommon, especially on cars of German manufacture. The OEM wiring kits from the factory don’t always include leisure battery and/or fridge circuits, these have to be added by the main dealer in the UK.
So if you are having a new tow bar and electrics fitted from a main dealer or specialist tow bar company, always check that the electrical installation is to ISO 11446 to make sure you get all the right connections made, and if you want to know what it is, here is my simple guide: ISO 11446 – 13 Pin Trailer Connections
S
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06 Friday Dec 2013
Posted in Blog updates, Christmas Markets, Events, General, Projects, Travelling in the UK, Trips, Uncategorized, Weekend Break
Tags
Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Cheltenham, Christmas Market, Christmas markets, Touring, Towing, travel, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
Well not long till we set off for Cheltenham Christmas Market ! We looked for a campsite close to Cheltenham and found one just 2.5 miles from the centre. Briarfield Touring Campsite (@BriarfieldsUK on twitter) is open all year and offers 72 hard standing pitches with all the usual facilities and free WiFi. There is a regular (every 10 minutes) bus service into Cheltenham so it means we don’t have the hassle of driving in and parking. So with the free WiFi hopefully we will be blogging and tweeting from Cheltenham in a few days time!
There is still time…
If you want to have a quick getaway and visit one of the many Christmas markets in the UK check out www.christmasmarkets.com to find out where they are and the dates. It not too late to gat a quick couple of days away in your caravan or motorhome and there is nothing like wandering round a Christmas Market drinking some mulled wine to get you in the festive spirit!
Replacing the road lights on your caravan with LED bulbs
I was hoping to have this article published by now as a number of people have emailed and asked me about it…. what are the benefits?… Is it legal?… Any problems?… Would it solve one manufacturers brake light problem? I did intend to get it on-line so that the ‘all season’ caravanners (like ourselves) could take advantage for the dark mornings and evenings.
Well unfortunately the company that was going to supply me with a selection of bulbs to use on long-term test and so I could photograph the ‘before and after’ of replacing the bulbs has pulled out. I was trying to do a deal with them so that you could order a full set of LED replacement bulbs for your caravan at a big discounted price from a UK supplier rather than chance you luck on one of the well-known auction sites and have the bulbs of varying standards coming from the far east.
So for the moment its on hold until I can find another UK supplier.
S
17 Sunday Nov 2013
Posted in General, Help Guides, Maintenance, Modifications, Projects
Tags
Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Fog Lights, Maintenance, Modifications, Towing, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
Do you get dazzled by the reflection of you vehicles fog lights on the front of your caravan at night?
Someone emailed me about this problem. As he had a 4 x 4 and the fog lights were higher than some cars, when he turned the fog lights on, the front of the caravan was lit up bright red and a distraction. He asked me if I could come up with a simple way of turning the vehicle fog lights off, but leaving the caravan fog lights on…. but making sure it complied with the law.
Heres a “How To:” on how I suggested one way in which it could be done…. Modify Your Rear Fog Lights
S
28 Monday Oct 2013
Posted in General, Travelling in the UK, Trips, Weekend Break
Tags
Blackpool, Blackpool Illuminations, Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Manor House Caravan Park, Squires Gate, Touring, Towing, travel, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
Trip number 30 was becoming our annual jaunt to Blackpool to cycle the world-famous Blackpool Illuminations. Last year we stayed at Eastham Hall, but this year while staying at The Old Oaks, Tara had given us a book, “Tranquil Touring Parks Guide“, which listed 30 top adults only touring parks. The newest member was Manor House Caravan Park (http://www.manorhousecaravanpark.co.uk/) just outside Blackpool at Marton Moss. For us it was conveniently located about three miles from Squires Gate – the start of the illuminations – so we could cycle straight from the site to Squires Gate, along the prom all the way to Bispham and back again. A total of about 20 miles. Continue reading
17 Tuesday Sep 2013
Posted in Help Guides, Maintenance, Modifications, Projects, Uncategorized
Tags
Caravan, Caravan Electrics, Caravan Wiring Projects, Caravanning, Caravans, Daylight Running Lights, Maintenance, Modifications, Towing
A while ago a chap emailed me asking if I could come up with a way of wiring Daylight Running Lights on a caravan without having to change any wiring in the tow vehicle or making a new connection via the 13 pin plug. He also wanted them to work correctly, i.e when the vehicle lights were turned on, the DRL’s turned off automatically. His idea was to install a 300mm strip of super bright white LED’s up each front corner of his caravan to make the caravan more visible.
Was it possible to come up with a wiring solution?
I’ve posted one possible solution in the ‘How To’ section of the “Help Guides‘ page or you can click on Wiring Daylight Running Lights on a caravan. I hope you find it useful.
S
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