Well, we are sitting in Goliath in our driveway, watching TV and surfing the forums. The (brand new) air conditioner in our house bit the dust Saturday, and I am not into sweltering in my bed, so I hauled the trailer home, and plugged it in. Hopefully the A/C repair guy will get here before the code nazis do...
About the only thing I got done this weekend is installing a combo time/temp/humidity clock in the galley. And yes, it is silver...
All these hurricanes are giving us a reason to use Goliath. Last night when we went to bed, hurricane Wilma was a minimal category 1 hurricane, which means that if it struck South Florida (where we live) we would have some tree limbs knocked down, and some debris blown around. Not a big deal, as hurricanes go. This morning when I woke up, the storm had turned into a category 5 hurricane overnight. This is like a 600 mile wide tornado aiming, once again, for my living room... The "probability cone", or where the weather people think it will strike, is almost on top of our city.
This evening, I am once again going out to storage, picking up Goliath, and stocking the trailer with food and water for several days. If an evacuation is ordered, I will be heading away from it (duh), along with thousands of other people. Sooo, if you are watching a hurricane evacuation on CNN this coming weekend, and see a white van pulling a rather large Airstream stuck in traffic, wave to me.
Cancel the wave. Go to him and throw money for the 40 gallon gas tank.
I will be at work, or further north if we have to evacuate our residents.
Florida and the gulf coast has a new theme song
"Here we Go again"
Marie
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Take a chance, you just never know!
Last edited by overlander63; 10-19-2005 at 07:32 PM..
For those of you that have never had to evacuate your home for an impending natural disaster, but are curious about what has to be done, I will give you a fast rundown.
First, fill your car (or tow vehicle) with gas. Then go to your local ATM, and withdraw several hundred dollars for use during your upcoming adventure. When a hurricane strikes, power and phones are usually the first to go, and ATM's need both to function.
After you do this, go to your pharmacy and get refills on any prescriptions you may run low on over the next couple of weeks, and while you are there, pick up any items you may need for your first aid kit that you are taking with you. If you have pets, as we do, make arrangments to kennel them, or take them with you, again as we do. If you take them, don't forget to take enough food for them for several days. This is one main reason I take the trailer and leave town, shelters don't allow pets, and I won't leave our animals behind.
Take a flat of bottled water, and some canned or non-perishable packaged food, and a non-electric can opener. You never know when you may get stuck in traffic, or your car may break down, and you will have to wait a while for help, if you are where you can wait. Now, you should also take a roll of toilet paper with you, for the above reason.
Pack some clothes, such as jeans, and permanent press shirts or blouses, stuff that will not look like it has been hanging in the back of your car for a week, even if it has been. Underwear and socks are needed, also, as well as a second pair of shoes, in case your first pair gets wet. Make sure they are comfortable for walking, you may have to leave your car, and walk some distance.
Now, you are almost ready to leave, you just have to take your insurance papers for your home, in case it is destroyed while you are gone, and your personal papers (birth certificates, etc.), and your little black book with all your friends' and familiy's phone numbers in it, so you can contact them, and let them know you are safe.
In addition to all that stuff, since I am taking a slightly smaller version of our house with me, I will also be taking several cases of canned goods, flats of bottled water, towels, litterbox for our cat, soap, bedclothes, frozen foods, sodas, and a spare tank of propane.
Well, I made it there, and back, with no problems to speak of. I arrived at my evacuation zone 11PM Saturday night, hooked up electric and water, walked the dog, and went to bed.
Sunday morning dawned gloomy and windy, with rain squalls throughout the day. It seemed like a good day to work inside the trailer, so that is what I did. I found a local Ace Hardware (I really should get a frequent buyer's club card), and picked up a dremel tool to grind down the round pivots on a pair of window mechanisms I picked up at a mobile home supply store. After grinding the pivots down, the mechanisms went right in with no problem. Now that I know how easy it is to replace them, I will probably be replacing them all.
Monday we had winds of about 40 mph and driving rains throughout the morning (maybe I didn't go far enough north?) tapering off to occasional sprinkles and strong wind gusts by afternoon.
I left the area about 3 PM, and arrived back home at 7:30 PM.
Then the fun started. We had power that night, but it went out soon after, and stayed off until Thursday evening, when it finally came back on. Phones and cable/internet was on again/off again until Saturday. I once again lost my family room ceiling, this is the third time in just over a year.
Here is a photo of our front yard after cleaning up most of the debris:
__________________
Terry
Last edited by overlander63; 11-03-2005 at 07:12 PM..
I was playing around with Goliath today, before returning the trailer to the storage lot, and managed to wire up the 12 volt lights so they work. I also wired in a small (10 amp) battery charger under the kitchen counter, so I don't have to worry about the tow vehicle charging the battery. At least theoretically we can now boondock, with lights, as long as we don't mind not taking showers.
Next repair will be replacing the galley stove fan motor, as the one that is there is toast. Also at some point I will be plumbing in the fresh water tank, and 12 volt pump. This has been on hold until I got a working 12 volt system, and a way to keep the battery charged. Now it doesn't have to wait.
What a great looking trailer. We here in tornado alley salute you. You have one thing up on us, you know when you're going to get hit. We may have 20 minutes warning of a probable tornado. Not much time to get the Argosy, 5 dogs, 4 cats and Rosalee Toad loaded up.
Overlander63, I am curious to find out what your solution to the black tank valve was. I have a 63 Overlander and am currently in the process of replacing mine...that is if I could figure out where to start. We have the black tank out and have found the brass collector/valve assembly (link to picture).
Is yours anything like ours, and if so what did you do to repair it?
Overlander63, I am curious to find out what your solution to the black tank valve was. I have a 63 Overlander and am currently in the process of replacing mine...that is if I could figure out where to start. We have the black tank out and have found the brass collector/valve assembly (link to picture).
Is yours anything like ours, and if so what did you do to repair it?
-Tracey
Hmm, that looks like one thing I didn't post how I fixed.
I went to my friendly Camping World, and got a 2" Valterra blade type sliding dump valve, which I installed by carefully marking the holes from the new valve on the underside of the black tank, being careful to line up the main drainage hole. I then used stainless steel machine screws with stainless washers, and rubber washers under them to keep it from leaking at those four points. I then installed a Tee connector for the grey water to run into, with a 2" to 3" 90 degree PVC elbow, which went into a piece of 3" PVC, terminating just inboard of the edge of the trailer. I then installed two stainless steel machine screws (I think they were #12's) to hold the termination cap in place. This so far has been working well for us, it has been done for about 3 months now, and we have been out with it several times, with no leaks.
The next time I bring Goliath back to the house, I will crawl under it and snap a photo for you.
__________________
Terry
Last edited by overlander63; 12-09-2006 at 07:58 AM..
What a great looking trailer. We here in tornado alley salute you. You have one thing up on us, you know when you're going to get hit. We may have 20 minutes warning of a probable tornado. Not much time to get the Argosy, 5 dogs, 4 cats and Rosalee Toad loaded up.
Last August 13 (2004), I hitched, loaded, and grabbed both animals and left town in 55 minutes flat, when Hurricane Charlie decided without warning it wanted to go almost directly over our house. It still took more than the 20 minutes y'all typically have for tornadoes, though. I will have to work to get my evacuation times lower...
I've been away for a bit. Have you posted pix of your '52 25' Cruiser?
Tom
Not yet. I am waiting until I pull it out of the (gasp!) junkyard where it is currently stored, as well as after removing the ceramic tile flooring the PO installed (very heavy looking stuff). It has the same basic floorplan as my Overlander, only with a single axle. Supposedly, according to one reference guide I have access to, the '52 Cruiser was the prototype Overlander, although not marketed as such. It is really 26 feet long, not 25, with an empty weight of 3200 pounds. Plumbing is "dump on the ground", and there is no 12v system at all, the 110v system has two screw-in glass fuses for circuit protection.
I have purchased this one purely for speculative purposes, and will list it in the classifieds when I get it ready for sale.
I took the galley fan out this morning, to take to the mobile home parts store and match up, when I made an important (accidental) discovery.
I had the trailer unplugged from shore power, and was cuting the power wires to the motor, when the cutters slipped, and glanced off the metal frame that holds the motor in place. Zap! %%^&*&%!!! It turns out that the fan is 12v, and works fine when you have a 12v electrical system hooked up. I re-installed the motor, and verified operation. It works fine, so I no longer need a fan motor.
While I am on the subject of cooking (sort of), would anyone have an idea why my oven lights, and functions well, but when it reaches the set temp, and the burner kicks off, so does the pilot light? It is a pain in the neck to re-light the oven after every time it gets to the set temp.
While going over everything in Goliath, I have found this switch, with two outlets, behind the sink. The switch does not control the air compressor for the water, that is below the edge of the counter, and all lights work with or without the switch. There is no outside light for it to control, the outlets in the same housing work with the switch either "off" or "on". I seriously doubt it ever had a garbage disposal installed, so what is it supposed to control?
Here is a photo showing the switch, as well as the newly installed galley faucet:
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