CapeBuild Build Journal

[Mikel46516]

Such a sweet camper, John. Congratulations!

[Capebuild]

6.11.22

Such a sweet camper, John. Congratulations!

Thank you!!

Finished installing the 2 / 100 watt solar panels on the roof. I have a Victron charger (and monitor) on board so it was really cool to see the panels doing their thing (in other word, "working"). It was late in the afternoon and a bit of clouds going in and out but the monitor was reading 94 to 100+ watts and 40 volts. I wired them in series to put as much voltage into the system as possible from the panels. I need to read up and educate myself on this solar stuff.

And we'll be heading out this Thursday on our maiden voyage. Just an overnight and not very far away... .but will give us and opportunity to kind of check everything out, see what we need, etc. Our Partner Stove is on order.... really looking forward to receiving that!!

and installed the pull down shade for the front window.

John

[OP827]

You build looks more than professional if one can say so and looks stunning.
I am interested to learn details of flexible solar panels installation, i.e. how they are fixed on the roof.
Thanks for sharing,
Oleg

[Capebuild]

I am interested to learn details of flexible solar panels installation, i.e. how they are fixed on the roof.

OP827, if you go to the Electrical Section of TNTTT, as of right now it's the last post in the topic (here's the link, viewtopic.php?f=30&t=74766), I had posted
images of what I had done to install the panels. I wanted to create an air space under the panels rather than mount them directly on top of the aluminum roof. This seemed to work
pretty well. We'll see how it all holds up over time.

John

[JasenC]

Now you get to enjoy your year of hard work.

John your work rivels and is some ways exceeds some of the top of the line Mfg. TD's I've seen pics of. Your eye for detail really shows, it truly is a work of art.

[rjgimp]

Really spectacular finish, John. After your first month or so here it was absolutely apparent that we would see nothing less. Well done. Hope to cross paths with you and your rig down the road sometime.

[Capebuild]

thanks very much for your comments, Jasen and Rob. Appreciate hearing it.
I remember you Rob from when I first joined this forum. So thanks for the ongoing encouragement.

John

[noseoil]

Beautifully done John, congratulations on a job well done!

[Capebuild]

Beautifully done John, congratulations on a job well done!

and thank you, Tim!! I also remember you when I first joined this forum..... and appreciate your comments and encouragement. I remember you telling me your completed walls were 38 pounds (or something like that) where mine ended up being like 70 pounds. The one thing I wish I could go back an re-evaluate was the weight of things. I wish I could have shaved a couple of hundred pounds off.

John

[Tom&Shelly]

Just want to add my kudo's to the pile John. Great job!

Can't wait to hear how your maiden voyage goes.

Tom

[Capebuild]

Just want to add my kudo's to the pile John. Great job!
Can't wait to hear how your maiden voyage goes.
Tom

Thanks Tom!!

Just returned yesterday from our 1 night maiden voyage. I basically wanted to see how the trailer handled on the open highway, how the my Subaru felt about towing a trailer and just kind of test everything out. Even for an only 1 night stay, we had a great time. Trailer towed fine. Subaru was fine with towing the trailer (although it knew it was towing something).... smooth on the road even at 70MPH.

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The campground was around 1.5 hours from our house. We got a spot right on the beach. The water was great with some good waves for body surfing. It was a different kind of campground from what I'm used to camping in. Not a lot of trees, well.... no trees. Campers kind of right on top of one another. Lots of big rigs, motor homes. We were definitely the smallest trailer in the park of 100 spots. Kind of like a teardrop in a big glass of water.

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And we had our first gourmet meal from our galley. PB&J on my wife's home made sourdough bread. Tasty good!

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[JasenC]

Nice, sounds like a the maiden voyage was a success despite not the idea camping spot.
All those folks camped in a box they bought, but not you two, you camped in style.

[western traveler]

John,
It became apparent early on that your build was going to be something special. You didn’t disappoint.
Well done! It is Beautiful! Now go use it…
Ralph

[tony.latham]

Just returned yesterday...

And you left out "Chapter 2" of your first camp story; how satisfying that first night was. Snuggling into your cacoon with your spouse and laying there looking up at your fine ceiling.



Tony

[Capebuild]

Thanks Ralph. It was great to finally get out with the trailer. I remember we both started building around the same time. You've got some miles on me and I've enjoyed reading about your travels (and cooking adventures).

And Tony.... I was waiting for that rough draft / chapter 2 to get back from the proofreader.... but if I remember correctly ..... it goes something like this.

We had known ahead of time alcoholic beverages were not allowed in the park so we hopped in the Subaru to scout out a local brewery. No luck. Our next stop was the local convenience store where we found one of our favorites in the beer fridge, Fiddlehead IPA from Vermont. With that, along with some chips and salsa, we made our way back to the campground. We rushed past the main gate leaving no suspicion about us entering the campground with the fiddlehead contraband. Having never been away from our trailer while out in the wild, there it was, still set up on site; just the way we left it. "PHEW". My wife and I quickly converted the bed into couch mode, set up the interior table and proceeded to enjoy our bounty. Delicious!! Our fellow campers, looking through our large picture window, waved to us as they walked by. We looked back at them, beer in hand (er, uh, I mean.... anonymous cup in hand) and returning the wave. Happy, Happy!!! Before we knew it, dinner time had arrived. We had purchased one of those Bar-B-Qd chickens which we enjoyed on home grown salad greens. (mind you, if we had our much awaited Partner Stove, we would have cooked something up..... like bar-b-q chicken).

After dinner we went on a long walk around the park and tried to make our way back on trails that weren't quite trails yet. Upon our long return it was time for bed..... so we converted the couch down to bed mode, lowered the shade covering the large front window and pinned up the curtains my wife is currently constructing. Rolled back the sheets and climbed into our nest. The sound of the nearby surf could be heard pounding the shore. The fresh salty smell of Buzzards Bay wafting in through the open windows. We used our reading lights to check up on where we were in relation to where we live. Before long there was a nice rain. And before we knew it, we were both lightly snoring.

How did I know my wife was lightly snoring if I was soundly asleep? I just know.