Short Trip to Norfolk

We’ve just come back from a short “shake-down” trip to check the 109 and the camping equipment, and it mostly went well, despite the wet weather.

The roof storage worked brilliantly, and took far more kit than expected.  The canoe bags also proved water-tight, despite the manner in which they close appearing suspicious.  I wasn’t able to fit the Jerrycan locker floors in time for this trip as the sheet steel I had was too thin, but it will be a quick job to fit them once I get some more appropriate materials.

The storage inside the 109 was fine, with almost all items secured by ratchet straps.  Once the proper platform for the fridge is made, I’ll cut the ratchet straps to length so that we’re not swimming in loose ends.

The Campinggaz double stove was alright, but the Towsure single ring burner with the aerosol type canister was much easier to use and heated food and water faster than the bigger unit.  We had problems getting the fridge to run on gas, but we think we have that sorted now.

The Coleman X4 tent was great, if a little light inside when trying to sleep – perhaps a darker colour fabric would have helped.  It had plenty of space, though, without taking up too much room, and I can easily stand up in it.

The stretcher type camping beds were a little uncomfortable.  They tend to round my shoulders as they sag in the middle, but they weren’t bad for £10.  The Thermarest self-inflating matress rolls were a godsend – they make an enormous difference to the warmth of the sleeping bag – I tried one night without it on top of the bed, and it was much colder.

As far as the 109 goes, there are a couple of little jobs, of course.  There seems to be a small diesel leak, probably in the recently re-activated tank return lines, and the exhaust is vibrating at idle, so needs another mounting and clamp.  I have some concerns that it may be fouling the front left spring shackle as the front axle articulates, and will have to check.  I also need to fit some thick washers above the rear dampers’ lower bushes, as the bottom studs of the dampers are squeaking and banging against the top of the leaf springs as the axle moves.  Thankfully, the loud rattle that started emminating from the gearbox tunnel cover yesterday turned out to be the chain on  Helena’s Legoland Bobbafett keyring attached to her bag!