Eriba Man

  Touring this year is going to be a bit different. It's probably be a bit busier with foreign holidays more or less banned, and in addition site facilities (toilets, showers, and dishwashing) will either be restricted, closed, or even if they are fully open, probably a lot busier. So, in a small caravan like mine with no onboard toilet or hot water, or space (!), what can be done to prepare for this years touring? I'd proved this little van can handle 'no-facility' CL last year, and to be honest, in many ways I preferred it. No more strategic timing of shower trips, queues, or (being polite) facilities which previous users have forgot to clean properly!! What I'm outlining here is the equipment I'll be taking with me to make by Eriba Puck self sufficient. The van is already fitted out for solar, which works a treat, but I will be mainly on sites with mains power which I'll be using for heating with my fan heater, boiling kettles, and for my toaster or Remos...

I returned home from my last trip to East Lothian to attend an arranged appointment at the dentist. There's very few reasons I 'have to' return, but it's mainly dental appointments, vet appointments, MOT for the car, and of course, grass cutting! I used the time between returning and heading away to take care of a few maintenance items on the van. I replaced the friction pads on the stabiliser, a standard Al-Ko AKS1300 hitch. A straightforward job taking about 10mins. Cost around £25 for the new pads. I replaced them as the existing pads were worn and 'glazed' where they'd been working. I did notice when packing up on the last trip that the pop top fabric wasn't pulling in neatly when the roof was lowered, so I ordered 10m of 4mm elastic cord and replaced that. A very satisfying 10min operation. Cost around £5. I also bought some 2.5mm cord and replaced the 'hold backs' on the net curtains. It;s then a case of getting the maps an...