Version 2.0

Building out Ernie Tortuga, our Sprinter Van

After our first 10,000 miles traveling in our wonderful van, we are back home in Florida, and ready to refine our ride before our next major trip. We learned about ourselves, what we liked and what we missed, what worked and what didn't. 

We needed to add a real power system. Initially all we got was a port on the back of the van and a bare wire. I added a simple outlet, but it only worked when we were plugged into shore power. In 55 days that turned out to be only 10 nights. Having a second battery and an inverter will make charging our devices simpler. 

We originally had a 50 gallon Yeti cooler. It kept things cool but we were buying ice for it every day or two, and and keeping things dry was a losing proposition. Adding a proper refrigeration box will make our excursions far simpler. Our Arb refrigerator is about the same size as the Yeti, but it keeps cool using DC power, and the solar panel is sufficient to keep it cool for weeks sitting in our driveway. 

Storage was our other bugaboo. We had more stuff than we needed, granted, but it was also randomly stuffed into random corners. We need to make it more organized so we can get what we want more easily, and not take apart everything to get to the odd item. In the back we had the bikes on each side, with a row of boxes between them. For 2.0 we moved the bikes together on one side, and then built a long wooden box to replace the smaller plastic crates. The new box can slide out, and a stick holds up the outside end. We put a shelf over the box for the stuff we need to get to easily: the power cable, the chocks, and the screenroom we like to set up, along with the floor mat, two camp chairs and a camp table.

The living area also got an upgrade. The foot locker moved around a bit while traveling, and the wheel wells made for poor bases for much of anything. So we built platforms over the wheel wells that also better constrained the foot locker to its centered position. We also added a shelf above the foot locked. Sharon finally realized we didn't need the whole sliding door space to get in and out, so we moved the cabinet on that side forward, creating a new space behind it for a couple of things.

Then we made wall cabinets. They aren't pretty, being the first cabinets I've ever attempted. The second one is better than the first, and they should be functional. They already function as clumsy meters, reminding us to be careful with head movements.

And then we replaced the myriad plastic boxes with drawers. On our inaugural trip, we built two shelves for canned goods, and the rest of the spaces were open for piles of plastic boxes. Now all that space is filled with sliding drawers. Like the cabinets, they aren't perfect, but they should be more functional than the boxes. (The clothes you want were never in the top box, resulting in boxes all over the countertops.)

Finally, our water solution needed upgrading. We started with a manual pump that worked great. Once. Then it wouldn't work more than a dribble. We quickly gave up on it, and reverted to our camping mode of pouring out of jugs on the countertop. We did that for 10 weeks last Summer, so it wasn't a hardship. But it would be nice to make better use of our big jug of water that's too big/heavy for counter use. Everything suggested a particular water pump as being the quietest, and the accumulator is supposed to allow it to come on less frequently. We shall see.