Eriba Man

  Sadly, its the end of my touring for 2020. Probably a little bit earlier than I'd planned but the current restrictions and the controls put in place for coronavirus by sites just make this inevitable. i'd hoped to do a winter trip, but it's just not going to happen. However, i have a few big plans for the van over winter including re-upholstery, new curtains, and maybe a new pop top canvas. The preparations for storage were quite involved. Emptied the van, took out all the seating and the curtains. Also a good clean and hoovering! Finally, gave the van a good wash before putting it in a rather large garage. Just checking back on my records, it's not really an early 'hibernation'. Last year, I put the cover on my Troll on 17/11/19, and the year before I put my Familia under cover on 15/11/18.

 The fitted Gas Heater was an option when buying and new Eriba Puck from a dealer.  In the later Pucks, the heater fitted was the small but efficient Trumatic S2200. Although a handy and compact means of heating the van in colder weather, it did mean the sacrifice of one of the cupboards in order to house the heater. As many caravaners limited their touring to the summer months, and with many visiting campsites with main hook ups, then many bought the caravan without the optional heater. Instead, small oil filled radiators, or fan heaters were used when heating was needed. I am a big fan of basic CL type sites, particularly the really stripped back sites which don't provide power. With my solar panel, I can last indefinitely living 'off grid'. The problem arises when the temperature drops and heating is required. There is no way that a solar system and leisure battery will provide any meaningful heat in cold weather.  I considered it, but decided against 'butchering...