"Land Yachting"

[Loren Beach]

Quite a long article appeared in our morning paper about this little company and their business of restoring classic travel trailers, small and large.
Reading about the owners and what goes into a restoration, I could not help but notice some similarity with sailors restoring their 60's/70's Ericsons...


Systems to replace. Basic structure to upgrade, at least in some cases. While our boats start out a lot stronger (given their need to survive in an ocean), most of the systems and interior/exterior refinishing parts sounded kind of familiar.

I looked for the link to the Oregonian article on line, but was not successful.

http://flytecamp.com/Flyte_Camp_Vintage_Trailer_Restoration/Welcome.html

Anyhow, the company site has neat photos and some owner/customer bio stuff.

IIRC, Glyn has/had a restored Airstream!


Sidebar: at a boat & RV show last year here, there was a small display of brand new teardrop trailers! There were quite a few people looking them over, too.

Cruising, by Land or Sea...
:nerd:


Regards,

Loren

 

[davisr]

tumbleweed tiny houses

Loren,

I was struck by sort of the same thought about a year ago when I ran across an article about a young couple that decided to set sail, so to speak, across America on their Tumbleweed Tiny House. These are not vintage, but new designs. Nevertheless, the systems involved reminded me of the necessary systems aboard our Ericsons.

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

Regards,
Roscoe

 

[toddbrsd]

Sidebar: at a boat & RV show last year here, there was a small display of brand new teardrop trailers! There were quite a few people looking them over, too.

Cruising, by Land or Sea...

About 4 years ago, before I bought my Ericson, I built a teardrop trailer from scratch. Here is a slideshow of the build if you are interested:

http://s394.photobucket.com/albums/pp21/toddbrsd/Teardrop/?albumview=slideshow

I actually did it as a hobby and have not even used it, except my girls and I have slept in it on the side of the house a few times!

I am now in the early stages of restoring/modifying a 32' Iroquois catamaran. I have started a blog to chronical the process:

http://resurrectionofvivace.blogspot.com/

I do have a day job, but you know what they say about Idle hands!

 

[davisr]

sea island campers

Todd,

That's thoroughly impressive work. Really like that camper. You might be intrested in this website. Mark Bayne, here in Charleston, specializes in boat-building, but he has also branched out recently and started making tear-drop campers.

http://www.seaislandboatworks.com/

Regards,
Roscoe

 

[Loren Beach]

Not only is Todd's little trailer impressive but his "tow car" is also a classic!
( I never owned a Mini but was half-owner (!) of a Morris Minor when I was stationed overseas... )

Also knew a guy that used to race and autocross a Full Monty 1275-S Mini.
Now that was a terror of a little car! :0

Threads like this are a real joy!!


LB

 

[toddbrsd]

Projects, projects

Roscoe, Loren,

Thanks for the kind words. The Mini Countryman (1969) is pretty much stock. Doesn't need a lot of interior work, but since it was "relocated" outside of the garage a few years ago by the admiral's need for garage space, it is likely going to be my next major project.

The teardrop weighs in at about 900 lbs, so it tows pretty easily behind the mini, although, I don't know if I would make any long trips. I just like the way they look together. In fact, the Mini was the inspiration for building the teardrop.

All of these projects, I have had no previous experience with, but sometimes you gotta just get in there and "Git 'er done".

 

[davisr]

tiny house couple

I found the link to the article I mentioned about the young couple -- the one that built one of those tumbleweed campers. It's really amazing to see how much their "camper," if you want to call it that, has that home-sweet-home look on the inside, and out. It's heavy, but not much different in weight from an E25. Do you think this thing turns a few heads when they bring it into the anchorage, I mean the camp ground?

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/767382/list/Houzz-Tour--Tiny-Home-Built-for-Big-Adventure/

Roscoe