By land or sea

[Tom]

After arriving home a week ago from Anza Borrego via a stop in LA, I finally washed the coach and got the maintenance checks done before putting the coach back into storage on the weekend. Our next road trip won't be until April, but I have a few projects to complete before then. One will be the new Blue Ox steering control system which is currently en route to us. That should eliminate the minor steering issues on a "rutted" road and reduce the effects of side winds. It might also help in the event of a front tire blowout.

Also need to run some wires to power the macerator I bought last visit to Camping World. We arrived home from the last trip with full black and grey tanks. I ran temporary wires to the pump, hooked up a 5/8" hose, and opened the sewer cleanout at the house. Worked like a charm. The pump is IMO overpriced, but it sure takes the hassle out of figuring out where to dump on our way home.

Got my "marine fix" the weekend - changed a burned out water pump impeller in a friend's boat. Yesterday I got to check out and start up the big CATs in our old tub and the engines in another friend's boat. I now need to get the bass boat and the dinghy out of mothballs. Haven't been fishing in several months and the dinghy hasn't been started in a very long time.

No road or water trips planned for the next couple of weeks; We have a couple of birthday parties to attend, but that won't stop me getting in some fishing on other days. We had a seal swimming and diving behind the house yeasterday, so I suspect he/she scared away a bunch of fish (and ate the rest).

Had a good storm blow through here yesterday afternoon/evening. Today is a beautiful day, but we have cooler weather and morning fog forecast for the next three days. Maybe we should go back to Arizona. OTOH they've been having their share of rain the last few weeks.

Tom

 

[Ron]

Raining a lot here Tom.  Why we had 1.13 inches of rain since we returned from Gila Bend. 0.30 inched since midnight.  Bit cloudy here but no rain since we got up.

Lots of rain south of you in the LA area.  Looks like Las Vegas had quite a bit too.

 

[Tom]

Sounds like you're getting drenched there Ron.

It's just been a gorgeous day here today. I lowered the bass boat into the water this afternoon, turned the key, and the engine fired right up. I couldn't resist the urge, so I grabbed a couple of poles and went for a ride and did a little fishing. It was definitely t-shirt weather.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Our rig hasn't moved since early December, except to move it out of the way so our guests could use the primary site by the power/water/cable post. It's looking kind of forlorn!  But I've been doing some maintenance and little projects on it and looking forward to getting "on the road again".  One of the improvements is a replacement 12V converter (my inverter is a standalone, w/o a charger, so I have a converter/charger as well as an inverter). I picked up a nice two year old,  90A, 3-stage IOTA switch-mode converter from a guy who upgraded to a Prosine 2500, so I dumped the 50A MAgnetek 950(ferro-magnetic). What a difference! Besides oodles of output, there is no hum,  no excess heat and I have yet to hear the variable speed fans run. Of course, there isn't much load on it right now, but the Magnetec  was always hot and noisy.  It is no wonder Parallax Power Components (nee Magnetek) just announced they have ceased production of those clunkers!  But I still got $102.50 for the 950, selling it on eBay last week.  Wish I could do that more often.

 

[Tom]

Sounds like you got yourself a serious converter there Gary.

 

[Tom]

The Blue Ox steering stabilizer and bracket arrived this afternoon. Looks like a serious piece of equipment. So now I have no excuse, except that Moab is a few months away. I can get a few more days of fishing in before I have to install it (g).

 

[Jim Dick]

Tom,

Don't forget about the wiring problem with the overhead lights.

 

[Tom]

I won't Jim, but I think that rather than bypass the connector by cutting/splicing the wiring and jumpering to one of the spare connectors, I'm going to leave it as is until we get to the factory in August for warranty repairs.

 

[Jim Dick]

Tom,

Sounds like a good idea. Let Monaco replace it properly or as close as they can get.

 

[Ron]

Guess I had better start looking for the latern. ;D ;D

 

[Tom]

LOL Ron. BTW Chris found a lamp like Sam's sewing lamp Very white light. Haven't taken the coach out since she bought it, but it's permanently in the coach.

 

[Ron]

Chris got a lamp for the coach now she will need one for the house. ;D ;D

 

[Tom]

I told her that, but she's happy with the one she at the house. Not as good at the pure white light.

 

[Ron]

Just wait till the next trip and she gets use to the new light.