Full time through winter in search of new life

[Figaro]

Unless you can open it to the locals for an annual membership fee and a €1 per person per day

They're still a huge money pit, but it does make sense to maximize income whatever way you can.
He'll be up against the local health clubs with saunas, gym and classes etc thrown in as well as the pool.

 

[dawsey]

I think there's always a market for good value transit sites....don't forget that people in tents and caravans probably outnumber MHs by a fair margin and they'll always need somewhere to stop off en route. There's also plenty of motorhomers out there who prefer campsites.....whether its for the perceived extra security, the need for EHU, or just because they prefer it (they don't need a reason).

For example.....if we're staying for just one night then we'll usually look for an aire rather than a campsite....its cheaper and usually easier. But last year we chose to stay at a campsite just outside Modena for around €32 per night instead of the sosta the other side of the city which was only €20. The campsite wasn't even that great: the facilities were dated, it was really noisy because it was tucked into the bend of a motorway exit, and right next to a huge industrial estate. But the weather was really really hot and the thought of being able to cool off in the pool and having a bit of shade was attractive.

And we obviously weren't the only ones as it was pretty busy....with mostly motorhomes, but also a good number of caravans and a few tents. I don't think this forum is particularly representative of the majority of campers its attitude to sites vs aires.

Completely correct. The walkers, cyclists motorbikes all with tents, trailer tents, caravans, day vans, surf buses and old VWs plus all the families with kids all want a proper campsite and they outnumber the affluent older folks in self sufficient and /or luxury motorhomes who don’t need and very often don’t want to spend money on a site by about 10 to 1.

Even then, we see loads of people here in motorhomes. As you say, they don’t need a reason.

 

[dawsey]

They're still a huge money pit, but it does make sense to maximize income whatever way you can.
He'll be up against the local health clubs with saunas, gym and classes etc thrown in as well as the pool.

You don’t think our plans run to a health centre…? - think again

 

[dawsey]

dawsey

Don't ever think of going into the Epitath writing industry ....There must be something nice you can say ...

I’ve said it. The campsite itself could be a very nice place. It has a near limitless supply of new customers who can’t and won’t stay on any free aire, because they are a caravan or have kids, or who need to buy food, drinks, ice creams, beers etc etc because all they have is a tent. Maybe a giant and amazing tent the size of a house that magically pops out of a trailer, but a tent all the same……

 

[sylvester1954]

Hello all, this continues my earlier thread started some months ago which got deleted by mods due to me mentioning the B word…

In October we (myself and my French wife Beatrice) completed the sale of our UK property and set out in our 20yr old B544 to find a project in France. Having been into campers since my early 20s (some near 30 years ago) I/we want to buy a campsite to develop.

In earlier threads I mentioned how I spent a couple of months prepping the old bus to be completely self sufficient - it had to get through a continental winter with us full timing. We’d be in France, so overnighting would be super easy in their system of aires-de-camping car, however, often there’d be no hook up options and water points would be off to protect from frost damage. To preserve funds, campsites would be avoided.

Hence the two 18kg Gaslow LPG tanks, 200Ah of lithium and 600W solar (covering pretty much every spare square foot of the roof) and 25/50A B2B to keep the batteries nicely charged. Systems to collect rainwater and even purify river water were all plumbed in. Adamant that she needed a full oven and microwave (installing a microwave in there is an excellent way to repurpose the big old CRT TV cabinet ), and to be able to run hairdryer and hair straighteners, a high end 2kW inverter was also integrated into all the existing electrics, with me in the process discovering that there is definitely such things as ‘low end’ invertors. When the 1st so-called 2kw rated inverter (ebay, c£120) failed under just 1300W of microwave load. I took it apart to find it had an internal, hard soldered, 80A fuse. Here was something advertised as a 2kW (4KW peak!), that was guaranteed to fail if run with more than a 1kW load. I then spent twice a much on something of the same nominal capacity but somehow twice the size.

Already running out of load capacity with safari tent, roof AC (for summer) and sat dish, when I decided I needed an on board alternative mode of transport other than the Mrs’s old push bike (a 110kg 250cc motorbike, itself necessitating a 25kg chassis carrier for my elderly non-garage equipped camper ) - I had to uprate. Going to the max 3700kg kept us (just about) the right side of UK law. Some Dunlop air assistance on the Alko torsion bar took care of the ‘soggy bottom’, and uprated springs and new dampers at the front took care of the ‘soggy front’ (?)

Loads of stuff goes wrong with old campers - since prepping it and doing a trial run in summer, in addition to routine servicing, I have sorted all manner of stuff

• fridge sparking constantly (serviced, burner cleaned, water ingress (from hob drain) issue resolved
• drop down bed gas struts failed (replaced easily and cheaply enough with pattern 1.7kN units).
• water pump failed (again replaced easy enough. I now carry a spare pump as it is really inconvenient to have no water at all)
• water pump non return valve then failed (fixed with a second in line non return valve)
• boiler purge valve failed (again easy enough replacement)

with all these watery things fixed, for the first time I had pressure remaining in all taps at any time (instead of gurgles and spluttering when opening if left for more than 10min..). This then caused the shower tap to fail internally (drip drip heard in the cubicle at night) so I replaced that after 3 attempts to fix it.

Finally, some element of the various failed valves must have made its way into a pipe as all cold water pressure was lost and cold tap (kitchen) output reduced to a trickle. Fixed by disconnecting all cold pipes from boiler, routing the pipes temporarily outside and connecting mains pressure water direct to the kitchen tap to back flush. It worked, though I never found the offending component.

• bathroom roof vent failed. Just age and fatigue. replaced with something from ebay which required me to spend a day chopping it to pieces to make it fit…
• kitchen turbo vent failed - in addition to the usual banging when retracting, bearings then went on motor producing terrible noises. After some oiling I gave up and bought something cheap on ebay (I by now should have known better). what garbage, a remote control thing which lasted a month before failing.
• roof AC failed on the summer - just age, it was same age as the camper. A Telair Silent whose manufacturer was obviously having a joke with the name..Replaced with a Truma Aventa compact (so I could run it off the solar panels, at least in theory ) - this then failed within a month but Truma sent a new sensor under warranty which I fitted myself, after pretending to be a service agent to get them to send it in the first place…..

• light bar electrics all failed when someone in UK bashed into it (and helpfully drove off) - I just made up a new bar
• ‘mood lighting’ as demanded by the mrs if she were to spend loads of time in there. I experimented with all sorts of lights - fitting and then removing all sorts of LED as the light colour was just nasty. I eventually just fitted halogens back in the light units, and recessed LED strip lights in various places for a subtle lighting option, one of which is on the front of the drop down bed, making it look from the front like one of those crazy over illuminated trucks when on!

Guess what we found to be the best lighting solution? - A normal 240V bedside table lamp with an LED bulb. Just runs off the invertor and produces nice lighting.

- then the worst job of all, noticing sometimes awful smells when driving if ‘someone’ had used the loo and it hadnt been emptied, and noticing effluent collecting in the cassette recess, I diagnosed (eventually ) a leaky cassette seal. It was limescale, same thing as knackers kettles and shower heads, causing it to fail to fully seal when closed, then driving would allow splashes to make it outside the tank and into the van - an unpleasant job, but very simply fixed by removing the silicone seal in the tank and thoroughly cleaning it with a vinegar solution.

In the next post I will outline how the first 2 months went for us mooching around darkest France, not a single night on site or on hook up, if anyone interested

Happy new year - Graham and Beatrice

Hello all, this continues my earlier thread started some months ago which got deleted by mods due to me mentioning the B word…

In October we (myself and my French wife Beatrice) completed the sale of our UK property and set out in our 20yr old B544 to find a project in France. Having been into campers since my early 20s (some near 30 years ago) I/we want to buy a campsite to develop.

In earlier threads I mentioned how I spent a couple of months prepping the old bus to be completely self sufficient - it had to get through a continental winter with us full timing. We’d be in France, so overnighting would be super easy in their system of aires-de-camping car, however, often there’d be no hook up options and water points would be off to protect from frost damage. To preserve funds, campsites would be avoided.

Hence the two 18kg Gaslow LPG tanks, 200Ah of lithium and 600W solar (covering pretty much every spare square foot of the roof) and 25/50A B2B to keep the batteries nicely charged. Systems to collect rainwater and even purify river water were all plumbed in. Adamant that she needed a full oven and microwave (installing a microwave in there is an excellent way to repurpose the big old CRT TV cabinet ), and to be able to run hairdryer and hair straighteners, a high end 2kW inverter was also integrated into all the existing electrics, with me in the process discovering that there is definitely such things as ‘low end’ invertors. When the 1st so-called 2kw rated inverter (ebay, c£120) failed under just 1300W of microwave load. I took it apart to find it had an internal, hard soldered, 80A fuse. Here was something advertised as a 2kW (4KW peak!), that was guaranteed to fail if run with more than a 1kW load. I then spent twice a much on something of the same nominal capacity but somehow twice the size.

Already running out of load capacity with safari tent, roof AC (for summer) and sat dish, when I decided I needed an on board alternative mode of transport other than the Mrs’s old push bike (a 110kg 250cc motorbike, itself necessitating a 25kg chassis carrier for my elderly non-garage equipped camper ) - I had to uprate. Going to the max 3700kg kept us (just about) the right side of UK law. Some Dunlop air assistance on the Alko torsion bar took care of the ‘soggy bottom’, and uprated springs and new dampers at the front took care of the ‘soggy front’ (?)

Loads of stuff goes wrong with old campers - since prepping it and doing a trial run in summer, in addition to routine servicing, I have sorted all manner of stuff

• fridge sparking constantly (serviced, burner cleaned, water ingress (from hob drain) issue resolved
• drop down bed gas struts failed (replaced easily and cheaply enough with pattern 1.7kN units).
• water pump failed (again replaced easy enough. I now carry a spare pump as it is really inconvenient to have no water at all)
• water pump non return valve then failed (fixed with a second in line non return valve)
• boiler purge valve failed (again easy enough replacement)

with all these watery things fixed, for the first time I had pressure remaining in all taps at any time (instead of gurgles and spluttering when opening if left for more than 10min..). This then caused the shower tap to fail internally (drip drip heard in the cubicle at night) so I replaced that after 3 attempts to fix it.

Finally, some element of the various failed valves must have made its way into a pipe as all cold water pressure was lost and cold tap (kitchen) output reduced to a trickle. Fixed by disconnecting all cold pipes from boiler, routing the pipes temporarily outside and connecting mains pressure water direct to the kitchen tap to back flush. It worked, though I never found the offending component.

• bathroom roof vent failed. Just age and fatigue. replaced with something from ebay which required me to spend a day chopping it to pieces to make it fit…
• kitchen turbo vent failed - in addition to the usual banging when retracting, bearings then went on motor producing terrible noises. After some oiling I gave up and bought something cheap on ebay (I by now should have known better). what garbage, a remote control thing which lasted a month before failing.
• roof AC failed on the summer - just age, it was same age as the camper. A Telair Silent whose manufacturer was obviously having a joke with the name..Replaced with a Truma Aventa compact (so I could run it off the solar panels, at least in theory ) - this then failed within a month but Truma sent a new sensor under warranty which I fitted myself, after pretending to be a service agent to get them to send it in the first place…..

• light bar electrics all failed when someone in UK bashed into it (and helpfully drove off) - I just made up a new bar
• ‘mood lighting’ as demanded by the mrs if she were to spend loads of time in there. I experimented with all sorts of lights - fitting and then removing all sorts of LED as the light colour was just nasty. I eventually just fitted halogens back in the light units, and recessed LED strip lights in various places for a subtle lighting option, one of which is on the front of the drop down bed, making it look from the front like one of those crazy over illuminated trucks when on!

Guess what we found to be the best lighting solution? - A normal 240V bedside table lamp with an LED bulb. Just runs off the invertor and produces nice lighting.

- then the worst job of all, noticing sometimes awful smells when driving if ‘someone’ had used the loo and it hadnt been emptied, and noticing effluent collecting in the cassette recess, I diagnosed (eventually ) a leaky cassette seal. It was limescale, same thing as knackers kettles and shower heads, causing it to fail to fully seal when closed, then driving would allow splashes to make it outside the tank and into the van - an unpleasant job, but very simply fixed by removing the silicone seal in the tank and thoroughly cleaning it with a vinegar solution.

In the next post I will outline how the first 2 months went for us mooching around darkest France, not a single night on site or on hook up, if anyone interested

Happy new year - Graham and Beatrice

I can only say that l am truly in awe of your repair/refit abilities..l am left feeling somewhat inadequate as l sit in my van staring at my newly purchased Sureflow water pump to have a go at fitting it myself, on paper ridiculously easy to do.

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[Brains]

They're still a huge money pit, but it does make sense to maximize income whatever way you can.
He'll be up against the local health clubs with saunas, gym and classes etc thrown in as well as the pool.

The answer is maybe to go downmarket with the locals.

Offer a membership fee at a low figure, only available in French.
Then a minimal amount per person per day ('membership rates') to use the swimming pool in season.

The idea being that local mummies bring the kids for entire days during the school holidays to sit around the pool and also maybe after school during term time.
The pool is full, the kids eat ice cream and the mummies are on the wine (Gin optional)

You may also have a bunch of regular users who hit the pool early and just do lengths.

This way you get in with the locals and the only competition may be the municipal pool (if there is one)

At least this may cover a percentage of your running costs for the pool, but it will never be a profit centre.

 

[Landy Andy]

Yeah. That wound make me want to stay on his site.
A small swimming pool, and everyday that the summer is good the local kids come along and fill it, whilst running around screaming and messing about as kids do, whilst not spending money in the bar, or restaurants.
Campsites with kids clubs are bad enough, but at least they don’t allow them to use the pool.

 

[Brains]

Yeah. That wound make me want to stay on his site.
A small swimming pool, and everyday that the summer is good the local kids come along and fill it, whilst running around screaming and messing about as kids do, whilst not spending money in the bar, or restaurants.
Campsites with kids clubs are bad enough, but at least they don’t allow them to use the pool.

 

[dawsey]

Yeah. That wound make me want to stay on his site.
A small swimming pool, and everyday that the summer is good the local kids come along and fill it, whilst running around screaming and messing about as kids do, whilst not spending money in the bar, or restaurants.
Campsites with kids clubs are bad enough, but at least they don’t allow them to use the pool.

ha. While we would be unlikely to go as far as Brains suggests, remember that any campsite pool will be teeming with kids in summer anyway.

Our plans are to overhaul the existing pool, then, as quick as finance and our development/expansion plans permit, create another pool next to it allowing some separation between a kids play/splash area and an adult swimming pool. It might be covered to extend the season (and maybe take paying locals), more capex but lower opex, and it would really add value, though from an aesthetics perspective there are good reasons not to.

The main thing is to get the place in the first place without paying too much. It may not be possible. The French can be a proud and stubborn lot, same as the Brits

 

[Carpmart]

It’s clear you need to persuade the owner to amend the agreed value by a not insignificant amount… what is plan B if you don’t agree a value that is realistic?

If you were us reading this, I’m not sure you would believe that anyone was going to put everything on the line for something with so much risk and so many problems… the whole story has an increasing aire (sic) of bull crap about it!

I know this was mentioned previously, but you're not sat in your lounge in mid Wales on a massive wind up are you?

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[dawsey]

I can only say that l am truly in awe of your repair/refit abilities..l am left feeling somewhat inadequate as l sit in my van staring at my newly purchased Sureflow water pump to have a go at fitting it myself, on paper ridiculously easy to do.

Well we really are late to the party….

Nothing to be worried about, campers are very simple things. There are many on here who will be happy to walk you through any process you might need, from changing a bulb to changing an engine. It’s all just a bunch of stuff glued, screwed and bolted together. You just need some simple tools and a bit of patience for most things.

 

[dawsey]

the whole story has an increasing aire (sic) of bull crap about it!

I know this was mentioned previously, but you're not sat in your lounge in mid Wales on a massive wind up are you?

Plan B is back to the search. We discovered this morning the one in Dordogne has sold. He must have got his 50k higher price.

There are suspicions that I am a bit of a Walter Mitty type character, but if I am sitting in a garage in wales I must have a vivid imagination to make up all this….?

and for what? just to entertain you lot ?

Assuming it goes through, we are prepared to offer a few days free stay in October or November (pool won’t be open, but there would be the most amazing pizza) in exchange for some help clearing brush, weeds, ivy, suckers etc, and getting rid of some of the tons and tons of rubbish at the local municipal. We are going to apply for permission for a Nov 5 bonfire. Won’t mention anything about burning Catholics though. Nothing back breaking. Power tools and golf caddies with trailers can be provided as I’m sure you lot are going to in general be a very experienced and safe bunch.

 

[Riverbankannie]

I imagine you in your MH (watching the rain) on this potential site, twiddling your thumbs a little while you observe the workings (or not) the clientele coming and going, and wait for the outcome of next week. You have little else to do except keep us entertained. You have won our hearts if not our minds and we are rooting for you.

 

[dawsey]

I imagine you in your MH (watching the rain) on this potential site, twiddling your thumbs a little while you observe the workings (or not) the clientele coming and going, and wait for the outcome of next week. You have little else to do except keep us entertained. You have won our hearts if not our minds and we are rooting for you.

That’s spot on. Many thanks for the kind sentiment. I’m a bit of a tough cookie but Bea is extremely nervous and anxious.

 

[monzer]

If dawsey is a troll he's the best one we've had on here in a very long time. @597 or whatever he was called was nowhere near this imaginative.

Can we keep him?

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[Coastal Cruiser.]

Just get me a large excavator for a few days and I will pop over for Pizza and then level whole the site for you,

If it don’t move it’s gonna get levelled

 

[dawsey]

Just get me a large excavator for a few days and I will pop over for Pizza and then level whole the site for you,

If it don’t move it’s gonna get levelled

Now how can an offer like that be refused…

We just have seen that the owner has followed up on a suggestion I first made to him 2 weeks ago, that he run a wire from the site 130m across to the cooks ‘encampment’ so that the 24/7 generator can go off and the customers can finally have some night time peace….

This afternoon the wire has appeared and the, ahem, ‘acoustically insulated’ generator is finally off. The newly ‘camouflaged’ encampment is silent - hooray must surely say all the neighbours

The first thing for the ‘Cruiser’ to level….

 

[olley]

Big enough

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Big enough
View attachment 790102

That’ll do nicely
Probably cost €50k to fuel up and another €20k for transport.
No worries though just add it to the loan

 

[chaser]

Now how can an offer like that be refused…

We just have seen that the owner has followed up on a suggestion I first made to him 2 weeks ago, that he run a wire from the site 130m across to the cooks ‘encampment’ so that the 24/7 generator can go off and the customers can finally have some night time peace….

This afternoon the wire has appeared and the, ahem, ‘acoustically insulated’ generator is finally off. The newly ‘camouflaged’ encampment is silent - hooray must surely say all the neighbours

View attachment 790096
The first thing for the ‘Cruiser’ to level….

Who will be paying for the electric?

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[dawsey]

Who will be paying for the electric?

As there’s no metering it is going to be the business. He’s connected to the campsite network. Everybody is happy. The owner cos the cook remains safely offsite when not burning the pizza and so can’t pester the females, the campers are happier cos it’s now quiet, and presumably the cook is also happier because he no longer has to pay for the fuel for his genny. Result. Just a shame for his business that the owner didn’t do it weeks ago.

 

[dawsey]

If dawsey is a troll he's the best one we've had on here in a very long time. @597 or whatever he was called was nowhere near this imaginative.

Can we keep him?

I’m now fascinated to learn more about @597 and their substandard trolling…?

I will be here until I have some real work to do, then I will vanish from here but pop up on other business focussed social media where a whole new story will be revealed.

We heard an estimate on the repair to the walls from the owner last week. € 3k to rebuild a 2m section that’s just collapsed and we know the bugger won’t do it before he sells. Had a look today and there’s about 20-30m that’s already fully or partly down, or is about to fall due to the stink trees and the ivy. Probably 50k all in to put that right. More and more stuff that is really basic but needs serious money.

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

It was 596, some articles still there if you search!

 

[chaser]

I have said you ought to get it on the Tele but I don't think you would get it on. They would never believe it

 

[chaser]

596 was a totally different ball game, he would come on and ask something, then if anyone answered him he would turn it all around so that he could argue and say he knew all about what he had asked before, he said he had boats and aeroplanes but didn't know the first thing about motorhomes.
Strange guy, he did it twice under different names.

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[Dutch 68]

I still believe this one will be a none starter but I wouldn’t vanish from here completely , it might get you some much needed custom, as many social media as possible lol

 

[Minxy]

Plan B is back to the search. We discovered this morning the one in Dordogne has sold. He must have got his 50k higher price.

There are suspicions that I am a bit of a Walter Mitty type character, but if I am sitting in a garage in wales I must have a vivid imagination to make up all this….?

and for what? just to entertain you lot ?

Assuming it goes through, we are prepared to offer a few days free stay in October or November (pool won’t be open, but there would be the most amazing pizza) in exchange for some help clearing brush, weeds, ivy, suckers etc, and getting rid of some of the tons and tons of rubbish at the local municipal. We are going to apply for permission for a Nov 5 bonfire. Won’t mention anything about burning Catholics though. Nothing back breaking. Power tools and golf caddies with trailers can be provided as I’m sure you lot are going to in general be a very experienced and safe bunch.

You have heard about the funster rally where they race round on old mopeds haven't you? I suspect your golf caddies would be similarly 'abused'!

 

[chrispenrallt]

Please don’t disappear Dawsey and Bea it’s so interesting reading about what you intend to do. I wish you all the very best with your meeting !

 

[dawsey]

Please don’t disappear Dawsey and Bea it’s so interesting reading about what you intend to do. I wish you all the very best with your meeting !

We will try as we are fairly invested in this old money pit but it won’t be easy. He sees we have had or are organising specialist inspection of walls, trees, pool and even the existing statics (thanks) and is aware the critical lending criteria have not been met. He also sees that we are witnessing a very poor season and all the difficulties he has with staff. Clever Bea has worked out that the settings on his website haven’t been updated so folk can’t book short stays as he has now supposedly decided. It reeks of desperation, there are workers staying here in signwritten vans, which should be a strict no in season. He trusted his young staff on reception to convert enquires to bookings and we discovered they couldn’t even be bothered to serve wine by the glass. The winds today have brought down dead tree branches - 10 dead trees on site he is trusting to luck one doesn’t kill a child. open manhole covers with broken lids are everywhere, the place after the rains and the winds (with debris everywhere all the pot holes full of water and mud) looks more like a refugee camp than a campsite. To say it looks ‘unloved’ is understatement.

Even I am losing my enthusiasm, and hardening my attitude. It won’t be a nice conversation.

 

[Rogerwyn]

Big enough
View attachment 790102

5130

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