Tam &Toby do Europe ...Take two

November is autumn 2020 & december ,han & feb are winter 2020/21

November is autumn. along with sept, oct
winter is dec, jan, feb
spring = march,april ,may,
summer june ,july ,august
Afraid your way out,,July is winter this year in UK. BUSBY.

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Hi Tam, I too planned to do Greece this year but had to cancel due to Covid 19. I did a bit of research into the weather and found to my dismay its more or less the same as the UK in winter. Off course there will be variables but the likelihood is a fair amount of rain and at best temp in the teens.


We plan to return end of next April for a few months when the weather is more or less guaranteed. I shall follow your journey with interest and hope it meets all of your expectations. Plenty of pictures too I hope. Safe Travels.
I dunno like it says 18°November and 14° December.....it ain't that warm in scotland in November December lol

But going by pics dave n Marsha was posting it looked not bad but will see how it goes .....January wasn't that great last year nor was april when I was in South France and North Italy.

Can only give it a go and see
 
Managed to secure a new sog unit for a bargain price of £70 .....jobs a goodun

New sink arrives Friday/Saturday
New main control panel hopefully arrives from Germany next week via apuljack as they had no stock.

Sog kit should be here by Saturday or Monday.

Its all go with Toby these days


But I have stiiiiiiill not found a bloody mechanic to do the cambelt change in one day ...
I haven’t got round yet to order a (modified) sink yet from the seller that you suggested on eBay, but have saved his details. I have since had a message from eBay saying that the price has been reduced from £149 to £89.99, but not sure as to whether this reduced price applies to the Hymer sink. Which price have you paid? The replacement one looks to finish flush with the bottom of the mirror whereas the original has a further flat section that tucks under the mirror ( which, hopefully, is only held in place by the “wood” strips either side). Definitely a modification worth doing as the space gained is considerable. Will be interested to hear how you get on with the fitting. At moment I’m busy refurbishing a bungalow to move into so haven’t had any time to get round to doing jobs on motorhome.
 
I haven’t got round yet to order a (modified) sink yet from the seller that you suggested on eBay, but have saved his details. I have since had a message from eBay saying that the price has been reduced from £149 to £89.99, but not sure as to whether this reduced price applies to the Hymer sink. Which price have you paid? The replacement one looks to finish flush with the bottom of the mirror whereas the original has a further flat section that tucks under the mirror ( which, hopefully, is only held in place by the “wood” strips either side). Definitely a modification worth doing as the space gained is considerable. Will be interested to hear how you get on with the fitting. At moment I’m busy refurbishing a bungalow to move into so haven’t had any time to get round to doing jobs on motorhome.
Yes the price is £149 for the hymer one ....i think he changes the price on the listing to the price for each individual sink

Something to do with the double moulding of the hymer one.

I'll post pics of the new one once I've got it fitted

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Yes the price is £149 for the hymer one ....i think he changes the price on the listing to the price for each individual sink

Something to do with the double moulding of the hymer one.

I'll post pics of the new one once I've got it fitted
Thanks Tam for that. I did think that on the basis of the double moulding, well worth it at the higher price - dread to think what the cost of a Hymer standard sink would be. As well as gaining the extra space afforded by the modified sink our old one is very discoloured, so double bonus for changing.
 
Is that not bad for it when extending it out that far unsupported?
It's a lot of weight to cantilever and until I got this van I've always done it the way you suggest. On my current van it's impossible so I wind it just far enough to be able to reach it - probably nearly 2M out. I'm 6ft tall so anyone shorter would have it out fully to reach it.
 
So after a bit of researching and reading up on acrylic windows and tint film I removed it from the one window I had done this morning. Lots of stuff out there about windows releasing gasses etc

While I had tinted a previous motorhome years back I didn't keep it very long after so ive no idea if it had any issues later or not

So for now as I've other jobs to do anyway I'll leave it till I see if I can find the stuff that doesn't react with acrylic.
 
We tinted the acrylic windows of our last Van & kept it on for 3 years until we sold it. No problem with it whilst we had it, & no problem with the part exchange either. We found the tint very useful, as, like you, we had been using the fly screens for privacy. Our current van has tinted glass windows, which are better for the tint, but are athermic (supposedly) and suffer from condensation!
 
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I dunno like it says 18°November and 14° December.....it ain't that warm in scotland in November December lol

But going by pics dave n Marsha was posting it looked not bad but will see how it goes .....January wasn't that great last year nor was april when I was in South France and North Italy.

Can only give it a go and see
May I suggest you reconsider when to visit Greece to assure guaranteed weather ? You could have a fantastic trip going down through Italy towards end of April. Assuming you are restricted to 90 days, then two weeks to get down 10 weeks exploring and two weeks returning.
I think there is a general consensus on here that the smart move to be made by many who are restricted to 90 Days in the E.U. is Oct-Dec. Spain/Portugal, Jan -March Morocco, April-June. Spain/Portugal (E.U.).
I appreciate getting your dogs over to Morocco is going to cost you but there are big savings that can be made when comparing costs against staying in the E.U. and the main reason many go over is the guaranteed weather. Get down as far as Sidi-Ifni and its all down there waiting for you.
Alternatively, quite a few overwinter down near Tarifa with some great wilding spots near the beach and again another very large community holed up at Cullera, a smashing little seaside resort which benefits greatly from all those wild camping over the winter. What ever way you go I hope you have an adventure.
 
May I suggest you reconsider when to visit Greece to assure guaranteed weather ? You could have a fantastic trip going down through Italy towards end of April. Assuming you are restricted to 90 days, then two weeks to get down 10 weeks exploring and two weeks returning.
I think there is a general consensus on here that the smart move to be made by many who are restricted to 90 Days in the E.U. is Oct-Dec. Spain/Portugal, Jan -March Morocco, April-June. Spain/Portugal (E.U.).
I appreciate getting your dogs over to Morocco is going to cost you but there are big savings that can be made when comparing costs against staying in the E.U. and the main reason many go over is the guaranteed weather. Get down as far as Sidi-Ifni and its all down there waiting for you.
Alternatively, quite a few overwinter down near Tarifa with some great wilding spots near the beach and again another very large community holed up at Cullera, a smashing little seaside resort which benefits greatly from all those wild camping over the winter. What ever way you go I hope you have an adventure.
I'm just itching to get away again Phil and don't want to return to the same place again .....i don't want it to warm as the dogs found it difficult last summer in Spain and Portugal so im hoping that doing September to March will be better .....i was originally going to head through italy to Greece and return via albania montenegro etc but I'm now thinking I may do that in reverse and do croatia albania etc then greece and return through italy next February march.

With any luck I'll get the same winter weather greece got this year and I'll be happy with that.

I will get to Morocco at somepoint ..maybe winter 2021 by which time maybe it will be clearer about travel after brexit ...this year I just want to escape somewhere new.
 
We tinted the acrylic windows of our last Van & kept it on for 3 years until we sold it. No problem with it whilst we had it, & no problem with the part exchange either. We found the tint very useful, as, like you, we had been using the fly screens for privacy. Our current van has tinted glass windows, which are better for the tint, but are athermic (supposedly) and suffer from condensation!
Hmmm maybe I will risk it then ...my worry is causing any permanent damage to my windows which at the minute are near perfect condition.

I have heard a few folk say they did them and had no issues ....the last one I did was certainly OK while I owned it but no idea if any problems later on .

I plan to keep this van a while

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I'm just itching to get away again Phil and don't want to return to the same place again .....i don't want it to warm as the dogs found it difficult last summer in Spain and Portugal so im hoping that doing September to March will be better .....i was originally going to head through italy to Greece and return via albania montenegro etc but I'm now thinking I may do that in reverse and do croatia albania etc then greece and return through italy next February march.

With any luck I'll get the same winter weather greece got this year and I'll be happy with that.

I will get to Morocco at somepoint ..maybe winter 2021 by which time maybe it will be clearer about travel after brexit ...this year I just want to escape somewhere new.
I'm considering going to Greece via Italy and returning via Bulgaria (Black Sea), Romainia, Hungry and Austria. We have visited Austria, Croatia and Slovenia before which we loved. ( No wilding in Croatia and campsite fees go through the roof from around may/June onwards). I will follow your post with interest, especially how you negotiate Albania and Montenegro as this would be my preferred route getting back up and using a future visit to explore other eastern European countries not yet visited. I will be interested to see how you deal with the insurance aspect of driving through Albania and Montenegro, your route and road state. Safe Travels.
 
I'm considering going to Greece via Italy and returning via Bulgaria (Black Sea), Romainia, Hungry and Austria. We have visited Austria, Croatia and Slovenia before which we loved. ( No wilding in Croatia and campsite fees go through the roof from around may/June onwards). I will follow your post with interest, especially how you negotiate Albania and Montenegro as this would be my preferred route getting back up and using a future visit to explore other eastern European countries not yet visited. I will be interested to see how you deal with the insurance aspect of driving through Albania and Montenegro, your route and road state. Safe Travels.
I think for insurance I'm going to just have to do the buy third party at the border method as safeguard don't cover them.

But my insurance renewal is due next month so I'll know more once I've spoke to them ....I'm hoping nothing will have changed with my present cover ...Will know more next month
 
I'm considering going to Greece via Italy and returning via Bulgaria (Black Sea), Romainia, Hungry and Austria. We have visited Austria, Croatia and Slovenia before which we loved. ( No wilding in Croatia and campsite fees go through the roof from around may/June onwards). I will follow your post with interest, especially how you negotiate Albania and Montenegro as this would be my preferred route getting back up and using a future visit to explore other eastern European countries not yet visited. I will be interested to see how you deal with the insurance aspect of driving through Albania and Montenegro, your route and road state. Safe Travels.
We travelled to Crete in 2014 via Croatia, Montengro and Albania. I have a spreadsheet with details. If you want a copy PM me your email address. We bought insurance at the border(s).
 
It's a lot of weight to cantilever and until I got this van I've always done it the way you suggest. On my current van it's impossible so I wind it just far enough to be able to reach it - probably nearly 2M out. I'm 6ft tall so anyone shorter would have it out fully to reach it.
Suppose your better half could support it with a wash brush.BUSBY.
 

lot of info here
 
Why is it that everything I do or try to do with my van to improve or repair there are hurdles?

So the new sink arrived this morning .....it doesn't fit

Its at least 30mm short on the width and the rear panel is bowed rather than straight and as unlike the original one that has a bit that tucks under the mirror this one doesn't so no idea how you would fix that to the wall

Overall the quality of the finish is also not that great :( its certainly more rigid and I think less likely to break than the thin plastic original . ..but it doesn't fit.

When I asked the guy if he did hymer sinks and supplied him with pics of my original one he simply said yes ...he didn't ask for sizes or measurements so I assumed they were a standard size ....After all I have one hymer ive not measured the sinks in others

I'd have assumed as a sink maker he would have asked if he suspected different sizes

So my old sink is now completely unusable as knowing this one was arriving today I'd started stripping it out and found around the drain area was a cracked etc so its knackered.

And I've waited 2 weeks for this one 🙁

I've contacted the seller and sent him these photos so I will see what he says now ....but I'm not happy ...
20200711_095013.jpg
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I'm just itching to get away again Phil and don't want to return to the same place again .....i don't want it to warm as the dogs found it difficult last summer in Spain and Portugal so im hoping that doing September to March will be better .....i was originally going to head through italy to Greece and return via albania montenegro etc but I'm now thinking I may do that in reverse and do croatia albania etc then greece and return through italy next February march.

With any luck I'll get the same winter weather greece got this year and I'll be happy with that.

I will get to Morocco at somepoint ..maybe winter 2021 by which time maybe it will be clearer about travel after brexit ...this year I just want to escape somewhere new.
I’m in exactly the same boat...can’t go until Mid October now as job has come up. I think Sept, Oct, Nov will be OK in your plan but I think Dec,Jan, Feb in Greece will be less good although your friends seem to think it is OK so I could be wrong. I reckon Dec, Jan, Feb in Morocco like PhilandMena said will be a whole lot nicer (weather wise). If Greece had exactly the same weather as Morocco I would choose Greece...so it’s all about the weather....if you could get across to Crete maybe a bit better...but even then.

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