It rained.
And rained.
And it kept on raining.
And it was bitter cold.
Despite this, I finished most of the Capri fit-out and externals; new running lights front and rear, roof and body sanded and re-painted. All the chassis underneath had been de-rusted and painted at the start of the project, a pretty unpleasant but essential job which took a week to complete.
Inside the caravan, I framed up a permanent queen-sized bed and fitted a new bench made from a recycled timber which I gave several coats of varnish. I have new filament lights for the tarted-up wall fittings. All the surfaces on the ceiling, cupboards and walls were sanded before numerous coats of fresh paint. (Still a few drop-sheets and uncovered squabs lying around in there.)
Sadly, it was too cold to lay the new vinyl flooring and it was too wet to do any tweaks and touch-ups on the exterior. So those few things had to wait until Spring.
Meantime, my mate Al followed me down the coast to help with taking the beastie for its WOF check. It’s a BIG caravan. Two point four metres wide, nearly four metres long and low to the ground. It tows fine but jeez you can’t see much around it.
I was hoping the draw-bar would pass muster, but it didn’t. As it’s a crucial part of the entire structure, linking the tow vehicle to the caravan frame, it has to be sound. The inspector wasn’t happy with a small section and suggested a patch or draw-bar replacement.
Since it’s a critical and specialised piece and not the kind of thing you want to fall-short with, it required a professional.
Luckily for me, Al is a welder. He offered to fabricate and fit a new draw-bar. Halleluyah. He’s had the caravan at his place since then, waiting for the weather to improve so he can weld the new draw-bar to the frame.
But the rain …
So, if you were wondering what ever happened to the Capri project, it’s ongoing. Just flooring, curtains and squabs to finish it off.
Meantime, I’ve been publishing the next Cal Nyx novel (available as an ebook and paperback, see website for deets) and working on several other projects. So stay tuned…
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