Windsurfing and camping build thread.

[Drewmacaulay]

Your van looks awsome, well done. I use mine for kite surfing (dont shout at me) and trying to plan my layout to carry all my kit so looking forward to seeing your van come along.

Re. Ventilation, I think it would be a good idea to have the kit storage area vented to help it dry out, I know my surfboard bag is still damp after a few days if left in the van so venting would be a good idea, ducting in from your heater and an external vent sounds a good solution to keep the airflow. Could you utilise the rear slam vents? or put a vent in the floor?

I’m no kiter hater - quite enjoy it myself! I’m primarily a windsurfer but will be learning wing foiling this year too.

I’m honestly not sure if the slam vents will be adequate given the amount of moisture. Wondering about mounting one or two wind powered roof vents on the empty space behind the pop top next to the sat nav aerial. While I’m not keen on cutting another hole in the roof it should help keep the van (and kit inside!) cool on sunny days as well as create a good airflow. Have started to look for something low profile. Anyone else fitted these?

 

[Danny1964Boy]

Nice journey dude. I am on the same journey but waiting for my van to arrive. Where are the best stories and advice for water sports/surf bus beach weekend vans?

 

[Tommy]

Excellent work and liking it very much

 

[Drewmacaulay]

Nice journey dude. I am on the same journey but waiting for my van to arrive. Where are the best stories and advice for water sports/surf bus beach weekend vans?

Thank you. Check out Farnorthsurfer’s great van build thread as he’s another windsurfing member. Other than that, there isn’t a lot around that I could find so I’ve designed my build from scratch around what I need to cart around for me plus two windsurfing kids which is two large boards on the roof, two smaller boards inside, storage space on the drivers side for four large sails, three booms and as it’s a LWB there is room behind the seats for a few more smaller sails and assorted wetsuit tubs, boxes of mast extensions etc. Also planning a portable fridge, 10-20l of water storage plus pump and hose for kit rinsing. Might think about a portable gas stove for cooking on the beach. Wondering about a camping loo for emergencies too.
Probably key questions to ask yourself are how long do you think you will be away for each trip, how much windsurfing gear do you want to take, do you want the gear inside or on the roof, how much cooking do you plan to do in the van etc. Hope you don’t have to wait too long for the van!

 

[Drewmacaulay]

Another long delayed update - work still hectic so little time for van fettling. Retrimming of the front seats is complete - an amazing job by Coastal Customs. Had to book in a few weeks in advance as they are so busy but combined it with a trip to the Official Test Centre, a watersports club in Portland Harbour. While it was pretty chilly (snowed a couple of times!) I got out windsurfing and windfoiling on some nice new gear which was ace. Picked up the van at lunchtime with beautiful leather and alcantara seats. These would get quickly knackered by constantly being sat on in wetsuits / board shorts so on the way back I stopped in at Jackyards in Poole to pick up a set of their custom covers in colours my wife and kids chose. Haven’t fitted these yet but they look great quality.

The electrician I was dealing with went AWOL so am going to do it myself with the help of a friend. He got hold of a Sargent EC155 for me but I then realised it’s not going to work with a smart alternator so I’m starting from scratch. Had a good call with Martyn at TravelVolts last week and he is going to send me over a shopping list. So far I have a hookup under the bonnet that comes up under the drivers seat and a large 230ah Bosch battery which I have installed next to the panel behind the driver. This will be hidden behind the board storage when that’s complete. Consumer unit, DCDC charger, inverter and 12v fuse board to install and then connect up to battery, lights, 240v and 12v sockets, heater and electric roof. Leaving solar for now as need to find a small set up for behind the pop top (SWB pop top on LWB van leave some room).

On the board storage side the t-slot aluminium extrusions and fittings have arrived so I spent some time acquiring a mitre saw, pillar drill and a few other bits. Installation is under way but going slowly as the materials are so dear I can’t afford to get it wrong.

Lastly, on the way back from Poole the ACC developed a fault. I decided it was probably down to the bull bar so have had that removed and will be putting it up for sale sometime soon. Hopefully someone else can use it.

 

[S700]

Really cool build. Like the break from the norm!

 

[Drewmacaulay]

So I wanted to have a bed extension without carrying a large board around or having anything permanently fixed in the back. Decided to use t-slot aluminium extrusion to make a frame for the folded up Loc8 table mounted on the rails. Took a while and will defo need some kind of cushion but I’m pretty happy with it. Windsurfing gear storage build going very slowly. No straight lines along the wall means plenty of head scratching but all part of the fun.

 

[twemmy]

Loving the look of this van, looking forward to more updates.

 

[Drewmacaulay]

Quick update on the van which has been getting a little more time recently:
Aluminium extrusion windsurfing gear storage is 80% complete, just the foamex panels to install, straps to secure the board in the space between the frame and the bench seat and occasional use upper second board rack to add. Before I finish it off I need to take it all out and rebuild it adding loctite to every bolt which will be a bit of a job.
On the electrics front my friend Chris helped me install the consumer unit, Redarc 50amp DCDC, a Victron 12/30 mains charger and the 12v fuse board. We also wired in the electric roof, diesel heater, lights etc that Kernow Conversions had left temporarily wired to the vehicle battery. All this is under the seats. Left to install is the inverter and all the 12v/240v/USB sockets. Need to work out a nice solution for fitting sockets to the covers that go over the rear of the seat bases.
I’m not sure if the Redarc unit actually needs the ignition/engine on signal (blue wire) or can sense voltage and turn itself on without. It seems to be working OK at the moment but I guess this might improve charging. I am also not sure if my battery can take the higher power charging profiles so have left it on setting A for now. It’s a 230AH Bosch L5 080 - in hindsight I might have been better off from a packaging perspective with two smaller batteries but you live and learn.
I have some space left under the passenger seat and was thinking to put the 1200w inverter there but the cable run to the battery is a bit too long for my liking so it’s head scratching time for securing it in the unused space between the rear wheel arch and the battery on the drivers side. Can’t see a way to make it visible from outside the frame so hopefully these inverters are set and forget.

 

[Drewmacaulay]

One month on most of the remaining work done and first trip away completed! We just got back from a nice few days in Cornwall seeing my family, doing some kayak fishing off Mullion and of course lots of windsurfing. Am pleased to report that everything worked, everyone was warm and comfortable at night and we were able to cart a huge amount of gear with us. Kit list was:
180litre intermediate windsurfing board on top
130litre freeride board on top
130litre windfoiling / wing surfing board inside
5 sails, 4 masts, 4 booms, various other bits
Two sets of hydrofoils
One massive inflatable wing
Wetsuits, buoyancy aids and harnesses
Less important stuff:
Clothes
Sleeping bags
Camping chairs
Self inflating mattress
Food

Plus four people and one large Labrador.

Some random pics of the van plus finished storage, inverter install with remote on/off switch. All sockets in and working, managed to cut the recessed bit off the panels at the rear of the seat base and replace with some foamex to fit the space before fitting the sockets. Time will tell how robust this is but it’s pretty solid.

Need to finish the ventilation setup for the windsurfing storage and install some rear speakers and a sub under the passenger seat. Would like it to all run off the leisure battery so some wiring to do there.

 

[david173]

Looks a wicked trip glad you got some wind.
Regarding your floor rails i notice you have 4 rails but only two needed for the cali bed are these caravelle rails you have which also fit the cali bed or did you get extra rails to fix your furniture down to?

 

[Tommy]

That’s a well thought out, fit for purpose van you have created are you still contemplating some sort of shower arrangement

 

[Drewmacaulay]

Looks a wicked trip glad you got some wind.
Regarding your floor rails i notice you have 4 rails but only two needed for the cali bed are these caravelle rails you have which also fit the cali bed or did you get extra rails to fix your furniture down to?

Thank you - was a great trip! Best day was when my kids both got out on their windsurfing gear at the same time as me. Makes it all worthwhile. Not much wind for the next couple of weeks so may need to hit the south coast for some sea breezes.

I think they are extra Cali rails - I asked for four to give me flexibility for mounting the board storage plus any future add ons like a pod kitchen or securing a fridge.

 

[Drewmacaulay]

That’s a well thought out, fit for purpose van you have created are you still contemplating some sort of shower arrangement

Thanks Tommy! Hope you are enjoying yours. Yes, a shower is on the list - I put a 12v socket at the back so will be using that for the pump and will fix a large water tank in the boot somehow, probably strapped down to the left hand rail.

 

[Drewmacaulay]

One more pic of the interior from the side. Still need to work out a curved panel for the front of the storage and tidy up the wiring run from under the drivers seat into the storage.

 

[dav1d]

Looks great! I'm in the process of building some aluminium extrusion furniture/cabinets for mine as well. How did you attach it to the van walls - did you use existing holes or have to modify them?

I've looked back through the photos of mine (T6 Kombi) pre-carpet lining and it doesn't have any mounting holes between B and C pillars between the side panel and window - only holes for the side panel. Behind the C pillar there are 2 rows of holes - one where it looks like you've used and one for side panels. Just trying to work out how to secure everything.

 

[Tommy]

Thanks Tommy! Hope you are enjoying yours. Yes, a shower is on the list - I put a 12v socket at the back so will be using that for the pump and will fix a large water tank in the boot somehow, probably strapped down to the left hand rail.

Looking forward to seeing how that progresses and of course usual pictures along the journey

PS can you get attachments for a fridge to be located on the rail system, something that would tick a box for me if possible

 

[Tommy]

One more pic of the interior from the side. Still need to work out a curved panel for the front of the storage and tidy up the wiring run from under the drivers seat into the storage.

View attachment 118577

Love the seat cover choice, checked their website out and some lovely styles and colours to choose from. May have to investigate a little further

 

[Drewmacaulay]

Looks great! I'm in the process of building some aluminium extrusion furniture/cabinets for mine as well. How did you attach it to the van walls - did you use existing holes or have to modify them?

I've looked back through the photos of mine (T6 Kombi) pre-carpet lining and it doesn't have any mounting holes between B and C pillars between the side panel and window - only holes for the side panel. Behind the C pillar there are 2 rows of holes - one where it looks like you've used and one for side panels. Just trying to work out how to secure everything.

Hi David
I used four rivnuts in the holes above the panels and mounted a length of 6020 profile all the way along the side wall to give me options for fixings for furniture. I used some rubber ribbon about 2mm thick all the way along between the 6020 and the wall to give some thermal and vibration isolation. If you look closely at the first pic you can see the rivnuts in the holes before mounting the 6020. I then had to raise the height to just under the windows to get enough space for all the gear so cut some spacers, bolted them in to the top of the 6020 and added a full length 2020 rail on top of the spacers. Not elegant but it works!

How are you getting on with using the extrusion?

 

[Drewmacaulay]

Love the seat cover choice, checked their website out and some lovely styles and colours to choose from. May have to investigate a little further

They are a bit dear but I wanted to have semi-permanent but washable waterproof covers in a nice design and these had good reviews. I picked them up from Denise who makes them in Poole and she was lovely. The family are happy with them from a comfort perspective and they chose the design and colours so I’m not expecting to have to change them for a long time. Thumbs up from me.