kiwibird: Caravan repairs

It is now 9.30 pm, and my head has been glued to a story I found on my Kindle. A story that I had forgotten I had downloaded, a bit of a find really as I am desperate to find something to read, other than newspapers. I think I have read everything about Brexit, and governments, and elections, and none of it is great reading. Depressing really. The bar has been closed since Sunday so I cannot look for a book in the stack of books that people leave there. I cannot download books onto the Kindle reader, as the wifi that I have paid to use, only allows two electronic devices, and I have used that up with my telephone and laptop. Woe betide me!

We spent the day in the campsite, with the idea of fixing up all the problems with the caravan. It has been a windy day, but mostly sunny, so a good day for getting washing dry, and sticking strong waterproof tape to the windows of the caravan.

But first, a lovely coffee with a friend, and a catch up on what has happened during the past year. By this time the washing had dried so we were able to get it in and put away. The washing was done in the big washing machine here for nine euros. No handwashing, those days are long gone.

Then it was lunch time, followed by the required rest for an hour. Nothing to read though except for online newspapers. Bah.

Finally at 2 pm we made a start on the caravan. Walter got out the new roll of waterproof tape, plus a bottle of acetone, great stuff and freely available from supermarkets here. Not the same stuff for removing nail polish, a little too strong but smells the same, It is fantastic for removing old sticky tape or adhesive from caravans.

First off, the back window of the caravan which has a large crack in it. In fact three of the caravan windows have cracks in them, which we have taped up over the years. The hot weather and general climate here plays havoc with the caravan exteriors. A few years ago we bought a caravan cover, which lasted less than two years before it disintegrated. The joys of having a caravan in storage and exposed to the elements.

First Walter took off the old tape with the acetone, which I then washed down with water. When it was dry he put the new tape on, lots of it. My job was to take off the temporary insect screen inside, which was falling off anyway. We will no longer be here during very hot weather, so no need to worry about mozzies in the little room. I also put up the blind, which had fallen off, and it works.

Walter is not wearing appropriate colours for working on caravans.

Now one may wonder why not replace the windows. They cost thousands of Euros to replace, which is why we have not done so. Expensive parts of a caravan. They are double glazed windows here, unlike in Australia and New Zealand.

Walter looking a bit cheesy, as he pulls another strip off the roll of tape. We chose grey tape, which is decidedly better than the orange tape we put on the windows previously.

After taping the side window and the front window, Walter took his trusty acetone up onto the roof in order to take off old adhesive around the broken vent. He then applied plenty of adhesive to a new vent, plus his hands, shirt and shorts. Luckily the acetone took the adhesive off his hands, shirt and shorts, especially as the white shirt is new. He maintains his white shirt is only a little dirty now.

In the meantime, I washed the net curtains, cleaned the edges of the windows and fixed the corner of the side window. The curved part in the photograph below. The curved part is a separate piece and not attached to the rest of the frame. it had moved downwards and was no longer stopping the window from sliding sideways when opened. All I did was unscrewed the curved part, moved it back into its correct position and then screwed it back in again. And hey presto it was fixed. Why did I not do this years ago.