Sunday Summary #125

More Projects and More Leaks

Hi there,

Welcome to Scho & Jo’s 125th Sunday Summary. This edition of the Sunday Summary was written on a Monday in northeast Florida.

Last Week.

This week was supposed to be installing windows and flooring, but as we’ve learned thus far, life comes with pivots… What started as us installing our two rear windows, which, of course, took all day, unlike any of the instruction manuals have suggested thus far, ended with a water test. One of, if not the biggest, reason for doing all of the exterior changes to the van first is to make the necessary cuts into the van so we can water test each seal before any major damage on the inside of the van can actually happen.

Well… the water test failed. And when I say it failed, I mean it miserably failed. The windows are leaking like a sieve, just gushing with water 🤣 It was quite a demoralizing sight after spending the day installing them, but we took it in strides as it was just another opportunity to learn 👩‍🏫

Installing the two back windows was tough because they’re adjacent to each other, meaning they’re not stand-alone, like the flares or our other two forward windows. Instead, the two windows need to be level and symmetrical to each other. We adhered the first window to the van, lined it up the best we could, and then adhered the second window, lining that window up the best we could. Then we got into our slippery slope… tweaking the first window’s placement to based on the second window. Since it’s just the first window that leaks, we believe this is where we messed up.

After trying to repair the leaks by applying more sealant over the course of the week (apply sealant, wait for it to dry, water test it again, and repeat that process several times), we still have leaks. This means we’re on to our next attempt at fixing the leaks by removing the window and starting over. We’ve ordered a cheese-cutting wire to help us remove the sealant and window in one piece so we can start the process over again and learn from our mistakes. Fingers crossed that it goes according to plan, and we can remove the window without damaging the window or Pivot II!

The process of building our van has been very humbling. As two people who are very eager to travel again, we know that spending time making this van a comfortable home for us is important. We were both a little scarred from living on Pivot with leaky decks (and wet bedding stained from the Taiwanese tea, aka the color of the wood from the rotten wooden core that we removed and replaced with new decks), so we know the importance of a water-tight seal. We’re reminding ourselves that rushing the process will not get us anywhere. As antsy as we are to move forward, we are being patient with ourselves, with the process of learning and making mistakes and reminding ourselves that we are students of life where making mistakes is making progress.

This Week.

This week, we hope to finish the final steps to our DIY prefabricated roof rack, like installing our walkable solar panels, rear scene lights, and ladder. We were waiting for a final piece to arrive to finish the roof rack installation, and now that we have it, we’re excited to finish this project 🥳

We’ll also be starting our floors! The floors consist of insulation, subfloor, and our finished flooring. We’re really excited to start the interior of the van and transform this space into our home because, right now, it still feels very much like a cargo van on the inside.

Videos.

Yesterday we released our latest video, installing our Flarespace flares! We hope you enjoy this first video in our DIY van build series. In keeping with our boat life and Great Loop videos, we share much of the ‘real life’ that goes on. We hope you enjoy 😊

Blogs and Guides.

We’ve been writing more content for our DIY Van Build. If you’re new to our website, the topics we’ve been writing about are:

• Destinations - including detailed travel guides to help you make the most out of each location.

• Great Loop - Expense reports, what qualities to look for in Great Loop boats, Cruising Guides to Great Loop side trips, and more!

• Boat Life - our most used gear, technology, detailed cruising guides, and more!

• Van Life - coming soon!

• Van Build - We’re documenting each step of our van build with more detailed content than our videos.

From the Eyes of Ollie.

The rain is so nice. The air smells different, and the ground becomes wet. I love sitting and watching the rain fall. My parents don’t like the rain inside the van, but I think it might be nice.

Gratitudes

Life throws us curveballs (in this case, leaky windows), which we call pivots, and learning to embrace the pivots or opportunities for learning has made this journey so rewarding. It’s possibly one of the reasons we’re still here, traveling and living life the way we’ve chosen, because of the opportunities to learn, grow, and become people we never imagined. It’s exciting, and we’re here for the ride.

See you next Sunday!

Peace and love,

Jen + Elliot