Sunday Summary #131

Starting Electrical 🔋⚡️🔌

Hi there,

Welcome to Scho & Jo’s 131st Sunday Summary. This edition of the Sunday Summary was written in northeast Florida.

Last Week.

Our van build has officially exited the “follow the instructions manual” stage and has now entered the “figure it out yourself” stage. Immediately, two things stuck out to me:

1. I don’t think I’ve ever missed an instructions manual so much in my entire life.

2. I never expected to say the previous statement.

We decided to move from back to forward in framing our van because our specific layout made the most sense. First came building the structure for the bed, which spans 72” from side to side. Figuring out what type of wood to use (we eventually went with 3/4” sanded ply) and being confident in our decision of how we’re securing it to our van (with rivnuts) was mentally a lot.

That overwhelmed me and led me to about five days of analysis paralysis as I went into architect mode and dusted off some very dull skills. I created a lot of drawings and diagrams of how the bed and adjacent areas would fit together so we would have a plan as we made our cuts into the wood. Overall, it looks really good, and we’re really happy with it; we simply wish it had taken less time.

This Week.

Since last week was Jen’s most anticipated step of the van build, this week is Elliot’s. The start of our electrical build has brought a lot of research and planning. Electrical can be tricky… it requires the correct sized wires, fuses, components, and hardware. The consequence of getting this wrong is starting a fire, which is super dangerous. I’m so proud of Elliot and how hard he has been working hard to plan our electrical system. Elliot learned a lot about electrical on our boat, but creating an electrical system from scratch is another level.

Videos.

Since our last newsletter, we published two videos on YouTube. The first was 5 Lessons from Building our Campervan while we installed the 3M Thinsulate into the van. The second was the beginning stage of framing! We hope you enjoy watching the van come together. 😊

Blogs.

We’ve been writing many new articles on our website, focused primarily on our van build and our favorite local destination, St. Augustine. St. Augustine is accessible by land and water, making it an excellent stop for anyone visiting Florida. It’s known as the oldest city in USA but has much to offer from the history, architecture, and… food!

Currently on the Great Loop?

We wrote a few articles on our website that are great resources for anyone traveling down the Midwest rivers this time of year on the Great Loop. Most boaters (all that we know) stop in Paducah, Kentucky, after the 200+ mile stent on the Mississippi River. We have a detailed guide that’s perfect to read on your cruise so you can best utilize your time in the charming little town. We also wrote two articles on each of the side trips going down the Cumberland River to Nashville, with a wonderful stop in Clarksville, Tennessee, and the Tennessee River to Chattanooga. Lastly, we have our Great Loop Locks Spreadsheet that has all of the locks listed with their contact information, mile marker, notes, and more for sale in our store.

• Ultimate Guide to Paducah, Kentucky

• Cumberland River Cruising Guide

• Best Attractions in Clarksville, Tennessee

• Tennessee River Cruising Guide

• Great Loop Locks spreadsheet

From the Eyes of Ollie.

The past week has been so rainy that it’s been cutting into my walk time. I’m not too happy about it because I love my daily morning and evening walks, but I enjoy smelling the fresh air when it’s raining.

Gratitudes

Although we’ve had quite the analysis paralysis over the past week, we’ve been so happy with how the van is coming together. It looks great and gets us so excited for the upcoming changes. Building a van yourself is tough, but it’s helped me grow a greater appreciation for those who take on DIY projects. It’s slowly coming together, making us so happy because we’ll be exploring the road soon. In the meantime, we’re sponges as we learn something new every day and put our skills to the test.

See you next Sunday!

Peace and love,

Jen + Elliot