Pennsylvania

IF I based my opinion of a state on what I see while driving on a major Interstate, I would think that Pennsylvania doesn’t care about how it looks. Every large tree is gone. All that is left are these pathetic-looking tiny stick-figure trees.

I often forget how simple-minded and short-sighted we as humans are. We don’t seem to learn fast enough. We’ve clear cut most of the country at one time or another, not just one time either.  Some places have been clear cut three or four times.  Rather sad and disturbing.  Except that some people read that and think that, "well, it’s ok, cuz it just grows back, so what’s the problem?" Bio-diveristy, my friend, or lack thereof, that’s what the problem is.  

Unfortunately, utter stupidity has been passed down through the generations, usually from fat wallet to fat wallet.  

 

-Leah

Florida, here we come

The Teardrop repairs are complete, the lights are all working and it's inspected. Bam.

Packing it up and leaving for Florida on January first or second.

Woo!

-Leah

Mind the gap

Alright, time to address the gap between the bottom of the galley and the hatch.

I ripped a few pieces of wood to 3/16" thick and laminated them together creating a shim to fill in the ridiculous gap at the bottom.

The gap is at the last 8" of the hatch and increases from 1/2"  to  1-1/2" at the bottom.








The curve is very slight so it was quite easy to bend the wood to shape. You just attach it to the hatch itself, let the glue dry, then take it off. This is what it will look like:

I primed and painted the shims with marine-grade paint. Did I mention it was exterior grade???

There were still some gaps, so I ripped a few more pieces and glued them in.  This is what it looks like:

I made graduated steps to fill in the remaining gaps, applied exterior caulk, then screwed it down with exterior grade screws. Notice the theme there: exterior grade everything.

Now I need to install the weather stripping on the hatch, and I should have a pretty tight seal.

I need to figure out how to keep the hatch closed now. Currently I'm using a hasp and it's not lining up anymore.

Yeah, what the hell is a hasp, right? I didn't know until 5 minutes ago myself.  It's that piece of hardware in the picture on the right. It swings over the other piece (which isn't there) and locks. Hasp. I learn something new and trivial every day.

Anyhow, the male part can't go on the hatch where it used to, so I bought a gate hinge. Let's see if I can MacGvyer something up.  I'm betting that I can.

Time for a cocktail!

-Leah

Paint, paint and paint

Time for some Rust-Oleum Topside marine-grade oil paint. I applied five coats.

This stuff is great. It goes on thick and acts as a leveler for uneven surfaces.

This stage is complete.

Next up: dealing with the gap at the bottom where the hatch and galley meet.

-Leah

 

Rain diverters for the hatch hinge

Now that the hatch hinge is sealed on the ends, it's time to make a rain diverter.

It's really easy to make, all you need is a piece of aluminum angle iron and a few tools.  You cut it with a band saw, hack saw, or tin snips, and then smooth it with a metal file.

I shaped aluminum angle to the side profile of the hinge then cold-welded it onto the hinge and side. You want zero water infiltration at the sides, and this is one way to prevent it.

The better way is keeping your hinge long enough to overhang by about 1/2" on each side - but, I'm way past that point!   -insert swearing here-

Again, it's not pretty, but it's not going anywhere and water shouldn't get in.

I used JB Weld. It's an epoxy that's incredibly strong in every condition you throw at it, at least any condition a Teardrop trailer can throw at it.

It feels like I might be in the home stretch of reapirs now.

Progress is good, progress is good (repeat).

-Leah

Fix the hatch hinge

Well, this looks fantastic, doesn't it?! Not.

I'm not really sure how this happened.  There should be no hole there. It looks like I made the cut for the hatch 1" too soon.

However it happened. It's bad - very bad - and it's like this on both sides.

My answer was Bondo.  I blocked the inside with a piece of plastic and filled in the hole.

Bondo is an incredibly stable filler. If it works on vehicles in every climate, it'll work on the Teardrop.

Not the prettiest repair in the world, but the hole is gone.

Making a rain diverter is next. It will function like a gutter on the ends of the hatch hinge.

Did I hear someone pop a champagne bottle? I'll be right there...

-Leah

Time to prime and paint

The galley and hatch having been drying out for 2 weeks now. 

Today I sanded and primed the bottom and sides of the galley interior.

Next up: Marine grade oil paint, more caulk, and addressing the gap in the sides where the hatch hinge is, which I've been avoiding.

-Leah

Water damage repair

I found more water damage on the bottom of the hatch.  I chiseled out the rot and let it dry for a few days before filling it in.

I keep coming back to the same thought: What the hell was I thinking not finishing bare wood?

What. The. Hell?  -sigh-

The good thing about building something from the ground up is just that - YOU built it.

You know how everything goes together and how everything could come apart. You get too see all the flaws and all the successes of your build.  So when something goes wrong or breaks you know how to fix it.

I know exactly what to do and not to do next time I build a Teardrop.

I patched the hole with exterior grade filler. I'll cut a piece of wood to fill in the remaining void. That piece will be primed and painted on all sides and then epoxied in.

Time for some champagne, because I like bubbles.

-Leah

More hatch repairs

Here we have our major offender: the hatch hinge that was cut too short, and a gap rivaling the size of the Delaware Water Gap. Time to scrape and sand. What was I thinking? This is a HOLE!

Are you judging me? Well, it won't be more than I judge myself, so bring it on!  :)

Our second offender is the bottom of the hatch where it just doesn't have a good seal; there's a gap at the sides.

I started laminating thin strips of wood to fill in the gap a bit so this is phase one.

Live and learn, live and learn...

-Leah

Teardrop building tip 1,129,989

Building a Teardrop trailer?

Seal every single wooden surface really, really well. This means end grain, too. Seal, seal, seal. You want to make it waterproof inside and outside. It's not impossible; you just need to be thorough.

Use paint on the galley side walls, floor and hatch interior. Use a thick, oil paint. Water will most likely find its way in at some point, dripping down a wall and puddling on a flat surface so make sure it's all waterproof.

Caulk every single seam, anywhere two pieces of wood meet. Seal it up.

That's my speech of the day.

Seal!!

-Leah

Water damage be damned!

Well, I'm dragging my feet on this and we're leaving for Florida for a one month trip on January 2, so it's time to get my rear in gear.

I moved the Teardrop into the shop to assess the water damage in the galley and it's been raining ever since, so good timing on that.

At first I thought I might get away with doing a "little" repair, but this is like washing one spot on a dirty white wall. You just can't do one spot. There's no easy fix here.

First, I let a fan dry it out for 2 days.  Then I got out a scraper and some chisels. Fun times.

Water is getting in on the bottom of the hatch - gotta fix that.

The top of the hatch is leaking, too! Boo, leaks, boo!

I had to let it sit for a week and stare and think and stare and think some more before I moved forward.  I've removed all rotten and wet wood. Next steps are filling voids with Bondo or exterior wood putty, and sealing every crack and every spot where two pieces of wood meet, then painting the galley sides and floor with marine paint.

I also have to address the lower half of the hatch not making contact with the trailer when closed; There's a gap of about 1/2".

More soon -

Leah

Hatch still leaking

So, I taped the living hell out of the hinge with heavy duty insulation tape. The kind of tape that is rubbery and sticky on one side and shiny, silver on the other.

This is what I get for not really addressing the problem - it still leaks.

So, on to the next attempt at a fix - Z channel.  How can this NOT work, how? Don't answer that, don't burst my bubble. This really looks like the fix, something that covers the entire hinge and overhangs on each side. The overhang is the most important part of this. Consider this a gutter, like the gutter on a house that takes water away, that's what we're going for here. Away with you rain water, AWAY!!

If you're building a teardrop and reading this remember to cut your hatch hinge with a nice overhang on each side 1-1/2" or so should do it. Learn from my error.

Wish me luck.

-Leah

More shelves, more shelves!

Tiny spaces require creative storage.  I have some loose rules regarding storage: optimize the space, avoid placing things where someone will hit their head, try to work with what you already have, and go vertical, even if it's only four feet high.

I've found that stacking items in the Teardrop is very inefficient. Easy access is a requirement in a tiny space, so stacking doesn't fit the bill.

It's amazing how much more space is created just by adding one shelf in a twelve-inch high cabinet.

Adding this shelf means we can grab a bowl, a glass, or a plate without moving things around.

And really, when I want a gin and tonic, I don't want to fumble around for it.

Adding this shelf to the overhead cabinet in the cabin almost doubled the amount of space I have for clothes. Strange, but true. Though I am a bit of a fanatical folder. I can't help it.

The same goes here, stacking sucks in small spaces.

Separate stuff out as much as possible. You'll be happier.

-Leah

Improved galley doors

Now, why didn't I think of this sooner? Why?

Hinged doors are not a good idea for many reasons. Most hinges aren't designed to bang down the road at 65 miles an hour, sooner or later they'll break. Secondly, they opened inconveniently right over the counters, making the counters less useful. Silly, silly me.

After a year of having to move things around every time I needed to open a door I came up with this.

Drawer slides. Yup. Full extension that slide up and out of the way.

Well, isn't that just swell? No more counter juggling.

There's a cotter pin at the top that slides out to hold the door up.

The middle door is still hinged. I like the look of it, and that door is very, very light (Butternut). Less chance of the hinge breaking.

Now on to adding more shelves...

-Leah

Trash

This is our trash after five days of camping.  It's basically the plastic bags the ice came in and a plastic wrapper from a piece of cheese. By the way, we're not trying to make zero trash, this is how we do it at home, and this is how we do it away.

I noticed that most campers produced a full bag of trash - every day. I find that to be unacceptable and lazy. Lazy is one of my pet peeves. I tend to lump a lot of things into the "lazy" category.

Not only that, some campers just threw away everything: redeemables, recyclables, wet sleeping bags, 'disposable' items. It's like magic! It just disappears when you throw it in a dumpster! Poof!

There is no excuse. You are your trash, consider it a mirror.

-Leah

Bicycling trails in Lewes

We bicycled on the Junction and Breakwater Trail while in Lewes. Round trip was about 18 miles from Cape Henlopen State Park.

It's a really nice trail. One leg of it is still being finished, but it's tightly crushed gravel and easily ridden on even with skinny tires.

Directions on how to get there were a bit sketchy. No one really knew where it started. We picked it up right after the High School on Route 9 at a traffic light. 

The motorists in the area were a bit moronic when it came to bicycles. They gave no leeway, and drove far too close to bicycles. Not very safe. Fortunately, the breakdown lanes are very large. I found myself hugging the right of the breakdown lane when on the highway.

-Leah

Dewey Beach

Dewey Beach is one of the ONLY beaches on the East coast that allow dogs to run free, without a leash. I have to say that I completely understand why dogs are not allowed on beaches.

During the Summer dogs are allowed on the beach after 5:30, that's about the only restriction.

A one time fee of $15 and your pooch can romp on the beach. Money well spent for our little water lover.

But, please, pick up your dogs poop, don't be "that" person.  There's no excuse, poop bags are right there next to the trash can.

-Leah

....and then they arrived...

Our first night was lovely, peace and absolute quiet except for the Chuck-will's-widow at dusk. I've never actually seen one of these birds, but their call is unmistakable.

Afternoon number two arrived with the sounds of four teen-age boys setting up camp right behind us. Oh. No. Here. We. Go.

They came over and told us that if it got "too loud" to just let them know. Oh, how nice. Amelia told them if they're warning us about being loud, maybe they should find another site. I generally just scare people with silence. Why does silence scare people? I don't know, but it works. Sometimes. They stayed next to us.

At three a.m. the little rodents were still wide awake, guzzling Natural Light beer, breaking tree limbs down, running around shirtless with torch-like objects, and hurling themselves repeatedly into something trying to break it. Four words came to mind for me: Lord of the Flies. It's all fun and games until Piggy is dead.

The morning after:

Four teenagers, eight hours.

With the Conch nowhere to be found, the Crows and Grackles declare war over the carnage.

There's always a silver lining.  Most people, regardless of age, can't party like that every night. There is an ancient camping proverb, "Hangovers make night two a quiet and early one."

In the morning, Amelia let them know that yes, you were loud and obnoxious, and no, we aren't here to police you, you need to police yourselves.

As fate would have at, at 11:00 that night, they packed up in the dark and left.  Good-bye Jack, good-bye Roger, good-bye Beast, good-bye Conch. And R.I.P. Piggy.

-Leah

Cape Henlopen cute cabins

Amelia and Eesah went to investigate the new cabins at Cape Henlopen State Park. Looks like they'll be ready for Memorial Day week-end.

No water or bathroom, just a kitchen/dining room, and living/sleeping room. Each one has air conditioning though, which you're going to need very soon.

I really like the screen porches.

I love tiny houses.

-Leah

Eat my sausage

On our way back home a friend suggested we check out Helen's Sausage House. Amelia has a slew of face swelling allergies so she couldn't eat any sausage. She had chicken salad, while it wasn't exciting, it didn't kill her or make her face swell up.

I had the sausage, egg and cheese sandwich. It was HUGE. It was really cheap, under eight dollars for both of our sandwiches. But, I have to admit, I expected something better. The sausages were filled with several preservatives, the cheese was a bright orange tasteless goo-fest, and the eggs I couldn't taste at all.

If you're looking for cheap roadside food, this is your place. It just wasn't my thing. But, when you're traveling some things are about the experience. This is one of them.

I guess I'm spoiled. I get bread, eggs, sausage and cheese back home from farmers less than five miles away with no fillers and no preservatives, no crap.  Just good old fashioned unadulterated food.

-Leah