New Year in the Forest

After getting the 6 back in October and spending Autumn getting rid of smells, electrics, adding plumbing, cleaning pvc, painting, building a storage locker, making curtains, more cleaning, fixing the heater, insulating, more cleaning and painting and adding skirting boards and lino, well it was Christmas.
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However, I managed to get away for three nights on 2nd Jan, just to test things out.

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It amazed me how quick it is to be ready to get the kettle on. No lugging boxes from the car, constructing campbeds or setting up stoves, the kettle is on with you left wondering that there should be more that needs to be done, but there isnt.
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Those rains that started rivers overflowing this month kicked in as soon as I arrived!  The campsite was a forest site in Wiltshire, there were a few big motorhomes where people over wintered but no-one else.  I brought the bike instead of the canoe for this trip but that might have been the wrong choice.
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The next morning the rain turned to hail with the Dandy and the campsite looking a very wintry scene (about a week too late for my boys unfortunately!).  
Over night the wind through the forest sounded like you were standing alongside a jet engine & the Dandy was certainly rocked but never felt like it would be a problem unlike some of the big, modern tents which would have had collapsing sides in those conditions.
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After the wind, rain and hail came clear, crisp nights with frosty mornings.  
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The nights gave great views of Jupiter and the Gemind meteor shower, somehow managed to capture a shooting star through the scope with the camera attached.
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Things to remember for next time, make sure it's pitched level otherwise the water doesnt run down the plughole and your food runs off your plate.
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Packing up the Dandy is so much easier than emptying the tent, packing the car then folding up the wet canvas only to get it back out in the garden to dry (did that last October with the bell tent) meant a leisurely breakfast while the sun was out and off home with just a bag a clothes to chuck in the machine!  Quite convinced about this Dandy, so are my boys so looking for campsite recommendations for February half term....

Pleased you enjoyed it,we must recommend your post to prospective owners who doubt the dandy.

Great photos.   
Glad you had a good first outing.   
May it be the first of many.
6's are great for loads of room, aren't they.  

Phoenix wrote:Great photos.  
6's are great for loads of room, aren't they.  

Oh the conflict between the easy to tow rear entry Dandy and the 6. Not as easy to tow but so capacious without the need to erect the awning.

That's brilliant, glad you enjoyed it and what a testimony to the dandy in that weather. I still think the dandy is quicker to pack & unpack than the caravan was. We used to lug everything out into the caravan and put it in the lockers, wardrobe, fridge etc. then lug it all back into the house when we got home.

With the dandy, we pack the fridge in the house and it goes in the car. Clothes go in a holdall each and stay there in the dandy. So simple.

For a site look at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] but not sure they re open in Feb.

Great photo's   

I have to have a level Dandy, I know it's not a massive deal but it's something that niggles me if it isn't   I don't mind anything else not being spot on but it's got to be level   

reasons for needing a level Dandy

as mentioned the sink doesn't drain properly

I either get off the bed and end up at the other side of the Dandy or I struggle to get off it at all ~ depending which way we aren't level

my sausages all roll to one side of the pan and the oil doe's too so I have to stand there and rotate them to cook them all evenly ~ possible touch of OCD   

You can never have a full glass of wine   

We have a small triangle level that we put on the A frame, my hubby won't let me glue it on there ~ would if I could though.

Saw a fantastic meteor shower a few years ago now and it's something I won't forget

Helen wrote:We have a small triangle level that we put on the A frame, my hubby won't let me glue it on there ~ would if I could though

Sensible Hubby (John)

As I have mythered on about before that most spirit levels are ragged. If you use a spirit level to level something along a plane (a line of direction i.e. east west or north south. {You can only level in one plane at one time with a single spirit level unlike your T level which does both at once} Not trying to be condescending to you Helen just allowing for someone who doesn't do maths/engineering and with no experience of levelling reading this) then reverse the level it will normally be out.
Fixing a level to the A frame is a good way to bugger it even if it was OK to begin with. All the bangs and vibrations are not conductive(was going to use the term condusive but apparently according to online sources it's not a word) to it remaining accurate.

Try the word 'conducive' definitely not 'conductive'. Mine had one of those little levels stuck on the A frame when I got it and it seems to be accurate.

Helen, I thought you'd have discovered how good a glass of wine is for levelling by now. Of course you need to be sat inside out of the rain as well to make sure the dandy is properly weighted while John levels it and sets it all up.

navver wrote: Mine had one of those little levels stuck on the A frame when I got it and it seems to be accurate.

Ah but after it is levelled up have you tried turning the entire Dandy through 180⁰ just to prove that the spirit level reads the same the opposite way round    

It just goes to show that there will always be an exception to whatever you say. The vibration and impacts can't help cheap levels where the majority of them are wonky when bought. I stand corrected. Hopefully if I come visiting you I'll be able to sit without a lean that needs to be corrected.

Tow Itch wrote:

Phoenix wrote:Great photos.  
6's are great for loads of room, aren't they.  

Oh the conflict between the easy to tow rear entry Dandy and the 6. Not as easy to tow but so capacious without the need to erect the awning.

I suspect that if you tow with a Defender, the 6 IS an easy tow. the biggest problem would be remembering it was there!

Wow - very brave having a New Year camp! Lovely pics, and a lovely Dandy. I really like your sympathetic re-vamp.