9/07/2021

Who'll Stop The Rain

 


[click to view the wide-screen version on YouTube]

Long as I remember the rain been comin' down
Clouds of mystery pourin' confusion on the ground
Good men through the ages tryin' to find the sun
And I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain?

 

I wanted to do a quick video to give folks a look at the progress on my airport shuttle bus to RV conversion project.

I haven’t provided any updates since June, and, no. I haven’t given up. – not yet anyway.

As you can see I’ve scrapped out all the interior. seats, overhead bins, wheelchair lift, ceiling panels, everything. when i did, it revealed quite a few water leaks. I was so excited to start designing and building the interior – but for the past three months I’ve been trying to find and plug the leaks.

I was lucky to be starting this project at the beginning of the rainy season here in Florida. the constant rain is showing me where the leaks are – and showing me where my repairs are holding and also where they’re not not holding.

My next step is removing and resealing all the windows. I just resealed this front window and it still leaked so i added some sealant. when the next big rain comes we’ll see if it holds. let’s go up on the roof.

I’m using this stuff called Eternabond seam sealing tape for RVs to seal all the seams.

I removed the emergency escape hatch and filled it in with an aluminum sheet. now it’s ready to install my rooftop r-v air conditioner. once I get my AC unit and my vent fan installed in the roof I’ll know how much room I have left over for solar panels.

I’ve been giving some thought to my interior layout. for me a queen sized bed is non-negotiable. I’m thinking about a 40 gallon fresh water tank. To make it easier to plumb, I want to keep the shower and the galley sink on the left side. over here on the other side I’m thinking about putting in a small booth-type dinette table with bench seating. it’s all preliminary right now. Still brainstorming ideas.

Of course, all this work is taking more time then I’d like. sometimes I wonder what I’ve gotten myself into. I don’t want to be a thousand miles from home and have a water leak that damages my interior. if I can take some extra time now and put in the extra effort I hope it pays off in the future with a lot of good travel memories.

So that’s all for now. I hope to make some more progress and be back with another update soon. Until then, so long and happy trails. For The Howell Report, I’m Chris Howell.