BY CATHERINE DOOK

I perceive our 1979 Execuvan as an icon of my success as a writer. The Execuvan squats by the side of the road looking deceptively shabby. Writing mostly doesn’t pay, so my career hangs around Cowichan Bay looking just as derelict, but underneath all this lethargy (some months all I earn is kill fees) is a seething mass of prolific creativity.

Likewise, our van’s motor runs and runs and never quits until the gas runs dry. And my husband and I take pride in the fact that every single time our van has broken down, she has made it to a repair garage under her own power. There is stamina for you. However awful her appearance (and 1970s decorator values were passe by 1980), the old girl has heart.

BY CATHERINE DOOK

Any Execuvan that sits by the side of the road all winter, watching traffic pass by and collecting dust, is an out and out temptation for the woman who knits. Why? You may well ask, and get an answer, too.

For even though my husband John uses our old holiday van as a runabout all winter, the van is an irresistible receptacle for my yarn stash. I mean, where DO you store your black cashmere, if not in the closet of a van that is so ugly no one will ever steal it – or the cashmere? What safer hiding place to put that merino than in a Tupperware bin under the bed at the back end where you husband will never find it and ask how much it cost? The silk and wool sock yarn in rainbow colours is cleverly disguised as bedding in an opaque green garbage bag on top of the mattress, and there are twelve balls of top-quality satin-sheen cotton stuffed into the cooler. In a plastic bag hanging from a coat hanger in the closet is enough multi-coloured acrylic-and-wool yarn to knit hats and mitts for all 11 of our grandchildren. I keep a little lace-weight acrylic in Ziplock bags on the floor. Add to that the other five or six garbage bags full of miscellaneous yarn on the back bunk and stuffed under the seats, and you get an idea of the extent of my stash.

BY PETER BROOKE

For those technically inclined RV folks.

For years I have wondered why the four deep cycle batteries in our Class A seem to take so much charge from our solar panels, (we have 430 watts of panels) yet give so much less back. It was especially noticeable when we ran our 27” TV for four hours per evening watching the Olympics. It draws about 180 watts, which at 12.5 volts is about 58AH, and usually ends up drawing our batteries down to about 12.2 volts, which is often considered a 50% state of charge for practical purposes.

I recently came across a report (http://photovoltaics.sandia.gov/docs/PDF/batpapsteve.pdf) “A Study of Lead Acid Battery Efficiency Near Top of Charge …...”  by Stevens and Cory of Sandia National Laboratory. I'll call it the Study.

This Study helps to explain my dilemma.

1) We have four 120 Amp Hour (AH) batteries, about four years old and apparently in good shape. So, 4 x 120 = 480 amp hours available, right? Not even close. In the Study, using good test equipment and a Trojan 120 AH battery the BEST they got was 96.5 AH. As my batteries are older, they may deliver only 90 AH each, so already I am down to 360 AH available.

BY ROBIN HETHEY

In 2006 my wife and I traveled to Puerto Penasco for a two-week RVing experience at the Playa de Oro at Rocky Point. The following is an extraction of our thoughts relating to Puerto Penasco from the March/April issue #113 of The RV Times, and later a summary of what Puerto Penasco has witnessed and experienced since the US recession has taken effect.

Year 2006

“Border industries have taken up residence, and there is an air of positiveness. The inhabitants are dressed in more colourful clothes, more girls are driving cars, carrying briefcases, and are enjoying a real growth in prosperity. As you drive around, there is an obvious indication of money having been poured into the development of residential condos, hotels, residences, and apartment complexes. We visited one condo complex under construction and witnessed six 15-story complexes being completed at once.