Calling all CHLs who are also RVers

[chasfm11]

I had a 38' RV * without wheels. It took us to magical places, provided lots of thrills and quite a few chills. One day I looked at it and said to myself "I'm to old for this stuff!" and sold it.
I'm itching to move around a bit though, maybe I'll look into one of these wheeled thingies now.

* recreational vessel. Baltic 38, "Miss Direction"

We never owned anything that big but did charters (Oday 35, Bristol 40, Bristol 41.1). The land variety don't get quite as bumpy but rough weather still can be beyond exciting. The ranger at the Great Salt Plains SP in OK warned us to head for the bathhouse if the sirens went off. Off shore thunderstorms and OK tornadoes are definitely not on my list of fun places to be.

At least with an RV, you won't have to worry about dragging anchor in the middle of the night when the wind changes.

[MrsFosforos]

We like to go to Lake Tawakoni State park. It is close enough to be convenient and far enough to give us a break and mini get-away for a weekend. Our grandson loves to go out in the RV with us.

[chane]

I'll agree that Inks SP is one of the best. We take the kids there almost any weekend we can during the summer. There and a couple of Jellystone parks we frequent as well when Inks is full. Love the Hill Country. Been to Guadalupe River SP and South Llano River SP a few times. The kids will have great memories of our trips.

Just got back from Palo Duro Canyon. Ft. Davis is also nice this time of year.



We will get to that 40' Class A someday..

[MotherBear]

Just got back from Palo Duro Canyon. Ft. Davis is also nice this time of year.

[ Image ]

We have a plan to head out that way around this time next year. Actually, I think we're looking at September, but it's not really nailed down yet. It'll be our first major trip with the kids -- they'll be 6, 4 and 2. Any tips?

[Dadtodabone]

I had a 38' RV * without wheels. It took us to magical places, provided lots of thrills and quite a few chills. One day I looked at it and said to myself "I'm to old for this stuff!" and sold it.
I'm itching to move around a bit though, maybe I'll look into one of these wheeled thingies now.

* recreational vessel. Baltic 38, "Miss Direction"

We never owned anything that big but did charters (Oday 35, Bristol 40, Bristol 41.1). The land variety don't get quite as bumpy but rough weather still can be beyond exciting. The ranger at the Great Salt Plains SP in OK warned us to head for the bathhouse if the sirens went off. Off shore thunderstorms and OK tornadoes are definitely not on my list of fun places to be.

At least with an RV, you won't have to worry about dragging anchor in the middle of the night when the wind changes.

One dark and stormy night! LOL, that's one of the chills. My wife became dedicated anchor watch whenever we were away from a mooring, weather fax interpreter, debated Lin & Larry on ground tackle, changed stowage(no scotch/wine/rum if the boat wasn't on her lines ) to accommodate; 1 CQR, 3 Danforth's, 1 Luke, 400 ft. chain rode, 350 ft. 9/16s high tensile rode, dedicated bowers fore and aft, leather and stainless anti-chafing gear, the best ABS rated brass windlass money could buy. You wouldn't believe how many times I rowed a second bow anchor out or set a stern line, when she didn't like the look of the bottom.
Once we lost our "crew" to school and marriage, the time and money to maintain her in Bristol fashion just didn't make sense any more. I still miss the smell of salt, zinc oxide, and cocoa butter that permeated the saloon. Fresh caught fish on the grill, a crisp chardonnay(bag cooled perfectly at 50 ft) and watching the kids learn and grow. The boat was flat fast on a broad reach with a 150% gen, or downwind with an asymmetrical up, all but surfing the bow wave......

[Oldgringo]

Talk about thread "drift"....

[bizarrenormality]

They're recreational. They're vehicles.

[Oldgringo]

They're recreational. They're vehicles.

[chasfm11]

They're recreational. They're vehicles.

Actually, there are a lot of similarities between sailboats and RVs. Having just gone through a bout of technical difficulties with our Norcold 'fridge in our RV, I remember talking to others who were sailboat refrigerator mechanics first and sailors second.

From a more forum related perspective, sailboats, particularly those with access to International waters present a set of rather interesting problems for gun owners. Having one or not is a very black and white issue. There is no going back to your car to stash it if you end up some place where they are forbidden. There are a lot of "don't ask, don't tell" situations since sailboats are vulnerable to just about anything out on open water. It a search were conducted on sailboats, there are a fair number of sailboat owners who would be arrested for gun possession violations.

RVs are more the same than many care to admit. One of the reasons that the RV forums often prohibit gun related threads is that holy wars develop over whether RVers should have the right to defend themselves. We on the forum and concealed handgun license holders in general across the country probably understand that there is complicated maze of gun laws across the States. Many RVers who have guns are not concealed license holders and mistakenly believe that the house portion of their RV will not be treated as a vehicle. Sometimes it is not. The Texas open container law, for example, does not apply to the house portion of an RV but that is pretty well spelled out. In other States, not so much. The conventional "wisdom" is that a shotgun on board an RV is legal in most places where a handgun might not be and that was the route that we went for many years. But that misses the point of Corp of Engineers land and the problems with that are not limited to Texas. Lake Hartwell near the Georgia/South Carolina boarder has a great COE RV facility that some might visit with firearms on board. It also misses the point about States like NJ and NY. There are a lot of RVers who are similarly in don't ask, don't tell positions with firearms. The general RVing public seems to have very limited awareness and often more limited regard for fireams laws.

It is said that a sailboat is a hole in the water into which one pours money. In many cases, RVs simply relocate that hole to dry land.

[Dadtodabone]

It is said that a sailboat is a hole in the water into which one pours money. In many cases, RVs simply relocate that hole to dry land.

And, the happiest days in a sailor's life are the day they buy and the day they sell.
We cruised the Intracoastal from Florida to the Chesapeake with another couple in a Bertram. Our skipper(professional) had two shotguns aboard, in lockers fore and aft.

[cb1000rider]

[Having just gone through a bout of technical difficulties with our Norcold 'fridge in our RV, I remember talking to others who were sailboat refrigerator mechanics first and sailors second.

Call that refrigerator by it's appropriate name: Never-cold. Knock on wood, I've only had one issue with the ones that I've owned.


Lots of issues with RVs and firearm ownership. That's for sure.

Sailors - open seas, you guys have my respect... Amazing lifestyle and to brave the ocean internationally is amazing. I'd like to acquire those skills one day.

[chasfm11]

[Having just gone through a bout of technical difficulties with our Norcold 'fridge in our RV, I remember talking to others who were sailboat refrigerator mechanics first and sailors second.

Call that refrigerator by it's appropriate name: Never-cold. Knock on wood, I've only had one issue with the ones that I've owned.


Lots of issues with RVs and firearm ownership. That's for sure.

Sailors - open seas, you guys have my respect... Amazing lifestyle and to brave the ocean internationally is amazing. I'd like to acquire those skills one day.

At least the Norcold don't have quite the history of catching fire that the Dometics do. I won't drift this thread further (I'm sure that Old Gringo is hovering nearby) by getting into the vagaries of RV electronics and their repair. My problem turned out to be a manufacturing defect - like about every other problem we've had in the going on 10 years that we've owned this RV. I have a buddy who just bought an upscale Thor motor home and he has manufacturing defect issues, too.

I'm not much of a blue water sailor. I sailed the Chesapeake and Long Island Sound, which can both be rough in their own rights but I haven't ventured far into the Atlantic. One of my bucket list items is to sail the Sir Francis Drake Channel and that would put me in the International environment. Honestly, I'd rather risk British customs with a firearm than to dock in MD or Norwalk, CT as we used to do with one. I will say that unless you are suspected of drug smuggling, the chances of getting a sailboat boarded and searched are pretty remote, just about like an RV in most States. There were stories of some older couples using RVs to to ferry drugs across State lines but there are very few stories on any of the RV boards about LE stopping RVs for that reason. Most RV traffic stops are for the same problems as people on this board - their lead feet. That's probably why the many people with RVs who carry firearms into "illegal" situations aren't discovered. I would really have to be working at it to break speed laws with our RV.

So who is going to be the first to propose a date and location for a CHL RV rally? We are coming into some beautiful camping weather and I've just scored some additional ammo at Wal-Mart that I'd like to send downrange.

[Oldgringo]

Or sail boat owning experience went as follows:

1. 22' Chrysler
2. 25' Catalina
3. 30' Catalina
4. 14' Holder

The sailing chapter of our lives closed some 30 years ago.

We've traveled and/or lived in an RV the past 18 years and are not quite ready to quit now. I wonder if we'll be back in NW Montana next summer or where?

[Dadtodabone]

Or sail boat owning experience went as follows:

1. 22' Chrysler
2. 25' Catalina
3. 30' Catalina
4. 14' Holder

The sailing chapter of our lives closed some 30 years ago.

We've traveled and/or lived in an RV the past 18 years and are not quite ready to quit now. I wonder if we'll be back in NW Montana next summer or where?

Great boat! 7000 hulls and counting. I learned to sail on a tiller steered Catalina 30(wife's family's boat) in Lake Mead. Did have one mishap, hit some mud, and FIL blamed me for the "Smile" for 10 years,
Hands down, Montana! We've friends in Missoula and Kalispell and have really enjoyed our visits. My baby girl's first visit to a "museum" was "Miracle of America" in Polson.

[Oldgringo]

Or sail boat owning experience went as follows:

1. 22' Chrysler
2. 25' Catalina
3. 30' Catalina
4. 14' Holder

The sailing chapter of our lives closed some 30 years ago.

We've traveled and/or lived in an RV the past 18 years and are not quite ready to quit now. I wonder if we'll be back in NW Montana next summer or where?

Great boat! 7000 hulls and counting. I learned to sail on a tiller steered Catalina 30(wife's family's boat) in Lake Mead. Did have one mishap, hit some mud, and FIL blamed me for the "Smile" for 10 years,
Hands down, Montana! We've friends in Missoula and Kalispell and have really enjoyed our visits. My baby girl's first visit to a "museum" was "Miracle of America" in Polson.

Polson's "Miracle of America" museum is so bad it's good. When our campers ask what to do, we send 'em to the 'Miracle'. BTW, Polson's brand new Super-Duper Wal-Mart opened almost next door to the 'Miracle' yesterday.