Not much time left
When I was in the Army we had a term for soldiers that were near the end of their enlistment agreement or draft term. It was said that soldier was “SHORT”. Which meant that he would soon be a civilian. Well I’m short. I’m so short my feet are barely touching the ground. Only 11 days before I travel to Connecticut for my daughters wedding, and all the joy and happiness that it encompasses, then I return and start my new life as a full time RV’er. Another term we had in the military was for the career military man and that was “LIFE’er”. I think that term fits my new lifestyle although the meaning is totally different. In the military life’er is somewhat a derogatory term; however in my new context it embodies freedom and a new adventurous life. I’m probably blowing this whole event way out of proportion and reality most likely can’t possibly live up to the expectation, regardless I’m stoked.
I know it has been awhile since I last blogged and I sort of apologize for that. I say sort of, because it has been a hectic few weeks since I got on here and informed my admiring friends and family the boring details of my life. It suffices to say I have been getting ready to become a “LIFE’er”. I have been mostly getting rid of possessions and modifying Cazee and Lyca to meet my needs for the adventure. My possessions are down to the basic minimum raw materials that I still have to smelt down to their essence. Trim the fat so to speak. Speaking of fat I am down to 238 lbs. I got stuck on 244 for about three weeks and struggled with the new plan but I endured and things are good.
I got my family and friends together on the 2nd of March for a Bon Voyage swar’rey (French) I don’t have pics to show because I forgot to bring my camera to the party and my sister hasn’t sent me the ones she took (like she promised). So you will just have to imagine a bunch of people sitting around one of those Hibachi (ah la Beni Hona) grills having a good time.
I think that from now on the blog will be shorter but more and frequent in posting as HTR day draws near. I need to get into travel mode and I hope to be giving more of a running commentary of what I am doing, rather than what happened last week.
The team is ready for the most part and excited about the adventure. Which reminds me? I need your help. We have an unexpected new team member that I haven’t named yet. She came quite unexpectedly, in that; I had remembered that my friend Jim Guld mentioned a boat that many RV’ers had called “Porta Bote”. What is unique about this boat is that it folds up into a package about the size of a large surf board and can mount right to the side of the trailer. So I checked Craig’s list and sure enough there was one near Tampa Florida for sale at a good price. I had plan to run up there this past Friday and pick it up, but a fortunate turn of events kept me from having to do that. A guy in the Tampa area bought some of my heavier equipment on eBay and called to tell me he would be coming down to pick the stuff up on Thursday. So I asked him if he would mind stopping and grabbing the boat on the way down. I like it when a plan comes together. But she has no name. I need suggestions. You can leave them on the blog (be sure to include your name in the message), or send your ideas via e-mail to
dubyacay@gmail.com
Cazee was so happy to hear about the boat as she was the only female on the team, now she has a girlfriend to commiserate with. If you want to see more about Porta Bote click this link.
http://www.porta-bote.com/Then I heard from Evan Kicker (everybody just calls him “Kicker”). He was residing in Coco Beach Florida and when he found out about the new boat he asked to come along and since he only weighs 35 pounds I agreed. Kicker is a 2 horse power Evinrude outboard motor that is in great shape and purrs like a kitten. Only don’t let him hear you say that, though he’s small, he sees himself as a tough guy.
This is “Jack”, another valuable team member. Such an odd name, huh.
There is also team member Sunny McJuice who is coming along. Sunny is a photovoltaic solar charging system for Cazee’s batteries. I don’t think he will get installed before we leave so we will mount him on the road, (well not on the road actually but on Cazee after we depart Lake Worth) which will be a fun project and good experience for me. Just another thing I can help other RV’ers with.
There is one other team member that I have not mentioned. He has been in the plan to go all along but I left him out until now because he is getting old and has some health issues. I just wasn’t positive that it would be a good idea to take him along unless I could resolve the problems he was having and I am happy to say that we have solved those issues and he is a solid member of the AV (Asphalt Vagabond) team. I am referring to my best bud “Cutter”. Cutter is my 11 year old Yellow Labrador. Most of you already know Cutter but for those of you who don’t, Cutter has been with me since he was 5 months old. At the age of two he got out and got hit by a car. The impact broke his right rear femur. We tried to save the leg but a combination of his youthful energy and my stupidly (If you want to hear the story and you have time, ask, I will be happy to tell it) we eventually had to amputate it, but don’t tell him it’s missing, because he still uses it to scratch with.
Well I think I got you caught up. Yesterday I replaced the bearings and brake shoes on Cazee and today I am going to install her brand new, super duty, nuclear, AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries, (very expensive). If you want to know more about AGM batteries I have posted a small explanation at the bottom of this post.
I will post again with in the next two days. So, as my buddy Jack says, “Fair Winds” or if you are SCUBA diving, “Wear Fins”
238 lbs
Luv ya.
AGM, or Absorbed Glass Mat BatteriesA newer type of sealed battery uses "Absorbed Glass Mats", or AGM between the plates. This is a very fine fiber Boron-Silicate glass mat. These type of batteries have all the advantages of gelled, but can take much more abuse. We sell the Concorde (and Lifeline, made by Concorde) AGM batteries. These are also called "starved electrolyte", as the mat is about 95% saturated rather than fully soaked. That also means that they will not leak acid even if broken.
AGM batteries have several advantages over both gelled and flooded, at about the same cost as gelled:
Since all the electrolyte (acid) is contained in the glass mats, they cannot spill, even if broken. This also means that since they are non-hazardous, the shipping costs are lower. In addition, since there is no liquid to freeze and expand, they are practically immune from freezing damage.
Nearly all AGM batteries are "recombinant" - what that means is that the Oxygen and Hydrogen recombine INSIDE the battery. These use gas phase transfer of oxygen to the negative plates to recombine them back into water while charging and prevent the loss of water through electrolysis. The recombining is typically 99+% efficient, so almost no water is lost.
The charging voltages are the same as for any standard battery - no need for any special adjustments or problems with incompatible chargers or charge controls. And, since the internal resistance is extremely low, there is almost no heating of the battery even under heavy charge and discharge currents. The Concorde (and most AGM) batteries have no charge or discharge current limits.
AGM's have a very low self-discharge - from 1% to 3% per month is usual. This means that they can sit in storage for much longer periods without charging than standard batteries. The Concorde batteries can be almost fully recharged (95% or better) even after 30 days of being totally discharged.
AGM's do not have any liquid to spill, and even under severe overcharge conditions hydrogen emission is far below the 4% max specified for aircraft and enclosed spaces. The plates in AGM's are tightly packed and rigidly mounted, and will withstand shock and vibration better than any standard battery.
