Love Your RV & Boat! Newsletter - 2/26

Welcome to the February Newsletter. Spring is on the horizon!

Mar 02, 2026

What's New With Us

Well, a mild winter is drawing to a close. Yesterday I saw some daffodils, and many of the plants and trees are beginning to bud. February 16th saw our first snowfall, but only an inch or two, and rather fleeting. A week later, we had another, but much the same.

We could get snow in March, but it's not likely to last long. Average temperatures are rising! This week, I plan to pull the EZ Snap skirting off the rig, take things to storage, and check on the boat. The skirting, along with my other cold-weather preparations, made it quite comfortable in the RV over the winter.

We have 2 more weeks in the RV park, then we will spend the rest of March on Vancouver Island, and in April, head over to Lund to begin prepping the boat for another summer season. Hoping to get Vestri launch early this year if the weather cooperates.

Off-Grid Installations and Product Reviews

I spent a fair amount of time this past month installing a new off-grid power system in the RV. Over the years, I’ve had numerous requests to show how to install a system from scratch that would suit a typical RVer. One who wants to do a bit of short-term boondocking from time to time and have power when overnighting off-grid while traveling.

Versus my larger, constantly evolving complex system, I usually show in my videos. It’s great for us spending months boondocking, but overkill for most RVers needs.

Renogy was looking for a review of their new S1 Pro Solid State Lithium battery. So I thought it was a great chance to install a mostly Renogy system since I already owned some of their items. So far, I have done three videos and completed the installation. I’ll have a fourth out in a few weeks once we get a chance to do some off-grid camping with the new system and put it through its paces.

On the flip side, I have been checking out an alternate off-grid solution from Bluetti aimed at people who would want an easier installation process. The Bluetti system, with the Charger 2 device at its heart, is much more plug-and-play. I think it may be well-suited for smaller RVs, such as vans, truck campers, or small trailers.

I’ve done extensive testing on it, and come April, I’ll be installing it on our boat for real-world testing this summer. It will replace the Charger 1 system I used last year.