What's New With Us
November saw us settling in for our winter stay at Thunderbird RV Park out on the Tyee Spit in Campbell River on Vancouver Island. It’s a gorgeous location to be at any time of the year. Surrounded by nature but right near the city amenities.
It can be much windier during the winter storms, but I’ll take that trade-off versus being under trees in a forest or a long drive to get supplies. Another plus is that when the sun comes out, we see its full benefit. In mid-winter, you need all you can get as the days shorten dramatically.
The estuary is particularly interesting due to the abundant bird life that winters here. Tons of ducks, shore birds, eagles, herons, and lately several Trumpeter Swans.
Early in the month, we hooked up the trailer and towed it down the island, about 150 miles. We had a pleasant visit with some of Anne’s family, and the truck and trailer got a much-needed workout after sitting through the summer in the boatyard. Thankfully, both performed well. Good maintenance pays off, I guess!
I plan to keep the truck’s diesel emission systems from clogging by taking many sightseeing trips around Vancouver Island. Some good, long highway runs should help. Where we are camped, everything we need is only a few-minute drive away, so the engine never gets a chance to heat up properly and burn off the soot it creates.
Another reason for the trip was to road-test a new rear camera system from Haloview, the BT10 Touch, which includes a TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitor System) and a dash cam. It worked well, but I personally prefer the BT7 Touch model. The reason is that I already have a dedicated dash cam system, and I prefer the full-screen image compared to the wide-screen view that cuts off the top and bottom. Though it can be adjusted up and down as required.
Once we were back at the RV park, I got the rig ready for the coming winter. The weather on Vancouver Island isn’t as frigid as most of Canada, but some prep goes a long way to making it more comfortable.
Luckily, I own RV skirting from a previous winter stay back in 2020. At that time, I had to install the EZ Snap skirting from scratch; this time, the snaps were already there, making it super simple. We also own a dehumidifier and a heated water hose.
Vancouver Island has a relatively mild climate (people golf year-round and the grass stays green), but it can get quite gloomy. So, whether it's between storms or when the sun shines, we make sure to get outside as much as we can.
After so many winters spent in the desert southwest, it's kind of refreshing to enjoy the BC coast in the winter again. Takes us back to the decades we both spent living in Victoria at the southern end of the island. Layer up and get outside. You won’t find much cleaner air anywhere on the planet.
Wintering here will allow me to do some real-world testing of various cold-weather RV/boat products. Things like diesel heaters (very popular these days) and self-heating LiFePO4 batteries.
Currently, I have a BougeRV diesel heater set up to heat the air under the RV skirting for cold snaps, and I'm testing an interesting new lithium battery from Bluetti. It will spend its time in my truck bed toolbox power station. Stay tuned.
Recent Posts on the Website
Tips & Advice for Wintering in an RV – BC Coast
BougeRV Portable 12V 5KW Diesel Heater Review
Heated Blanket Review – BougeRV 12VDC 45W
Bluetti B1232 LiFePO4 Battery Review – 314Ah with Self Heating
Haloview BT10 RV Rearview Monitor + TPMS Review
Extra YouTube Videos
Lupin Falls in Strathcona Provincial Park, Vancouver Island
Image of the Month
Crisp fall morning on the Campbell River Estuary. Photo taken from our RV site.
Thanks for checking out my monthly newsletters. Much appreciated. Cheers! Ray
You wished for a means to limit charging current on the Bluetti battery. I'm taking you literally. You aren't asking to disconnect above a certain charge current, but you want to limit that current. That's easier said than done. The MosFETs in a BMS are on/off devices. They can't be modulated to provide voltage drop with the limited heat sinks they have. Let's assume you have one or more chargers attached that can develop 100 amps and you want to limit battery charge current to 50 amps. To do that it may take a half volt or more of voltage drop (say, from 14.4 Volts to 13.9 Volts. Or maybe 3/4 of a volt drop. With 50 amps flowing, that's 25 Watts or more of heat dissipation in the BMS. That's far more than the MosFETs generate in normal charging mode. It would take sizeable heat sinks and cooling air to dissipate that power. I don't think any BMSs found in compact batteries are built to do that. Regards, Harrison
Ray,
I really cannot believe you are not traveling the Southwest this winter and staying in Canada because of the political climate.
We have a home in a gated community in Ft. Myers and we have many Canadian friends and there are many Canadians who are snow birds there now enjoying the USA Florida weather.
We are all friendly to each other and there is absolutely no political friction here everyone is friendly as always.
You are making a big mistake not coming to the USA this year.
Please change your mine about spending the winter in Canada.
Gary Reed
Ft. Myers, Florida