Skipper Sails: March 2014

Hola Amigos! Here we are in our final preparations to get Skipper on the road. While the endeavor has taken us longer than we originally expected, we realized we've done restorations that could have taken about a year, in only three months.
We've been working very hard and barely taken any days off, we are so excited to hit the road and begin our new life journey across the states.

Here's what we've been working on lately:

Kyle found that a small piece of wood that made up the floor of the doorway was a bit loose when we stepped on it to enter/exit the trailer. He found that the wood was rotting and needed to be replaced for a sturdy entryway. He did all of the measurements and cut a piece of wood just the right size for the space.

Before:

After:

We've also been doing a lot of painting on the interior of the trailer recently. We chose some pretty cool retro pastel colors such as a lavender for the kitchen area and a light green for the interior of some drawers around the trailer which add a nice pop of color when you open the closet door, etc.

Here is the first coat of the lavender paint color on the shelf above where the kitchen counter will be. (More pictures of that to come)

Here is what the old paint looked like (right) and the new coat of "Asparagus" green paint on the left. We would choose a paint color named after a vegetable... :)

Kyle found an awesome deal on craigslist for an icebox, sink and faucet from a 60's trailer which fit our theme really nicely. The teal color matches the original trim around the kitchen counter in our trailer.

The icebox uses no electricity. This is important because every bit of solar energy we have is precious.

We will put blocks of dry ice in the box to keep food refrigerated for 1-2 weeks at a time.

The original paint on the icebox had seen better days, especially around the handle area, so we decided to spray paint on a new coat.

First Kyle sanded the door of the icebox down so we could start fresh. And we hung it from his basketball hoop which made for an interesting floating canvas~

The next Picasso...

Hooray! A clean matte finish with no drips.

We'll try to post a few more times before we hit the road, but our departure date is just around the corner! We are shooting for about two weeks. We will most likely begin by exploring Southern Arizona some more before it gets too hot to handle. Then we plan on heading West, and North!!

Thanks for everyone's support, suggestions, and love. Its meant so much during this difficult, yet very rewarding learning experience.

Now here's a picture of an Ocotillo in bloom. Spring is beautiful here in the Southwest!

Peace and Love,

Maddie and Kyle

Hello folks,

It's been a while, but thanks for your continued interest. We've let the work take us away—and luckily we've taken many photographs and have ample stories to share.

So let's get started where we left off—with a virtually stranded trailer, tongueless and stationary.

Stripped belly, Fiberglass Insulation completely removed—The original floorboard is in exceptionally good shape.

We added studs all around for extra sturdiness

1.5" foam insulation to replace the fiberglass—This will keep it warm at night

The front 3rd or so ready for the skin

New Aluminum paneling to keep water out—This will keep it dry for years to come.

Time to install the new tongue with the help of our amigo Victor.

We decided to salvage the original coupler

Hit with the grinding wheel and ready to be installed on the new 2x3 rectangular steel frame

We've used 2x6 planks of wood to keep the steel in place

View of the new tongue from underneath the trailer, adds much strength to the front end

Victor adding the finishing touches to the front end—We designed it to keep an original look

I've removed all of the original under-paneling and insulation (it was a filthy job) and now I'm at the very back of the trailer where the aluminum folds under.

Do I leave it how it is or open to inspect? If I don't open I will regret it down the road..

This is what pours out

The view under this panel--notice the rotten wood

Now fully open--more wood

The back 3rd of the trailer, or about 30 square feet of floor was removed because it simply wasn't as sturdy as we'd be happy with.

Meanwhile we metamorphosed into butterflies..

Nice foliage at the Tucson Botanical Gardens

Phew, a breath of fresh air, back to tearing out the bah--Jesus out of this thing.

Elongating the studs

Cutting screws

With a round trailer comes round wood

Looks good

Leveling the floor off before screwing everything together

Voila! A new floor, rear storage compartment, and one hell of a sturdier sleeping area.

Here you can see the floor installed, and now we start thinking about the oddities of this cabinet

It has what is called a "P" pipe for the sink, the Upward PVC leads to a vent on the exterior, the bottom a drain. The sink does not need to be vented since there is no holding tank.

Way more plumbing than is needed!

Fitting the stove that a gracious person donated!

Thinking about removal

Shazam!

These things are expensive! We found a 30-gallon water tank on Craigslist for $35--Score

Leveling the cabinet before reinforcing it—The entire thing was put together with staples for ease and cost-effectiveness. These weren't bound to hold up for our rugged adventures ;)

Measuring how much steel we'll need for the new countertop.

This old piece of wood needs replacing, too. It's undergone some water damage and is pretty flimsy. We've gone with a new piece of 1/2" Birch hardwood.