Random Stats – Riveted

Interior Living Space, Compared

Laura Domela — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 18:20:51 +0000

We’ve logged almost 700 nights in our Airstream since we purchased it in 2010 (a 2010 27’FB International), and almost 600 nights aboard Airship (2013 Nordic Tug 34) since it joined our family in 2014. We’ve returned to the Airstream for a week of camping on the Oregon Coast (OMG is it ever going to stop RAINING??), and we can’t help discussing the things we find different/better/worse between the interior living space of the two “vehicles”. We aren’t taking into account things like self-propulsion…this is just about the living space design and interior.

Airstream 27FB Plan

Airstream 27FB Plus Points

Airstream publishes a much better graphic of its interior layout than Nordic Tugs does
There is a LOT of storage.
Bigger fridge and freezer
Bigger, separate shower
Quite a bit more closet space
The Airstream’s Amana stove/oven kicks the butt of the Force 10 we have on Airship. Sure, it’s not as shiny, but we’ve got three full burners (rather than one fullish burner and one “sorta kinda keep warm” burner), and…a vent-a-hood!
The heater in the Airstream heats the interior in no time
Bigger bedroom/master stateroom, in all dimensions

Nordic Tug 34/Airship Plan

Nordic Tug/Airship Plus Points

Far better craftsmanship…lots of real wood (because weight is not much of an issue)
More windows
Built-in generator
Better fresh water system, variable speed pump and much higher capacity tank (100 gallons vs. 39 gallons)
Privacy of master stateroom from guest sleeping area is better and more separate

Overall though, the Airstream wins in the category of interior living space. If we moved up to a Nordic Tug 40 (with hydronic heat, a better oven/stove, and bigger fridge/freezer by default, we’d be even with the Airstream in terms of interior living space…well, probably we’d be ahead, since we’d gain a separate stateroom for guests.

Other Observations Not Related to Interior Living Space

Campgrounds are like marinas. You’re almost always too close to your neighbor with the yippy dogs. With a boat you have the option of anchoring out.

Airship anchored at Teakerne Arm, British Columbia

With an RV (and a lot of planning and local knowledge) you can boondock “away from it all” on public land, but it takes a lot more work to find a scenic, off-the-grid place to hang out. But, as with boating, if you camp in the off season, you can go to normally crowded places like this and not see another RV:

Airstreaming the Badlands, South Dakota

The boat has to bring its own outside space with it (upper deck, back cockpit, bow) but the Airstream gets to use the campground and surrounding area as its outdoor space.

Airstream at Athabasca Glacier, Alberta, Canada

However, if you’re camped somewhere and it’s just raining and raining and raining (like the past few days here at the Oregon Coast), then your outdoor space is a bit more limited.

Freedom from roads is a plus with a boat.

Airship in Melanie Cove, Desolation Sound, British Columbia

We’re Back!

Laura Domela — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 05:09:44 +0000

We left our beautiful anchorage at Cabbage and Tumbo Islands yesterday morning (after a very rolly, sleepless night…oh well, we can sleep later) and headed for Anacortes. It was foggy a lot of the time, but on and off. Here’s Orcas Island sticking up out of the fog bank, during one of the “off” times:

Sun. Trees. Fog. Water.

Returning home after months of cruising to incredible locations is always bittersweet. Here are some numbers for you!

This summer we were on board for 150 days/nights, we cruised 3700.3 nautical miles, and we spent 625.46 hours underway.
Last summer, we were on board for 129 days/night, we cruised 3131 nautical miles, and we spent 527 hours underway.
Last night was Night #480 spent aboard since we purchased Airship on the 23rd of September 2014. That’s 480 days out of 735 days. That’s 65% of our time spent on Airship.

We’re back in Anacortes now, doing boat stuff. Cleaning the boat. Scheduling a haul out and new bottom paint and zincs for the boat. Looking at bigger boats…that kind of stuff.

The New Best Mobile Internet

Kevin Morris — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 00:10:13 +0000

A couple years ago, we wrote that we had found the best-ever mobile internet solution for our boating and RV adventures – The “Moovbox” from SinglePoint Communications. We have used our Moovbox on both our boat and our RV over the past couple of years, and it has performed brilliantly!

But, time and technology march ever forward and it was only a matter of time before something better came along. Now, SinglePoint Communications has a new family of “WiFi In Motion” solutions specifically for RVs and boats. Their “WiFi In Motion – Max RV” and “WiFi In Motion – Max Marine” solutions are comprehensive – including routers, antennas, mounting and wiring hardware, and even competitively priced service plans – all from one source. SinglePoint has partnered with PepWave for the router part of the solution to develop capabilities that are tailored to the RV and marine crowd.

We’ve been testing Max Marine the past few weeks on Airship as we cruise the San Juan Islands, and our initial experience has been superb. We were skeptical that we could be persuaded to replace our Moovbox this soon, but at this point it looks like the new WiFi In Motion – Max Marine has bumped Moovbox from our upcoming Alaska expedition.

As those who have followed this blog for awhile know, we’ve tried a lot of internet options over the years for our work-from-the-road/water lifestyle. Since we spend the majority of our time traveling while working and running an internet business (and this blog), our mobile internet setup is mission-critical for us.

So, what about Max Marine moves us to retire the Moovbox?

First, there is WiFi speed. Max Marine supports the latest WiFi standards, so the local WiFi network (assuming your client devices support it) can take advantage of significantly faster local speeds.

Second, the LTE backhaul (the speed at which the router can connect to the internet using a cellular SIM card) is – in our testing, significantly faster. (NOTE: We have only anecdotal comparisons and accurate performance testing is very difficult and requires a complex setup. We just sat in the same place and compared “speedtest.net” results between the two with the same SIM card.) The results? Check this out:

Yep, you are reading that right. 60.29 Mbps download. Upload was unusually low on that particular test, (it is usually in the several Mbps range) but download is generally the most important factor for most people’s use.

Third, ease of use. The admin console on the Max Marine device is easier to use, clearer, and more capable than we had with the Moovbox – including a number of features that we either did not have or could not find on Moovbox.

Fourth, WiFi as WAN. This is a big deal. It means you can introduce your Max Marine/Max RV router to the WiFi in the marina or RV park, and the system will use that for an internet connection if it’s available, automatically falling back to your cellular data plan when you pull away or the Marina/RV Park WiFi is unavailable. This lets you save data from your data plan, using it only when other WiFi is not available.

So, why use your Max Marine/RV to connect to marina/park WiFi rather than just connecting your devices directly? The Max Marine/RV is using an external high-gain antenna, so it will have stronger/faster signal (often a huge problem in parks and marinas when the antennas are far from where you are parked. If there is a charge for the WiFi service, you only have to pay it once, and all your devices can share a single connection. You have your own secure, fire-walled network so you won’t get hacked by any bad guys who happen to be on the same marina/park WiFI. And, you don’t have to reconfigure all your devices – they can continue to just be connected to your own local Max Marine/RV network, even when you’re using marina/park WiFi.

Here is our device connected to marina WiFi.

Then, when we cruised away from the marina out into the San Juan islands, Max Marine automatically transitioned to our Verizon SIM card.

Fifth, unlike Moovbox, Max Marine/RV allows you to easily swap and manage SIM cards. Going to Canada and want to buy a local SIM and pop it in? No problem. Got one of those old grandfathered unlimited-data Verizon SIM cards/accounts? (We do). Just pop that card in for unlimited data awesomeness. (We did, it was awesome). Or, if you have a T-Mobile account that doesn’t charge international roaming, slip that baby in when you head up to Canada. The plan provided by SinglePoint is (we believe) served by Verizon. In our experience roaming around the country, Verizon has had the best coverage – particularly in remote areas. The only exception we’ve found to this was SE Alaska last summer, where AT&T was the clear winner.

Sixth (and we haven’t tested this yet) you can easily set up a “captive portal” that would allow your friends or traveling companions use your connection to check their e-mail on a limited basis, without fear that they’ll clobber your data plan or have access to your private network. This feature might make you the most popular RV in the trailer park.

Seventh (list is getting long, huh?) There is an App. (The screenshots above are from the iPhone app). This makes it super convenient to check the status of your router and connection, make any required changes, and get notifications when something important changes (like maybe you transitioned from campground WiFi to your metered cellular data plan.) Oh, and that’s not all – if you like notifications and you have an Apple Watch, you can get the notifications on your watch. (I discovered this by accident when we pulled out of the marina and my watch tickled my wrist with a notification that we’d left marina WiFi.) Here are some screenshots from watch notifications:

Finally, the box is smaller and lighter than the Moovbox – and appears to be similarly rugged, with an all-metal enclosure and high-quality connectors.

One question people often ask us is – why spend money on a heavy-duty solution like Moovbox or Max Marine/RV rather than using one of the available mini-routers like Jetpack, MiFi, etc. There are a number of advantages (most of them listed above) but the most compelling for people like us who camp and boat in remote areas is range/coverage. The combination of external high-gain antenna, high-quality radios, and the ability to use SIM cards from multiple carriers, you’ll get internet in a BUNCH of places that your MiFi won’t reach. The antenna alone is a huge deal, since many RVs and boats kill a lot of signal just because the device is inside with no external antenna. The high-quality solutions also bring “real” full-featured WiFI routers that can handle a large number of devices and provide true firewall security – unlike most of the small portable solutions.

We found the Max Marine switched smoothly and automatically between marina WiFi, our Verizon SIM, our T-Mobile SIM, and our AT&T SIM as we traveled through zones with different coverage. (Yeah, we have a lot of accounts, shush.)

We’ll report more as we stress test our WiFi In Motion Max Marine over the summer – traveling up the Inside Passage through British Columbia to SE Alaska. By the time we’ve done that, we’ll have a lot more first hand experience to share.

A Couple More from Ike Kinswa, and Night No. 500!!

Laura Domela — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:09:03 +0000

I forgot to upload these yesterday…just some experiments with my new Fuji x100s. Geeking out on macro and the different film settings:

And here's where we stayed last night at Armitage Park in Coburg just outside of Eugene:

We really wanted to stay at Richardson Park over at the Fern Ridge Reservoir but turns out it doesn't open until April. Oh well, no big. The Wi-Fi at Armitage is fast fast fast.

I think I mentioned that we're dropping off the Airstream today at George Sutton RV for some tweaks. But guess what? Last night was night number 500 in this Airstream since we got it in April 2010! Pretty cool that we decided not to just drop off the trailer and go home on night 499, huh? (Nights spent total in both of our Airstreams: 658)

A Map of Our Road Trip, since August

Laura Domela — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 12:48:55 +0000

(Click map to enlarge)

Watching the Wind and Hurricane Sandy

Laura Domela — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 12:27:14 +0000

We've been following Hurricane Sandy pretty closely since we're on the East Coast (in an Airstream) now and scheduled to be around this area through Thursday. Seems like the worst we're supposed to have is today: a 30% chance of rain, and winds in the 20-30mph range.

I've been getting into this weather tracking thing and some of the graphics are particularly beautiful interesting. These wind graphics show the wind for the next three days. I like that you can move it ahead by the hour, by the day, by the month…try it! It's really cool. (Go over to "Map Type" and choose "Wind (kts)" … then up top where the date is, there's a pull down for moving the time/day around.)

Here's today, at about 1pm EST:

Today should be the worst of it for us, and it looks kinda scary, but if you click the image to enlarge it, it's much clearer what's going on for us. We are in Savannah — where the marker is. Looks like we're in the 18-23kts area today. So far it's just a little breezy, and there's been no rain at all.

Here's tomorrow (Sunday), same time. Our wind drops to the 12-15kts range:

And Monday, same time (winds about the same, 12-15kts):

I think right now — we're going to go for a bike ride around the campground.

Two Lists

Laura Domela — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 23:07:17 +0000

Billboards we saw today on the Florida Turnpike:

Lawyers
Sell Your RV Right from your Campsite
X-Mart Adult Superstore
Many, many, MANY "Don't kill your baby" signs
Medieval Times
Gun World
More Lawyers
Disney
Marines

Animals we've seen since Texas:

One Armadillo (dead)
Two wild pigs
Cows
Horses
Llamas
Raccoons
One water snake (probably a cottonmouth)
Crabs (Ghost, Hermit)
Heron, buzzards, hawks, gulls, pelicans etc.
Fish
Turkeys
Two Kangaroos (!!!!)
Two frogs
Mosquitoes (duh)
Flies
Dogs
Cats
Deer
Road signs for bears (in Florida) but no bears
Still no alligators (or crocodiles)
And no pythons, mom

(Posted by Laura & Kevin)

Update: Our Route So Far

Laura Domela — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:18:00 +0000

(Click map to enlarge.) And here's a link to the Google map for those of you who want to follow along.

Portland, OR
Pendleton, OR
Declo, ID
Price Canyon, Helper, UT
Ouray, CO
Silverton, CO
Golden, CO
Lakeside Amusement Park, Denver, CO
Mueller State Park, Divide, CO
Leadville, CO
Denver, CO (Cherry Creek State Park)
Elkhart, KS (so we could add Kansas to our "Where We've Been" map
Dumas, TX
Amarillo, TX
Denver City, TX (I forgot this one on the earlier map)
Austin, TX
New Braunfels, TX
Lafeyette, LA

3,362 miles

Where We’ve Been

Laura Domela — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 16:05:00 +0000

We've been debating for a while whether to get one of those "Where We've Been" sticker maps for the Airstream. There never seemed to be "the perfect place" for it. We decided a couple weeks ago that we'd get one, and put it on the door.

Here it is before states:

And now, with states:

We've got three more to add after yesterday (Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas), and we'll be able to add New Mexico in a couple weeks. (Clearly, we need to go east, we know.)

Since we decided to sticker up our door, we've been collecting cool stickers from places we've been…Pike's Peak, Leadville, etc. But this looks so clean here that I'm not sure I want to mess it up now.

Okay, and just as an aside, do you think the company who makes these could have spent about five more minutes proofing the copy for their front of their product? (Click to enlarge)

Alumafandango Dry Camping Report

Laura Domela — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 13:46:59 +0000

We decided to dry camp at Alumafandango, so we never connected to electric or water (there was no sewer) while we were there – Tuesday through Sunday.

Our AM Solar power system kept up with our electric needs 100% – we had 100% battery charge when we left. We ran computers, espresso machine, microwave, Traeger pellet grill, hair dryer, flat iron, lights, TVs, music system, and charged hexacopter batteries. The lowest our batteries ever got during the week was 88%.

Our AM Solar system ROCKS!
Our fresh water was at 1/4 capacity when we left. We took four showers, washed dishes, brushed our teeth, etc.

Our grey water was at 1/2 capacity when we left (still in the "green").

Our black water was at 5/8 capacity when we left. We used less than a half-bottle of propane (7.5 gal bottles). The propane ran our refirgerator, stove, oven, and hot water heater.

As usual, fresh water was the most precious resource.

(Posted by Kevin)