Living in a James Cook for 6 month (or more)?

[James 4 FUN]

Hi everybody

We are planning a trip with our 2007 James Cook to Canada and Alaska this year (or next year if it doesn’t work out with the sabbatical). We have been traveling over there with (big) rental campers, this will be the first time with our «James». We want to travel for about 6 months, maybe longer. Plan is shipping James to Halifax. Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alaska are on our to travel list. (I know there are big distances between these places )
Living for a long time in a James Cook will give some «challenges» I guess. Is there somebody with experience here to give some advice about»do’s and don’t s?
I read all the former post about the subject and other information on Seabridge side e.g. , but some info maybe dated(?)
And some practical questions:
- what kind of tires to use in the North on gravel roads?
- Gas and electricity connection from Seabridge good/usable advice for JC?

Thanks for all the answers and suggestions in advance!

Hans


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[admin]

Hi Hans,
our James Cook (NCV3, like yours) has very a limited storage capacity. We manage to pack clothing for 14 days. For everything that can run empty, we carry spare items (soap, toothpaste, etc.). Basically, for us, it makes no difference if we travel for 2 weeks or 6 months. We also carry clothing for all temperatures. We had temperatures below freezing and up to more than 40°C. So we dress multiple layers (onion principle).

An important thing for us was the internet connection and the general ability to communicate whenever we wanted. We didn't care about WiFi and used LTE instead. The coverage is better than we thought. However, there are areas with no coverage at all. There we use our Garmin InReach mini, so we could at least send text messages via satellite. Example: we were in the Olympic National Park (with no network) and needed a ferry. We could reach friends via satellite and they made a reservation for us on the ferry.

6 months or longer is no problem if you don't miss anything. For me it was important, to sleep well, have a hot shower in the morning and get a cup of good cappuccino whenever I wanted. All that was given. We were often asked, what we missed and I could never give an answer.

[admin]

About the tires
We kept our regular Conti Vanco 2 and had no problems on the gravel roads in Yukon and Alaska. However, we did not go on Dempster or Dalton highway. We were told that there is a different type of gravel, that can puncture the tires. We carry one regular spare tire and never used it.

About gas
The Seabridge adapter works, but you need another one, as no American gas bottle fits in the NCV3. We used Coleman propane cylinders (465g) and a Coleman "steak saver" adapter. In 6 months we used 10 of these small canisters (3$ each at Walmart).

About Electricity
We avoid commercial campgrounds. So we camp in State parks, National Parks, curbside, driveways, parking lots and many other places where there is no electricity anyway. We rely solely on our Solar/Lithium-Setup (300 Wp/270 Ah). Good enough to run a Nespresso Pixie, hairdryer, Philips Airfryer and other 230V stuff on our 1600 W inverter. We also charge our two electric bikes this way. We left our hookup cable at home.

[James 4 FUN]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for your clear and comprehensive answer! We are good in «traveling light» so that will be fine. Did you use your German mobile provider in Canada or buy a local SIM card? (prepaid ?) The Garmin inReach is a good suggestion, thanks! You traveled several times to the US and Canada, did you take your JC back every time or did you leave it there? Did you use Seabridge or other agency? And Thum car Insurance or other?
We have the same Conti tyres now Where did you keep your spare tyre? Mounted outside back? I would like to take spare, but no place to put it. Amazing your electricity story, with no hook ups. I have to look more into the 220V converter info. We have solar panel and with driving a lot batterys get charged anyway.


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[admin]

Hi Hans,
I use T-Mobile, my plan covers Europe, USA/Canada and Turkey.
We shipped it every time (2014,2016,2019) because we need the James Cook here as well.
Yes, we used Seabridge every time.
The first 2 trips were insured by Thum, on the last one we used Progressive.
My spare tire is the standard one, that came with the Sprinter. I left it at its standard place behind the rear bumper (see photo).
Solar was only one source for our electricity. The Votronic 90A B2B charger helped a lot, as we have been driving a lot.

Peter

[James 4 FUN]

Hi Peter
Thanks again for all your answers! Helping a lot and I am increasingly looking forward to the journey
I read about the Votronic B2B charger online. Where did you mount it in your JC? And what about the 230 inverter you talked about before? Where did you mount that one? I guess we will use camping sites a little more often than you did. On average we sleep on a campsite every 3th night on our Scandinavia holidays because my wife likes «proper showers» (never used JC inside shower so far). With El. hookup every 3th night we never had El problems either.
Have a nice weekend.
Hans

[admin]

B2B Charger

is located under the driver's seat. The photo shows the old 45A-version. In the meantime, I had it replaced with the new 90A-version.

LRexp_2017-07-04_IMG_0139.jpg (137.59 KiB) 10545 mal betrachtet

Together with solar, more than 100 Amps are possible

LRexp_2018-09-08_IMG_6366.jpg (74.89 KiB) 10545 mal betrachtet

Inverter
is mounted in the trunk above the cassette toilet cover. This photo shows the old Fraron

LRexp_2012-08-12_P4S-IMG_4742.jpg (134.65 KiB) 10545 mal betrachtet

I had it replaced with a Victron Energy Multiplus 2000

LRexp_2018-07-21__DSC3552.jpg (110.18 KiB) 10545 mal betrachtet

If I ever hook up, it charges the batteries with 80 Amps.

[Dieter]

The first 2 trips were insured by Thum, on the last one we used Progressive.

Hallo Peter,

ich entdecke eben dein Stat von Anfang Januar. Erfreulich, diese Alternative zu Thum, die ja Policen leider nur noch in 6-Monats-Intervallen anbieten.

Auf der Progressive Website kann ich keine Infos über RVs from Overseas finden, daher: hast du bitte mal einen Kontakt für mich? Hast du noch weitere Versicherer entdeckt, die zu vergleichbaren Konditionen wie Thum versichern?

Danke schon mal, und Grüsse,
Dieter

[admin]

Hallo Dieter,
kannst du bei Facebook reinschauen? Dort habe ich eine Gruppe für das Thema angelegt https://www.facebook.com/groups/verschiffung/
mit Schwerpunkt Versicherung. Das ist leider ein echtes Problem.

LG Peter

[Dieter]

Das ist ja eine gut besuchte, informative Seite, Peter. Danke!