Triage

We had a great drive out to the Caravan Hospital.  It was about an half hour drive and was the best drive I've had in Bertie so far.  I don't know whether the loud backfire he erupted the other day cleared something out, but the engine was pulling the best ever.  There was no pinking or sluggishness.  We sailed up the hill out of Culverhouse Cross in 4th gear with no problem at all.  Previously he would have struggled and stuttered and I'd have had to go down the gears.

There was quite a queue at the Caravan Hospital and we had to wait a while.  I think Bertie looks pretty good for a veteran, waiting in the queue.

As well as sorting out the little problems mentioned in the last post, we are hoping that they will be able to put on a replacement strip above the sliding door so that we have something on which to clip the awning.  This would be really good, because up till now we have been having to throw the guy ropes over him to secure them, and that is a little inconvenient if you want to head off and leave the awning standing.  I'll let you know how that goes...

Caravan hospital

Bertie is going to hospital on Saturday – no nothing serious!  He is going to the Caravan Hospital to have all his interior fittings serviced.  This will assure us that the electrics and the gas pipes are in good condition.  We'll also have a few other minor defects mended, such as the leaky tap and the fridge that only works from the mains.

We decided to tax Bertie for the whole year, so we have been taking him out for little trips every other week over the winter to keep the batteries charged and everything lubricated.  We have been most impressed at how easy it has been to start him every time.  It must be a good Peugeot engine under the bonnet – it is a shame they have no interest in supporting his longevity.  They were totally disinterested when I contacted them.  Bertie started at the fourth attempt even after standing covered in snow for two weeks.  It does smell pretty damp inside though, but I don't know what we can do about that.

I feel that he is struggling a bit with unleaded petrol and am looking into a petrol additive.  We are experiencing what my Dad used to call 'pinking' and even the occasional backfire.  It will be his longest run for a while out to the Caravan hospital at St Hilary, so it will be interesting to see how he performs.