Van-Tramp strikes back

Five years. After five full years of sailing and all that is sailboat-life, and mid way through our final passage of 2024, Kerri approached me with the idea of getting another van in the USA. We both have parents that are nearing an age where we may need to take an unscheduled visit at any moment, and having our on “home” in the states would be a huge bonus. Plus, now that our boat is in New Zealand, their immigration laws do not allow us to spend full calendar years in their country. We would be forced to pony up for housing for months, one way or another. It may as well be on our own terms, right?

Kerri’s question caused a tsunami of Craigs list and Facebook marketplace searches, even before our final week-long passage came to an end. We both passed the time out at sea looking at and daydreaming about a new (to us) van. Kerri and I are rarely on the same page in many areas of our life, but in the subject of “van” we share the same needs and wants. As Kerri put it in her social media post;

Upon our arrival in NZ, we had already planned a visit to both families. So, when a van that ticked all the boxes showed up on Craig’s List (actually one of the first we saw online) and it was only an hour away from Kerri’s parents place, we sent an email to the owners to setup a visit. It really did tick all the boxes! In fact, is is very much a unicorn of a van to us. Not many like this out there anymore (or ever) that is for sure. It is neither a fancy influencer-type van, nor is it a total-rebuild-needed-type, making it fall into a purgatory of sorts when it comes to who would want it (we do!). It is far from perfect, but I am willing to put in the time and effort to transform it into our own home, as we did with Big Blue.

This one is a 1995 Ford E350 Sportsmobile with a 7.5l V8 motor, Quigley 4WD conversion, high top with overhead bed, fully converted to RV by Sportsmobile (though not much of the original cabinetry remains today) and is plumbed for fresh and waste water, propane, heat and a/c, and has an Onan genset and winch. It is tall… freaky tall! Over 9 feet high, which makes a standard travel trailer look short. And for being over 9000 pounds, it still handles quite nimbly. This van – known as “Bertha” to the previous owners – is the extremely capable off-road RV that Big Blue just could never be, no matter how big tires we put on him.

Within a day of purchase, it was parked, covered, and abandoned on Kerri’s parents land in California as we flew off to visit with my family in Washington state. We were sure to take many pictures and measurements to start the customizing process even while we are gone. We fly back to NZ toward the end of January, and will spend 6 months sailing there before returning the the US, where we will do some quick projects on Bertha, and take her out as soon as possible. Stay tuned.

Van-tramp has a van again! (not a vanagon)