My first wife and I are volunteers with Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama. We have been here since May. A word of advice if you are planning on camping along the Gulf of Mexico: if you put your awning out and go to the beach or pool or shopping you may return to find your awning torn off! Thunderstorms develop quickly on the southern coast during the summer and are accompanied by high wind gusts even up to 60 mph. During these last few months we have seen, and I have actually lost count, but at least 10 torn off. We had a quick developing storm this afternoon with high wind and it destroyed two awning in the park. It only takes a minute or two to take your awning in but a split second for a high wind blast to tear it off! Just a word of advice and happy camping!

I am always Hyper Vigilant when it comes to putting our awning in....Ours has a wind sensor but I am afraid to trust it....my giant Girrard Awning would be very expensive to replace....

Ditto X10! BI'm on the east side of the gulf right now and the locals here are real excited that the summer weather has finally returned to normal ......rain storms EVERY SINGLE DAY! Sunny and hot one minute and black skies and downpours the next. And the past few weeks they have been pretty heavy with high winds and downpours. We will be getting hit with additional storms from the blow apart from that tropical storm that died all the way up till next week. I wouldn't even put the awning out if you plan to leave the RV at any time.

Same happens on the Pac coast. Rarely put our awning out on the shore and never leave it out when not at the site.

We have an older model awning which is a manual one but I have added a sun screen to it while we are in Texas during the winter. We get lots of wind and sometimes large gust but mine has stayed put. I also boought some nice tie downs with the tightning clamp and snug it down on each end. I use really good stakes on the sunscreen I think there is about 7 or 8 on my 18 foot awning and use bungie cords to secure it across the bottom of the sunscreen. It hardley even moves in the high winds.Just a bit of info.DadPS: Awnings are to be enjoyed as much as possible-not rolled up lol

Ours has a wind sensor, but even if it starts rolling in at the first gust, it is way way way too slow. In parts of the country where gusts are normal, we roll it up prior to leaving.

Camping at the beach | Good Sam Community

Mike_M2
Explorer
Jul 14, 2013
I'm always amazed at how few campers tighten the wheel on the upper rail when putting the awning out! I've even had a few guys i talk to not even realize they should...
YC_1
Nomad
Jul 14, 2013
If you don't like the weather, just wait two hours, it will change.
botts12
Explorer
Jul 14, 2013
Kokois1. I sent you a PM.
kokois1
Explorer
Jul 14, 2013
To all "wife" inquiry's, first wife and I have been married 45 years and for all of them we have lovingly called each other the "first". We have a load of fun with each other and are loving our retirement together. As for the awning issue, it was just a little advice since I've seen so many this summer here in Gulf Shores.
Also, just last week a Fleetwood Discovery MH burned here in the park a couple of streets from us. According to the owner, he had just bought it a few months ago. He found out there was a recall on his norcold refrig after he arrived here. He called the RV Dealer who told him that he would walk him through the steps to fix it, which he did. However, after he went to bed he heard a clicking noise coming from the refrig, got up and opened the door and smoke came out. He and his wife ran outside and saw the flames! Camper's around them brought fire extinguishers but couldn't get it out. Tragic!
Executive45
Explorer III
Jul 14, 2013
Maybe that's simply a warning to his CURRENT wife....:B:B:B.....Dennis
mena661
Explorer
Jul 14, 2013
We have wind sensor on ours and I've seen it work a few times. I trust it.
daveB110
Explorer
Jul 14, 2013
Good advice, Steve. We lost an awning the second of seven winters we camped on a beach in Pacific mainland Mexico. A local storm hit us when the air went from calm to extremely heavy wind with torrential rain, in seconds. There was no chance. We learned then to get our awnings in if we ever saw lightning anywhere in the Bay. That should have been our clue, which everyone on the beach missed. Not easy to get a new awning made in the region. We had never left it out if away from the rig.
wny_pat1
Explorer
Jul 14, 2013
dad4papa2 wrote:
pappaone wrote:
kokois1 wrote:
My first wife and I

Just wondering Steve do you plan on getting another wife???

rich

I had wondered about that also but was r=trying to be nice-lol
Now now, some guys get along better with their first wife than they do with their second!
dad4papa2
Explorer
Jul 14, 2013
pappaone wrote:
kokois1 wrote:
My first wife and I

Just wondering Steve do you plan on getting another wife???

rich

I had wondered about that also but was r=trying to be nice-lol
pappaone
Explorer
Jul 14, 2013
kokois1 wrote:
My first wife and I

Just wondering Steve do you plan on getting another wife???

rich