Help Me Figure Out the Dream?

[HadEnough]

Hi,

I am going to open up here. I don't like to reveal a lot online but I need some help selecting an RV.

I currently full time in an older Dodge Ram 2500 and Arctic Fox single slide truck camper. I also full time in a couple sailboats. One an incredible, 50ft world cruising catamaran which is incomplete and I can't continue building personally due to epoxy sensitivity so extreme it knocks me out for days. The other an older but very seaworthy 50' monohull cutter rig.

I'm looking for life advice as well as practical advice.

I'm trying to do some world traveling.

None of my toys here are 100% ready or ideal for global travel at this moment.

The catamaran would be by far the best option. It's one of the fastest and best boats in the world if complete but there are thousands of hours of work left with toxic chemicals my body can't take anymore to get it ready. I'd also like to spend those thousands of hours traveling not dying from chemicals.

The monohull is just about ready to go, capable of world travel but monohulls are terribly uncomfortable. Outside helm, rocking and rolling at anchor, living all tilted (heeled) over for extended periods while traveling. Not ideal.

That leaves an RV. A good RV. But I can't seem to find the dream RV that has the space of these boats yet is practical for my uses which include urban as well as rural stays.

I want to set it up to be completely off grid in every way other than getting fuel. My current truck camper is like this now but I'd like to add even more capability.

I need room. Plenty of room. A girlfriend and a cat are with me. But I also need it to be compact for visiting urban areas in addition to rural ones. I often stick my truck camper in the heart of huge north American cities in paid parking and enjoy it like an apartment in that city for a while.

I've been looking at the triple slide truck campers. The main problem with the Arctic Fox I have now is there is no couch. The dinette of a truck camper is horribly uncomfortable and that leaves a bed. Not healthy to lie in bed all day. (I run my busineses remotely so I work while traveling)

So I'm looking for an elusive dream. Something with a couch or 2 (dinette not even needed), a bed and an awesome kitchen with oven and a refrigerator at least the size of my full size Norcold. It should fit in a single parking spot and be able to be put on a RoRo to ship to Europe. It should be reasonable to drive in Europe. Or.. if a truck camper, maybe I can leave the camper behind and drive the truck in Europe to get into small places. Then I'd like to ship it to Southeast Asia and travel there. It should fit into a parking space but still he huge inside. Triple slide??

Any thoughts?

[HadEnough]

Matt_Colie wrote:
Well Had,

I think that your targets are farther than you think. While you can travel lots of places in a US built coach, people do this all the time. I also see European registered coaches in our travels on land. The cost is not trivial, but it can be done. You can also lease coaches at many port cities. I have classmates that have done this.

You are not the first I know to have been shut down by chemical sensitivities. Even if you change suppliers, the major components a still very similar.

If you don't like the motion of a monohull, then you might also consider that multihulls get less stable with "Theta"(angle of heal - this site can't make that character) and all have a serious stable 2 issue. Stable 2 being fully inverted and often has a better "righting moment" than does stable 1. They are also much more likely to break up in bad sea conditions. Having the boat leave you is a very bad day at sea.

From a naval architect, licensed marine engineer, boat builder and lifelong waterman

Matt

I appreciate your input Matt, but where are you getting your information about catamarans from?. Breaking up? That's never even happened in history. This isn't some random piece of junk. It's a corecell/glass epoxy resin infused meticulously built Catamaran with finite element analysis computer stress modeling dictating the entire design. One of the best in the world.

I've been actively sailing and traveling by boat for 25-30 years now. Full timing it. I think I've Had Enough with boats which is where my username here comes from. I've been from Venezuela to Nova Scotia and everywhere in between. A lot of it on smaller catamarans. And monohulls. And I've spent time doing professional charters.

Now certainly a vast majority of boats are more stable inverted. Just look at all the power vessels that end up capsized. With no keel, they stay that way. But this cat was also set up for the rough stuff in case I was too dumb to do my weather homework. It has absolutely nothing below the waterline in storm mode. No rudders, no keels, no props, absolutely nothing to trip on. It states all over and stays upright. All of that retracts.

Way off topic for an RV forum. Sorry folks.

Anyway, you're definitely right about the chemicals. I can't do them anymore. Severe epoxy problems.

Issue is I want to travel. In something comfortable. And see places. And have a home that goes everywhere. But it's time to go international.

[donn0128]

450/4500 or 550/5500 and a Host Mamoth camper. Host offers some really unique floor plans. Definitely not cheap, but if a camper is what you want.........

[HadEnough]

SoundGuy wrote:

HadEnough wrote:
So I'm looking for an elusive dream. Something with a couch or 2 (dinette not even needed), a bed and an awesome kitchen with oven and a refrigerator at least the size of my full size Norcold. It should fit in a single parking spot and be able to be put on a RoRo to ship to Europe. It should be reasonable to drive in Europe. Or.. if a truck camper, maybe I can leave the camper behind and drive the truck in Europe to get into small places. Then I'd like to ship it to Southeast Asia and travel there. It should fit into a parking space but still he huge inside. Triple slide??

Any thoughts?

Never have been convinced it's worth the cost of shipping to get a N American built RV to somewhere else in the world where it likely wouldn't meet local standards without significant modifications at potentially great cost.

Thank you for the input.

I was just going to make the whole thing self reliant as my current TC is. No need to worry about the differences that way. I never do anything except take on water, diesel, food and propane. There are adapters for propane. And I caddy black water to a toilet if necessary. I currently don't really go camping. I go traveling. I don't use campgrounds. Don't enjoy them.

Buy as to the cost of shipping RVs places... You certainly have a point. Although we want to have a permanent home we take places.

[Matt_Colie]

Well Had,

I think that your targets are farther than you think. While you can travel lots of places in a US built coach, people do this all the time. I also see European registered coaches in our travels on land. The cost is not trivial, but it can be done. You can also lease coaches at many port cities. I have classmates that have done this.

You are not the first I know to have been shut down by chemical sensitivities. Even if you change suppliers, the major components a still very similar.

If you don't like the motion of a monohull, then you might also consider that multihulls get less stable with "Theta"(angle of heal - this site can't make that character) and all have a serious stable 2 issue. Stable 2 being fully inverted and often has a better "righting moment" than does stable 1. They are also much more likely to break up in bad sea conditions. Having the boat leave you is a very bad day at sea.

From a naval architect, licensed marine engineer, boat builder and lifelong waterman

Matt

[DutchmenSport]

Here ya go!

[SoundGuy]

HadEnough wrote:
So I'm looking for an elusive dream. Something with a couch or 2 (dinette not even needed), a bed and an awesome kitchen with oven and a refrigerator at least the size of my full size Norcold. It should fit in a single parking spot and be able to be put on a RoRo to ship to Europe. It should be reasonable to drive in Europe. Or.. if a truck camper, maybe I can leave the camper behind and drive the truck in Europe to get into small places. Then I'd like to ship it to Southeast Asia and travel there. It should fit into a parking space but still he huge inside. Triple slide??

Any thoughts?

Never have been convinced it's worth the cost of shipping to get a N American built RV to somewhere else in the world where it likely wouldn't meet local standards without significant modifications at potentially great cost.