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Windsurfing Mobile

91K views 87 replies 27 participants last post by  celilo 
#1 ·
This is my new windsurfing mobile with my wife on it:





Pretty cool, hey?

Just kidding, you may have guessed that it's photoshoped. But I did ask for a price quotation to get it done. They never replied! Isn't it good to know that some businesses are doing so good, they don't need a new customer. ;-)
 
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#5 ·
Awesome GuyT. Mine will be used for the same purpose. Windsurfing, SUP, and kites.

We just returned from a week in Cocoa Beach. http://www.supsurfmachines.com/ My wife windsurfing in photos here.

I dream about retiring there with my ProMaster loaded with toys.
Cool! SUP looks like of fun, but I'm not too sure I would try the kite foil board.

This winter, I started kite skiing. I bought 3 foil kites (Ozone 6, 8 and 11 m2), almost killed myself a couple of times. Gee, those wings are powerful! I am starting to be less scared and actually enjoying it, but on water, I'll stick to windsurfing. ;)

Isn't fun to have a wife that shares our passions, hey? Mine is very busy lately building a scaled replica of the cargo space of our PM to figure out the interior setup:



She even did our quiver of sails and, if you look closely, even the wetsuit hangers. I think she is getting carried away, but don't tell her. ;)
 
#7 ·
You think that not getting a call back for graphics is strange? I'm begging two up-fitters to provide me a price for all aluminum shelving, work bench and drawer units from Ranger Designs plus a floor and a Sortimo bulkhead, probably 5,000 worth of stuff! I am to the point of looking out of state and drop ship to me. Times are good for me but I never ever not quote people.
 
#8 ·
Wow, my wife started to work for real, I tell you, guys, she's incredible.

Right now, we are working on soundproofing the PM. It's a major concern, since we camp in a very noisy campground in the summer. We thought of Dynamat, cork or mineral wool, but we can't make our minds, so it might end up a mix of the three. :)

We decided to limit the Dynamat stuff for the wheel covers only. It's actually not Dynamat ($$$), but a similar stuff used for roof membranes. It's made by Resisto and I think it's called "peal and seal" in the States. It contains asphalt, so I wouldn't use it on roof or side panels, but I think it's going to be ok where it is. This stuff is touchy to install, no re-doing is possible.

What's really amazing about my wife is that she thinks how she will do it before doing it, a notion I don't have. ;)

So she first started to do a simulation with cardboard strips to see how she will cut the Resisto stuff:



Once she figured it out, she carefully applied the stuff:

Step 1:



Step 2:



Step 3:



Now, she is working on cardboard templates for the side panels. And she loves doing it.

I tell you, guys, I love her. :D
 
#12 ·
My wife just about finished the cardboard templates for the interior panels. She is actually working on two approaches, one that minimizes the amount of panels and the other one that has basically one panel each "cavity" (don't know the exact word).

Look at the templates over the back wheel and feel free to give me your opinion.

Approach #1:



Approach #2:

 
#15 ·
My electrical setup, part I.

My power needs are minimal. I need mostly juice for my cooler, an Engel MT45, supposedly one the best coolers around :eek: (and pricey :().

Add to that a few LED lights, a 200W power inverter (mostly for my computer) and that's about it.

So, I went with an AGM 12V 100 HA marine battery, that will be charged by my alternator with additional charging current from a 130 Watt solar panel.

I got this first part done by professionals, since I didn't know how to do it, but I should have do it myself (and with a little help from my friends): it's real easy and I would not have dents on my rooftop, but that's another story.

The tough part is usually accessing the main battery. On the Promaster, it's really easy, since the battery is located under the driver's feet:



Getting there is even easier, since there is an opening on the driver's right side on the floor:



The black wire is the negative and it goes directly to the negative terminal of the marine battery.

The red wire goes to a breaker (7187 Bluesea) and from there, another wire goes to a Voltage Sensitive Relay, a BEP 710-140A. You can see here what it does:

http://www.bepmarine.com/home-mainmenu-8/product-714/digital-voltage-sensing-relay-dvsr

Now, what I have to do is hook the red wire comming out of the VSR and hook it to the marine battery.

Here's a picture of breaker and relay:


Easy, hey?
 
#18 · (Edited)
Great isn't it?

Time is running out for me, but an option I consider for next year is doing the panels and the ceiling with a butyl based membrane, rather than the asphalt based membrane that I used for the wheels. Butyl is supposed to be more heat resistant and won't smell.

But Dynamat extreme is expensive ($250 for 36 square feet), but there is an alternative called B-Quiet ($85 for 50 square feet):

http://www.b-quiet.com/extreme.html

Oups, just read that their "b-quiet" is also asphalt based, so it is basically the same stuff I used, just more expensive.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Things are moving slowly, don't know if we are going to be ready for April 17, departure date for Cape Hatteras, NC.

A guy is installing a fan on the roof today. Electrical setup is half done, panels are cut and ready for instalment.

Yesterday, we started to do work on the isolation. For the wall panels, we decided to go with Reflectix aluminum bubble paper plus a couple of inches of mineral wool specifically made for soundproofing:

http://www.roxul.com/products/residential/roxul+safe%27n%27sound

We started with the door panel:









Sylvie is really good at that kind of stuff and the more it is difficult, the more she loves it. Here's a hard one:



Today, I am finishing to put a protective coat on the wood panels. Love them, I might even replace the few OM panels:

 
#23 ·
Got my fan installed yesterday. The guy did an awesome job, I am sure it will never leak:



I am not very manual, but I am well surrounded: My wife of course, but also an ex-colleague from work that is a real perfectionist. Here's my electrical panel he did for me:





But here is the highlight. This the LEDs I bought for the interior:



Now, here's the casing he did for them:



 
#26 ·
Did a lot of work this weekend, with a lot of help from my wife's family.

First of all, the roof. We decided to go with cork glued to the ceiling plus Reflectix aluminum bubble paper. We used 3M Super 77 spray glue. You hardly get a second chance with this glue, it sticks!

Here's the work:








 
#29 · (Edited)
I got the cork from Home Depot, the product is "QEP 200 sq. ft. 1/4 in. Cork Underlayment Roll":

http://www.homedepot.com/p/QEP-200-sq-ft-1-4-in-Cork-Underlayment-Roll-72000Q/100645274

Cork is supposed to be good for noise reduction and it also reduces thermal transmission, so, with the Reflectix aluminum bubble paper, I should get a decent heat isolation from outside.

For the side walls, we first put a layer of Reflectix (Sylvie is really getting good at it) and then about 2 inches thick of Roxul Safe 'n' Sound:

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/roxul-safensound-for-wood-studs-24-in-on-centre/972188

Also added brown paper to make sure we don't get Roxul particules in the air.










I have some concerns on the long term with Roxul, but it will be easy to remove, should there be any problem. One thing for sure, I took a test drive yesterday and the soundproofing is excellent.
 
#31 ·
This is me (blue sweater) in my typical work position:



But I am not completely useless, I managed to wire all by myself the electrical setup:



Could have done a cleaner job with the wiring, but who cares, nobody sees it once the control panel is on the wall:



On the panel, you have the switches/breakers, power inverter (250W or so), 12V output solar panel controler and display. The cooler will have its personal 12V output and fuse, located near the floor:

 
#32 ·
GuyT: Roof vent

From GuyT: "Got my fan installed yesterday. The guy did an awesome job, I am sure it will never leak:"

It does look like the guy who installed your roof vent did a fantastic job. And your van is coming along great. Could you ask the guy who installed your vent what kind of gaskets and /or caulk he used? I'd really appreciate it as I may try to install mine myself
I'd really appreciate it!
 
#33 ·
From GuyT: "Got my fan installed yesterday. The guy did an awesome job, I am sure it will never leak:"

It does look like the guy who installed your roof vent did a fantastic job. And your van is coming along great. Could you ask the guy who installed your vent what kind of gaskets and /or caulk he used? I'd really appreciate it as I may try to install mine myself
I'd really appreciate it!
He didn't use any gaskets, just industrial grade silicon caulk. I'll try to find out what kind exactly.

You are very brave to consider doing it yourself. It costs me $100 to have it installed by a pro and it is well worth it, specially if one as no experience doing it by himself. You don't want to gain experience, you want to have it done right the first time.

If you cut the roof yourself, make sure you have the right tool, the metal is really thin.
 
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