The Great Escape (Pod)

2011-11-17T19:48:00.001-05:00

It's a cold one tonight. Got the first coat of stain and polyurethane on the second fender of the pod. A regretful death of a young friend hindered progress for the week. Tail lights are mounted and the eyebrow for above the door is nearly ready to attach. My original plans called for a maiden voyage (pre-escape) in October. We may be doing this in January instead.

Another Year Has Slipped Away

2011-11-05T09:04:00.002-04:00

Wow, it's November already, again! The pod is nearly ready to go to the scales. Cabinet doors were hung two nights ago. One more fender has to be built. and a hatch latch of some kind needs to be found.

We were planning on a maiden voyage in October but now I think December, which is OK, that's what the pod is for.

a peek from outside

newly hung doors

Let there be light!

2011-07-09T12:27:00.001-04:00

Finally cut in the large window last weekend. It is amazing what a large picture window does for the pod! Finishing off the interior and building the fenders is next in line.

Summertime!

2011-06-12T18:39:00.000-04:00

Looks like summer is here. The May rain has pretty much stopped. The SKpod has a nice finish on the sides and the roof does not leak. Working on the kitchen area and finishing the interior.
Bought a cool little umbrella shelter last week to use at the Warrior Dash in Logan. It will look great with the pod.

Could it really be Spring?

2011-05-10T09:09:00.000-04:00

Finally a weekend without rain and cold. The SKpod received its skin this weekend. Green steel top with Mahogany stained Birch sides. The door was cut in on Sunday. Monday night we cleaned the garage for shelter from thunderstorms. The window gets cut in next then I start framing in the window in the door. This promises to be a busy week.

I've been Hatched.

2011-04-12T15:51:00.000-04:00

Got the hatch on the pod this weekend. Wasn't clever or even unusual, just a hatch, but it fits, it hinges and it does the job. Hopefully, when I'm done, it will be waterproof as well. On to the rear end and the lamination of the sides. Just a few more days without rain, please.

A brief taste of spring.

2011-03-24T19:19:00.000-04:00

Spring teased us for a few days. I got to fire up the motorcycle for for a day. The pod has a hatch design now but, wouldn't you know, the weather has turned and now I'm back to less outdoorsey things. The solar electric system is sitting in the computer room at the house doing its thing through a South facing window. In four more weeks I should see some blossoms on the pear trees unless things stay chilly. Camping season is just around the corner. Still need tires and a license plate for the pod.

Nearly Spring

2011-03-02T17:10:00.000-05:00

The second day of March and the second day of sunshine. The pod beckons. I untarped the project this morning to let the inside dry out a bit. Even with the tarps I still get water inside. One more sheet of plywood and the living quarters will be covered.
The second battery for the power supply should arrive this week. I'll pick up the solar panel in a few more weeks.

I should start posting project pictures soon.

Nomadi

2011-02-20T16:50:00.000-05:00

The idea of living a nomadic lifestyle has been in my head since I was very young, like old enough to ride a bicycle. You see, once I had my "wheels" I discovered a much bigger world. For years the ability to wander all day long, sometimes covering 60 miles or so, and still be home in time for supper was great, but eventually I needed something bigger than a bicycle.

After going through the pain of acquiring and supporting a car, I discovered that my world was going to be limited now by how much money I had to put into the car. After the car there is the girl, which leads to other interests. Of course, with the girl comes the likelihood of children which, for most people, will cause the sprouting of roots for many years or even decades.

Now my kids are gone, I have many vehicles and I still have the girl (which makes things that much nicer). She has a pension for roaming and we both would like to reverse the roaming to working ratio.

I almost have the power.

2011-02-14T19:14:00.001-05:00

It's mid February and I've gathered up my 12 volt 8 amp/hour battery, a charge controller and a 200/400 Watt power inverter. Solar panel to follow once I get the roof on. I'm looking at an additional wind powered generator to supplement the solar. If you are doing the math, that is 96 watts of available power for a little less than 1 hour, minus the inefficiencies of the inverter. This is a camper, I got no good reason to need the equivalent of a 100 watt light bulb anywhere. We'll see. I'm also planning on adding several more batteries during the year.

Water storage has been designed. I'll be good for storing 6 gallons. Water collection design will follow, kind of like the wind power idea.

Prelude to Spring

2011-02-06T17:19:00.000-05:00

One 20 year long uncompleted project has bitten the dust. Time to look at reality (yuck) and my age. I'm 50. Time to escape (reality). That is the plan.

The SKpod ALPHA1 is well underway but has been sidelined due to the fact that winter came on December 1st, 2010 and has refused to leave except for two brief weekends which were too wet and cool to get anything done. It sits under tarps in my driveway waiting for warm enough weather to allow the use of adhesives once again.

In the meantime, solar and wind pod power is being developed as is pod power storage. Water collection, treatment and storage have been designed.

This summer will begin the trial runs and, who know, maybe an ALPHA2 will need to take shape next winter.