Vintage Adventurer Rod Wade has revealed his next adventure – the Great Rattler Run 2016, the followup to the 2015 Desert Rattler Run. This time Rod and his team will venture from the furthes...
Paris at last! The crews had to do it the hard way, nothing changes. Rod and Austen did 170k through the paddocks again and many villages. The village people were out in force to welcome them throu...
Today started with a jolt. If the cars were struggling or not, crews were not to drive direct to Reims via the freeway or we would be fined €100, which would be donated to charity! “We decided not...
Today, being Sunday, is my family day, and a day of reflection. But when there is so much to prepare priorities shift.
On the Rattler today it was time to seal, as best I could, the floor area around the steering column, clutch and brake pedals to minimise water flowing in during creek crossings!! After a couple of hours I realised I was kidding myself and instead of waterproofing the Rattler it would be easier to waterproof myself!!!!
I'm taking my swimming togs for some crossings in the north, and for the south I will need a full waterproof top and bottom because when it rains down in Tasmania it never seems to stop .... and it pelts down too.
Tasmania is known for it's very temperamental weather and just outside Hobart is Mt Wellington, which is known to have snow on it if a squall comes through from the southwest, even in the summer. If we do get a full on southerly from the Antarctic it will probably snow in lots of places. At 5pm today it was 2 degrees centigrade!!! The BOM is forecasting -2 degrees for tomorrow morning!!! I am hoping for warmer weather in two weeks’ time.
Rod
The canopy arrives!!!!
Crew member Mark from Wicked Fabrications that makes all things aluminium and stainless steel for my cars and of course for boats at the Coomera Marina Precinct arrived at my workshop at afternoon smoko with a canopy for the Rattler that his mate at the marina had made up. The ‘lid’ fitted perfectly and will now go to my mate Gordon at Graffiti Stickers to be decaled with the Vintage Adventure Logo on Monday.
The ‘lid’ is a feel good thing…when it rains it makes you feel good that you have a roof on!! In real terms though, it does just about nothing. But it is good when stopped at traffic lights to keep the rain off…well sort of anyway. At least it makes a good canvas for decals and if we do get some real sunshine in the north, it will sure be a blessing to have.
Rod
Check out these beauties! Big thanks to Rebecca from Michelin/BF Goodrich Melbourne, who sent these to me for the Rattler.
At 8am this morning I was coffeed up and at Tyre Plus Burleigh talking to the big boss Craig Jones. These tyres are for the far north in Queensland for mud, slush and creek crossings. They are so big that they will float the back of the Rattler where the drive wheels are. So I've been thinking about a solution that will see that the tyres do grip on the sandy bottom of the creek crossings even when in a meter of water!!! I'll let you know how that goes when I'm on the track........
Rod
