Evening all. We arrived at Grange Farm when the wind was at its windiest today and had a bit of a technical time pitching. Ours is an inflatable tent with horribly damaged air beams, held together with gaffer tape, so we can't just up the pressure to stiffen the unit.
The wind was 28mph when we turned up (and gusting to 50+mph in odd ways because we chose to pitch in the lee turbulence of the cliff edge). We had to peg the whole tent and awning combo out before we inflated it, just to keep it on the ground, and also pre-pegged the guys. To add to the joy, the ground here is made of pig iron. I have ruined some of my favourite pegs. Grrr.
Well, we got it up, but we had to do a lot of re-pegging. The airbeam feet were not 'just so' meaning some of the beams were horseshoe shaped, and couldn't handle the gusts. I had to re-peg many of the guys to get them far enough out to cope with the wind. For the first time since 2014 we had the front air beam collapse under a gust, and it very nearly threatened to spill Mrs TimCESmith's gin. Something Had to be Done. A lot of fiddling and fettling followed.
I've often be bothered by how short the front stay is on our Concorde and pitched as we are tonight next to a Monty 6, I reckon they just bunged the usual short one on from a steel framed equivalent. Obviously a short guy to the apex is just going to encourage an air beam to collapse, so I got creative with some extra guy line and poles and plonked an A-frame in there:
Ugly double guying with lazy pegging - and an A-frame!:
Me looking terribly worried about the whole business:
I hope everyone under canvas during this changeable weather is safe and having a fab time.
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We stayed there last October in similar conditions, owner reckoned the gusts were in excess of 50mph, we were pitched about two metres from the cliff edge. Good luck!
Quote: Originally posted by quilly101 on 29/7/2018
We stayed there last October in similar conditions, owner reckoned the gusts were in excess of 50mph, we were pitched about two metres from the cliff edge. Good luck!
There’s a little Karsten here today! It’s nonchalantly under-guyed and infuriatingly shrugging off the weather whilst all around it flap the tattered remains of fibreglass poled tents.
The weather has certainly been “technical” so far this trip, but it’s supposed to calm down a bit this evening.
Now the winds have subsided a bit, I think it’s safe to say that the A-frame has been excellent. Very easy to put up and adjust, and it was far more stable than a single pole with double guys. Most importantly, it gave excellent support to the otherwise relatively vulnerable front end.
Quite a few people came for a closer look whilst the storm was storming, which gave me a rosy glow of smugness.
Quote: Originally posted by seanfdh on 29/7/2018
That's an almost Muckeresque quantity of guys.
Hope the weather improves for you.
I'd like to think I'd have done something similar in similar circumstances, yes... so well done Tim, I say!
Actually, I did exactly the same on Saturday, to my DD Tarp (put up for shade for family members... but we got little in the way of sunshine!). Unfortunately, tarps not being tents, and us being away from site during the fiercest of the winds, I came back to find my skills inadequate on this occasion, and my tarp went to heaven just this morning, when the site skip got emptied!
Good news though... at least it wasn't my Tatonka polycotton tarp!
Thanks Mucker! Sorry your tarp died, and I hope it wasn’t all too much for your family members.
There’s been quite a high attrition rate here despite the valiant efforts of the wonderful site team to secure unattended tents. It’s a beautiful, calm night now though, and the forecast is for perfect camping weather for the rest of our trip. Hurrah! I may even set up our tarp.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Windy pitch - Isle of Wight - pics
