OurBoler, Family Outdoor Adventures

Boler carpet and other details

Posted on May 20, 2013 by OurBoler 2 Comments

Floor cut and Carpet up!!

With company ready to help me, I finally started putting up the carpet. For the roof the second set of hands made a big difference. Like so many of the new things I have done on this project, it wasn’t that hard once I was going.

Starting the Car[et

I started on the ceiling, placing the center seam between the closet, roof vent and planned back-splash minimizing it’s visibility. Used a wood support to hold it in place while it was drying.

Hiding the seams was a challenge and took way longer than expected (as most things on this trailer have). I am happy with the result, except I have discovered mosquito’s blend into the grey background making them hard to find.

With the carpet up it was time to put down the floor. I cleaned up the floor and filled any holes before rolling it out and cutting it to fit. I need to put down wood trim to hold it in place and finish the install.

Previous owners installed a larger window and forced the closet to fit around it. Since I am putting shelves in the closet and want it to be square this will not work, so I trimmed up the closet to make it fit. The closet was also a a little longer o this side, so this fixed that issue as well.

Trimmed up the side (top in picture) of the closet.

It never seams to rain here, and with a 0% chance of rain over night I left my newly stained wood outside, and it rained. Not enough to damage anything, but enough to keep me from being lazy like that again. I have put the wood conditioner on, wood stain on and 2 coats of Varithane so far on all the wood work. Will probably coat it one more time before I stare to install it.

Wood drying after another coat.

The dinette benches I want to square off so extend the bed a little. The benefit of this over an extension is the cushions will be the full size, with an extension it would need another cushion. I cut these out of wood, and will use body filler to blend them into the seat. An old piece of wood was removed from both dinette seats that was used to attache it to the other furniture so when I made the new ones I made them longer. This seams strong enough on it’s own to support the weight, however I still plan to reinforce it with fiberglass and a support below.

Adding wood to the fiberglass benches.

One work light made the trailer very bright, until the carpet went up, now it is quiet dark inside. Perfect for sleeping, a little dark on a rainy day. The hope is the furnature and mirrors will brighten it back up once they are installed.

Boler, Boler Project Boler, build, caravan, Carpet, construct, Contact Cement, cover, custom, egg, family, fiberglass, Floor, Fun, homemade, Insulation, light, Project, rebuild, restoration, roof, scamp, small, Trailer, trillium, vintage, Vinyl, walls

The best of West Coast Camping

Posted on May 13, 2013 by OurBoler 20 Comments

Our kayaks on the beach at Dodd Island.

Growing up on on the West Coast of Canada, I was lucky enough to visit so many amazing place. For the ultimate West Coast camping experience one stands out over all the rest. It was my second trip to Pacific Rim National Park. The first trip was to the West Coast trail, an amazing trip in itself. The second was to the Broken Islands.

Traveling by Kayaks we reached two of the most amazing campsites I have ever seen.

Camp 1, Willis Island.

Every tree seemed unique around camp.

The camp on Willis Island is on a small bay. Like the rest of the island the ocean here is alive, with more of everything than I have ever seen any where. At low tide we got to watch Bald Eagles and Otters picking food out of the tidal pools. Occasionally a deer would wander by forging on the beach.

An otter taking advantage of the low tide to catch breakfast.

The camp was free of wind and the water calm, however just around the corner was often windy.

The beach had many tidal pools to explore, and tucked into the dense rain forest we were camped in where huge trees, always an impressive sight.

Big beautiful trees. Brady is standing in the lower right corner to help give the picture scale.

Camp 2, Clarke Island

Beach on the West side of the Clarke Island Camp. Beautiful spot.

I have yet to camp here, but while touring in the kayaks stopped here to check it out. The camp site is on a point, that when were where there was windy, on side a little sheltered offers frequent whale sightings, the other side is open ocean. Sandy beaches with shells, and the stone fireplace remains of an old cabin where both fun to check out.

Fireplace left over from when the ranger cabin on Clarke Island

We stopped on our way to a Native Site, and learned about Caves and Sea Arches in the area, both of which we also checked out that day.

Pacific Rim National Park in my mind stands out among the best of Western Canadian Parks, with so much to see and experience I am sure I have only begun to experience this amazing place, and is why it is my favorite campsite.

Faun on the beach.

Mike is off to check out the Cave.

Huge waves from the open ocean crashing against the shore.on Benson Island.

For other Favorite Campsite through out North America check out these other great blogs;

Family Adventures in the Canadian Rockies – The Best Provincial Park Campgrounds in Southern Alberta

AKontheGO – Alaskans Share Their Favorite Campgrounds

Kid Project – Sandflats Recreational Area, Moab, UT

Brave Ski Mom – Best Campgrounds in North America: Western Colorado Edition

Climb Run Lift Mom – Camping at the City of Rocks

The Campsite – Top 5 Backcountry Campgrounds in Banff National Park

TravelingMel – Yellowstone Campground Review

Adventure Parents – Classic Campsites: Murphy Hogback Campground, Canyonlands National Park

Mommy Hiker – West Coast Campground Review – Sweet Summer Spots to Relax & Recharge!

Val in Real Life – North Americas Best Campgrounds: Elkmont

GA Family Camping – Best Campground In American Cloudland Canyon

Our Boler - The Best Of West Coast Camping

AdventureTykes – My Top 5 Favorite Campgrounds in the Moab Area

Camping, Outdoors, Paddling adventure, america, backpacking, Best, broken Islands, camping, campsite, Coast, family, Fun, Kayak, List, National, north, Outdoor, Pacific, Park, Rim, trail, ultimate, West

Boler Trailer Progess

Posted on May 11, 2013 by OurBoler Leave a comment

The Boler is progressing, although mostly sanding and small details.

Empty Trailer

I have removed all the furniture now that it is built and ready to be finished. I then sanded down the floor and fenders and painted the fenders. With them looking good I will use the remaining paint to paint the floor. I choose Rustoleum as them made a spray paint that works on fiberglass. I wanted the smooth finish a spray paint offers.

Prepping the Pine for Stain

I collected the pine pieces and after lots of sanding I wiped them down and treated them with wood conditioner to prepare for staining.

Filling the screw holes

I used wood filler to hide the screw holes and hide any joints. I am hoping that this will match the fiberglass furniture when done. It was tough to get this out the door of the trailer, not sure how I did it so easily when it was being built.

Cleaning up the fiberglass furniture.

The fiberglass furniture had some sloppy extra fiberglass, holes to be filled, rivets to be pulled, rusty screws to be removed, left over silicone, blackened wood to be replaced, paint to be sanded off and the remains of a wasps nest that had been painted over. This has taken a lot longer than anticipated, but needs to be done right.

New wood pieces cut for all of the fiberglass furniture.

I am hoping I can wrap of a lot of theses details in the next 2 weeks, as we are moving at the end of the month and plan to focus my time on that for the two weeks after. Then I am hoping it will be ready to paint and reassemble, and usable for the summer.

Boler, Boler Project bed, Boler, build, bunk, cabinets, cupboard, custom, kitchen, Project, rebuild, restore, scamp, trillium, wood

Cabinets Doors and Closet Shelves

Posted on May 2, 2013 by OurBoler Leave a comment

With the closet door done, it was time to build the others. The rest took less time than the first one. I again cut out the out side pieces from a pine plank, and the inside is hardboard to keep the weight down. The pine will be finished to look natural and the hardboard painted to match the trailer.

Still need to be sanded, and finished.

The shelves for the closet were also cut out so they are ready to go. I have chosen to not attach any storage to the ceiling like so many Bolers to make it feel a little bigger inside, so the closet will be where we store all our cloths. I plan to put in four shelf’s, one for each of us. They will fit an Ikea storage container to make it quick to move cloths into and out of the trailer. The bottom shelf will open so we can use the space underneath for a little more storage.

Shelves cut to fit.

A cut out allows access below the bottom shelf

Originally I planned to hinged the opening, however decided to instead just set it in place and drilled a hole to make opening it easy (a knob or handle would only take away usable space.)

Boler, Boler Project Boler, build, cabinate, camping, caravan, closet, construct, custom, door, fiberglass, Fun, homemade, light, pine, Project, rebuild, restore, rv, scamp, shelf, small, storage, Trailer, trillium, vintage, wood

The boys love boats and Crafts

Posted on April 30, 2013 by OurBoler 2 Comments

The boys love boats, and with their recent interest in crafts building boats was requested. I am collecting things for them to build power boats without my help, but until then they can play with these.

Cork Sailboat Craft

For more on making small sailboats click here.

I also plan to build this with the boys with things we find around the campsite this summer and will post those pictures as well.

C likes simple engines. So while working on the trailer I cut out a some really simple boats.

Elastic Band powered boat.

This still needs some work, I think the elastic needs a lot bigger paddle to work well.

Balloon Powered Boat

The balloon going through small straws works well, as they use the straws to blow up the balloon, then because the air leaks out slowly have some time to play with it before needing to inflate the balloon again.

C is really starting to plan out these projects, make guesses on what would work better and really think his ideas through, it is fun to watch.

For more on these simple power boats click here.

Of course when these work the boys will build there own from start to finish, and they will be much nicer than the ones we are testing here (but testing is the best part).

Crafts, Young Family balloon, Boys, build, camping, cork, crafts, easy, elastic, engine, Fun, indoor, Kids, motor, Paddle, powerboat, Project, propel, sail, sailboat, simple, small, straw, tiny, toy, water, wheeler, wood

Boler progress, Closet door, plumbing and couch

Posted on April 29, 2013 by OurBoler 2 Comments

I have been putting lots of time into the trailer lately and have made some good progress. I built the table support, made covers for the storage areas, cut out the couch back, plumped up the sink, reinforced the bottom bunk and built the closet door.

For the table support I purchased a small aluminum rod, cut it in half and made a wood guide for it. It will pull out from the half table to support the extension. I still need to attach the handle that will pull these out.

Table extension

I cut covers for all the storage access points in the fiberglass furniture.

Storage Covers

I had been putting off cutting the couch back out, as it was the toughest cut this project has required so far. I bought new blades for my jig saw and tackled it today. Although not perfect it works. I guessed at the couch angle, and I am very happy with how it fits. With the piece cut out I reinforced the bunk and the wood behind it, likely over building it, it should be strong enough when I am done for me to sleep on.

E has been spending lots of time working on the Trailer with me (and you can see the couch cut in the background)

I installed the sink, with the simplest system I could make fit. The drain goes into an elbow fitting and attaches to a hose with a clamp. I couldn’t get the hose on, but after a minute in front of the heater I could stretch it on.

Simple plumbing, it drains into a bucket.

The bottom bunk looks like it has been cut to fit the toilet, however it has a lot of flex and who wants to store other stuff with the toilet. So I built dividers that also act as reinforcements for the bottom bunk.

The last thing I did was build the closet door. The first attempt did not turn out so well, so I turned to YouTube for some help, the first video was great and I used in to create the door. Instead of putting a panel in the door I picked up a mirror from Ikea for $13 and cut it down to fit. Learning to cut glass was another YouTube video, and to my surprise I even had the tool. This door I am very happy with, it turned out well and my first attempt at anything like this. The video I used is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m–wxoE2CM

The cut worked!

The Closet door

I have built everything out of pine. I like the look of pine and it reminds me of cabins. I also wanted to keep the wood light, as too much dark in the trailer will close it in.

Boler, Boler Project bed, Bike, Boler, bracket, build, bunk, cabinet, caravan, closet, construct, cover, custom, different, dinette, door, extention, fiberglass, hardware, ideas, ikea, inside, interior, lid, mirror, pine, plumbing, Project, rack, rebuild, restore, rv, scamp, sink, support, table, Trailer, trillium, unique

It’s warm

Posted on April 27, 2013 by OurBoler 4 Comments

Warm sunny day and Ice on the ponds.

Nice weather has finally arrived. If it stays like this the snow should be gone in no time! Warm weather means bikes, C was off, however it was like E forgot how to ride his (although I am not sure if he was struggling or just liked the help).

They had lots of fun getting out, so it may be time to start exploring again.

Kids playing in the sand

Cycling, Young Family activities, Alberta, Bike, Canada, cycle, Edmonton, family, Fun, Kids, life, north, Outdoor, outside, Terwillegar

Boler Table Support and Bike Rack Progress

Posted on April 23, 2013 by OurBoler 4 Comments

This weekend I got a chance to get some work on the Boler done. It was time to work on the dinette and purchase some of the hardware for the bunks.

The plan is to put bikes there when traveling, extend the bed all the way out when sleeping, have a full and half table option.

The table support and start of the bike rack.

To build the bike racks I planned on using a couple quick releases I had from previous bike rims, however at the last-minute I changed my mind and cut out two notches on the table support by the wall. Later I will make a way to quickly attach the tires to this. The advantages were leaving the bike tires on and not having exposed quick releases under the table when using it for a dinette.

The bed is cut, just need to make it into a table

The table support I built is for the half table. The piece of wood fiberglass to the side of the trailer for this was rotten, so I took it off and am building something a little different. The piece for the bike rack will make the base, then it will go up along the edge of the trailer (to minimize the loss of bed space), at the top will be a small support for the table end. I plan to stain the bike rack and top shelf, and wrap the supports in carpet, so they are softer when sleeping.

Table leg from Ikea

For the table, I picked up a leg from Ikea. It has a piece in the wood that allows a thin round metal piece that is screwed to the table to screw on. I plan to use lock tight on the screw in the wood and lubricate the piece on the bottom of the table so I can quickly screw this leg on the bottom of the table and make sure the right side unscrews. This makes for an ideal mount, as nothing will be on the table surface, when the leg is on it is solid, when off the almost nothing is added to the table thickness, making it easy to store the table top when the bikes are in the dinette during travel, and maximizing storage under the table when set up as a dinette. The hardware is not suppose to be used this way, but it looks like it will work fine like this.This leg was only $10 at Ikea and will work for this application better than anything I could find at the RV stores.

I plan to use a piano hinge to make the dinette table fold in half and picked that up as well.

Collecting parts

For the top bunk I picked up two pieces that will hold it up. Once it is installed I will see how strong it is and decide if I need to reinforce it or add a support. I also picked up a piano hinge for the bunk, I have the original hinges, but the look well used, and when I am done I hope this trailer will have the look of a Boler, and feel new. Instead of hinging the side of the bunk to make it fit along the curved walls when it is down the corner of the bunk cannot be square. I need to cut this soon, but have put that cut off as it will be easy to make look bad.

It was the first time visiting a Lowes and it was a great store. I picked up the hinges for the cupboards and the vents for the 3 way cooler as well.

Remaining project list is shrinking, which is fun to see as I am optimistic we will have it usable for the summer (although we may be sleeping on an air mattress in it for this year).

Boler, Boler Project bed, Bike, Boler, bracket, build, bunk, caravan, construct, custom, different, dinette, fiberglass, hardware, ideas, inside, interior, Project, rack, rebuild, restore, rv, scamp, support, table, Trailer, trillium, unique, vintage

Teardrop Paper model

Posted on April 22, 2013 by OurBoler Leave a comment

This trailer was a hit with the boys, as it has opening doors and rear hatch. Under the hatch is a little kitchen and a bed fits inside the trailer with cupboards and a TV.

For building instructions, the colored template click here.

Young Family activity, Boys, build, camping, caravan, coloring, day, Fun, indoor, Kids, Paper, Project, rainy, rv, small, Teardrop, template, toy, Trailer, vintage

Boler Update

Posted on April 17, 2013 by OurBoler 4 Comments

Still working on the interior of the trailer, I have cut out the sink, added bracing to bunks and counter, added wood so the counter can be trimmed and made a support at the door.

Sink fits great

The sink will be the only permanent fixture on the counter, and this for $30 from Ikea was a great find and should work very well. I have a hand pump and city water faucet, but not sure we will use it if I install it, so I plan to camp for a bit without it before making that call. The plywood I am making the counter out of is to thin to mount the sink properly, so I added plywood around the sink hole to strengthen the counter and make it thick enough to attach the sink. This addition also creates the braces between the sides. A few other braces were added to make sure the bunk is strong enough at the end of the counter, make sure I can attach it to the side of the trailer and allow assembly later as this unit needs to be build in 3 pieces to fit out the door for finishing.

Since the bunk is thicker than the counter I cut a piece of plywood to trim the edge of the counter, giving the counter and bunk the same thickness for a consistent look.

Bunk and door support.

I cut a piece of plywood to replace the metal that supports the door. With screws through the shell it makes it really easy to make the door shut properly and get ride of any remaining gap at the bottom of the door (most of this gap was eliminated by draining the water from the door and new hinges). This will also the what the screen door is mounted to, as it is tough to hang it from a curved wall.

The next step is to cut out the part of the bunk that drops into the couch, but I am still debating on exactly what that cut is going to look like, as the desired cut is a little past my ability.

Outdoors Boler, bunk, cabinet, camping, caravan, counter, custom, door, fiberglass, Fun, gap, kitchen, Project, rebuild, restoration, rv, sag, scamp, screen, sink, Trailer, trillium

Family Outdoor Adventures