Thursday, May 5, 2011

Answers to questions about boondocking…

100_4611I will try to answer some questions from my last blog as it seemed to pique some interest in our long boondocking experience we have had here in the Pinehurst area.

What did we do with our grey and black water? Well the land we are staying at has a large septic system that the owner has graciously allowed us to dump in. We seem to be able to last about 10-12 days before needing to dump the grey and black tanks. It is a bit of a chore since I am able to pull into the backyard area to dump but have to back out amongst the pine trees and the fencing to get back out. A side benefit is that my backing up skills have improved dramatically and I actually look forward to parking in my first back in site.

Our holding capacity is as follows:

  • Size of grey water tanks - 84 gallons
  • Size of black water tanks - 45 gallons
  • Size of fresh water tanks – 52 gallons

100_4615Our biggest challenge is the use of fresh water so we don’t overfill the grey tank before we need to dump the black tank. We do have unlimited fresh water since we are tapped into the homeowners house for fresh water,

What size propane tank do we have and how often do we need to fill it? Our propane is 31.3 gallons and we have to fill it a bit over once every 30 days. We figure our boondocking costs in propane are just under $3.00 per day. By the way I also think our diesel costs are the same as propane for running the generator about an hour at a time twice a day. Adding this up means we are spending at least $6.00 per day to boondock… although our actual costs are higher since when it too warm, we occasional head over to one of the local taverns for a cold frosty beverage.

100_4613Lastly we were asked about internet and we are currently using one of three means for internet. One we both have droid phones so much of our internet use is on these devices. The bride even watches “her shows” on her droid X. I also watched the men's final four in basketball on my thunderbolt. Also, we have tried the tethering feature that is currently free (until May 15th) by Verizon – the jury is still out on this as a viable means of internet use. Third, we also are able to tap into local unsecured internet in the area we are staying.

We started out with no internet or TV service and we have not been too bothered by not having either. We do have unlimited internet on our droid devices though. So until we are really bothered by it all we will try and continue doing without both of those services. Besides the local taverns also have TV’s…

4 comments:

  1. Heyduke50! I think that John and I should try some boondocking at some point. What do you think about boondocking on federal lands?

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  2. I think it was very brave of you to start your full time life with a prolonged boondocking experience! I know we will stick to parks except when we re just overnigting when we first start out.

    Although when we took our rental RV trip in the 25' class C we boondocked for a couple of overnights and it was no big deal.

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  3. For internet I recommend getting an aircard, either thro' Verizon or thro' Millenicom (their 20G/mo no-contract plan rides on the Verizon network). Then add a good antenna and amplifier. That has kept us online thro' 95% of our travels (you can see the set-up in our blog, if you're interested).

    Good job on the boondocking. You seem to be using alot of propane, but perhaps it's a little chilly? We have a separate portable heater that helps us cut down on propane use. We fill our 40-gallon tank once about every 6 months.

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  4. You should get yourself set up with some solar panels and then you pretty much don't even need the generator. We love having the freedom that the solar panels give us.

    Kevin and Ruth
    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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