What a Journey

We're here, that is in Morocco. At last. It's been the usual story of The Beynon's adventures. We built up our departure with a new engine installation the week before we left and the journey to Morocco proved just as demanding! We arrived at Santander early on Tuesday morning, allowing us a full days drive through Spain. And what a drive it was, non stop to Algeciras in 13 hours!! The van flew as we shared the driving and ate on the hoof. We listened to Helen Griffin reading a story, 'All that Glitters', to pass the time, as the kilometres whizzed by. And by 9.30 pm we were parked outside the Lidl we always stop at before we leave for Morocco. 

All is well so far!

We slept like logs and woke to the sunshine of a beautiful Mediterranean morning. Keen to get our shopping done and off to Morocco. As I walked on front of the van to go to Lidl, I saw.........oil on the floor! We had a leak. Not too much but enough to send us into alert mode as we were about to leave Spain for Morocco. A quick diagnosis and a crack in the oil sump is found!!! We are in trouble and have to sort this out before moving on.

How has this happened? I checked oil levels etc at every opportunity I've had, new engine and all that. No signs of oil before we left the boat so a stone? perhaps? what else could have done it? The hair line crack is about 2 cms long and although it is only weeping oil, we have to fix it right away.

So as it happens, there is a Mercedes garage close by! Honest. I chat as best I can with whoever will talk to me and am told that they can't help with a repair, only replacing new parts. And they are too busy to do that this week as it's a public holiday on Friday! But, why don't you go and talk to Paco the mechanic two blocks away, perhaps he can help you. So that's what we do and Paco says he can help.

All I have to do is take off the sump and he'll fix it with a weld. Phew, a new challenge for me! so i ring Wolfie in Germany to check I'm up for it and he says "of course you are, the engine wants to get to know you better" !! He assures me it's an easy job but I must fit a new gasket before replacing the sump. 

So Krysia sets off to the Mercedes garage after having spoken to Gareth in Swansea Mercedes, armed with the part number that we need, just to be sure. Gareth has helped us out before while we've been abroad and is our main man in Swansea when it comes to getting parts for Vannie. He is lovely to Krysia on the phone and wishes he could send us the part as he has one in stock in Swansea! Not a problem because Mercedes here can get us the part by tomorrow morning. Fantastic. Well done Krysia.

While she was gone, I managed to get the sump off without breaking it further! Gave it to Paco and it was welded  toute suite. All we had to do was wait until Thursday morning for the gasket to arrive. Perhaps we could relax! We're working on that. We do have rather a lot of opportunities to practice patience in these situations. So we take time out to walk in the rather lovely surroundings of Polones, the area we are in overlooking Gibraltar.

This is definitely one of the most beautiful spots we have broken down in, right next to a wildlife reserve with birds aplenty gracing our adventure.
 

And here I am, a sight most of you in Holts Field will be used to now. Under the van. Doing what I obviously love to do, fix the van. Oil up to my armpits, thick in my hair and hot on my knees! This is a holiday after all!!! when do we ever get just a holiday, always a life's experience for us. 

So a couple more pictures will take us through to the repair, well almost! 

Two more fine views of me on holiday.

Wish you were here? I bet you don't, most people prefer to have a relaxing break. 

No time to harp on now, I've got a sump to refit and with torque wrench at hand, I fix her good and proper. Pour in fresh new oil and............. as Krysia inspects and asks what to expect, i reply with " if it's going to leak again, it'll be from the weld love" " It is " she says............. It is. 

We're quite used to disappointment Krysia and I! It is leaking from the weld and has to be removed and re welded!! A good test in being here now. I have to take it off and refit it with the same enthusiasm as the first time! So I do as there is no other choice. Get on with it Ted. 

And here's a quick look at what is above the sump after I have removed it for the second time. New gasket waiting patiently for it's bottom half. Big ends for all to see. This is a bare engine. Amazing.

So, another weld later and it's back on. No time to waste, we're off to Morocco and nothing is going to stop us. It's still Thursday and we're off. Ferry at 5 pm. Not too long at the border and we drive the 70 kms or so to Asilah. A pleasant seaside town with a campsite and a shower!! so needed, I'm filthy and I scrub myself clean before collapsing to bed alongside another weary warrior, my lovely Krysia.

We've made it. 

So now it's Friday evening and we've had a lovely day. We sorted out our internet for the trip and got our Moroccan phone up and running. We sat lazily around the campsite then I checked all the nuts and bolts I could find and did some investigations into other unknown problems yet to be. Well, it's sort of hard to wind down from all the excitement of the last few weeks.

We walked into town this evening and tasted real Morocco. Through back streets and Markets, coffee shops and Medina's, we reminded ourselves of why we come here. The people are so friendly, the contrast to home extraordinary and we are back in Morocco for the fifth consecutive year!! And we've only just arrived. 

On our Way

 So we're off at last! The van goes well and I'll try not to talk about the 1978, ex firetruck engine with only 70,000  miles on the clock etc etc , whoops here I go again but it did go well. After many hello's and goodbyes in Holts Field and Bristol, we arrived in Portsmouth in plenty of time for our two night crossing to Santander.
It's a good time to introduce Krysia's new iPad mini as I think it's going to be a star performer in this years trip. As a sketching tool, it is already become her travel anywhere companion and she'll jot down a likeness without you knowing, in a jiffy. This handsome hippy is captured in full charge of his new OM 314. What the heck is that I hear you say? Well, it's a 1978, ex fire........etc, etc!! I do go on don't I!! It's the engine type, a classic.

Responsible for arousing in me, my new love affair with a large lump of steel ! Are the now well known Two Wolfe's. Well, to be honest, Wolfe 1 is the culprit but Wolfe 2, has just as much enthusiasm in old engines, that I'll call them both guilty of inspiring the loving longevity of our 28 year old bus. Vannie breaths a new lease of life and could feasibly outlive me!!
Again, their image is swiftly captured by the ipad artist and is as good as any photo if not better.





The ipad's talents do not stop there! As a camera, it is readily at hand to capture a fleeting moment due to it's home in a hand bag. It's brilliant.

I will share the images as soon as we get a decent internet connection as the one on the boat is so slow. This will probably be in Morocco about 3 days away, so until then, please watch this space for the ongoing adventures of the Berber Beynons.

A Tale of Two Wolfi's

Welcome to our blog, we hope you enjoy popping in on us occasionally and following our adventures to Morocco. We start at the beginning! The new engine and a Tale of Two Wolfi's.

Wolfi 1

                            Wolfi  2












We met Wolfi 1 in Morocco last year, a chance meeting. A chat next to the van and he says he's a mercedes 608 man himself. In fact, he restores them for a living !! Based in Berlin, he knows all there is to know about our bus,( she who remains nameless! Well, Vannie actually ). Our Vannie, or Bannie as they say in Spain, is a 1985 608D with more miles on the clock than we can calculate, round the clock comes to mind. The engine, an OM314, is a classic, but as she gets older, she tends to drink too much!! Oil that is. She'll keep going as long as you satisfy her thirsty nature. But
But, there has to come a point when you know what needs to be done and I've been wanting it for years. A reconditioned engine. And Wolfi says he's the man!!

So we follow up this thread as the Autumn turned to Winter, many emails and texts. And this is what we came up with. Wolfi has found a second hand engine in great condition and wants to bring it to Wales and fit it!!!! Could we ask for more? Well, some decent weather might have changed the outcome but I have to say ''the weather made it''. It shaped the outcome. With good weather we might not have made it!

We had built a 'structure' to cover the van outside our unit at Crofty Industrial estate. The ground was sodden and the wind blue down the structure, well, I let it go, as it were. The day before the Wolf Gang arrived, we knocked on several larger units and asked for help, 'have you got a spare corner in your shed please? ' and care of Carlo, who runs Gower timber, we were given the keys to a huge shed and the freedom to carry out our job. Undercover.

The milk of human kindness, nothing like. We connected with many of our neighbours on the Estate and everybody surprised us with their interest and help. Two daft old hippies putting a new engine in their ancient bus and everyone wants to help.

So Thursday morning, 13th February at 8 am, the two Wolfi's set to work, and work they do. A straight 12 hours with hardly a break. A day to remember.

Here it is, Wolfi proudly showing off our new engine. Under his bed in the back of his 608. Real snug. I'll let some pictures do the talking.

 As well as the odd word here and there!
The Engine is brought closer to it's destination as the lads check out the job.

And the work begins, I know the engine fairly well
but the task ahead is a mystery to me. In theory, it
 is straight forward. The reality is about to unfold in front of my eyes. The here and now is all there is. The Wolf's are in the moment. Job on and they want it done today.

A tangle of bodies, they are childhood friends and have travelled the world together, they fit and the work begins to flow. Not a lot said, they know what to do and and are comfortable.





So the job is to go like this, old engine out, new engine in. The 'how it's done' comes next.
And for that, we are lucky enough to be given Chris and his fork lift truck ( Gabeln Stappler in German )

Chris is to become an essential part of the play, a main character. He drives the fork lift truck as part of his living and he's an expert! And we need one because the job is a delicate operation requiring accurate skills. 

The new engine, a 1978 ex fire truck with about 70,000 miles under its belt, is just run in really. Wolfi tells me that it's been serviced by Mercedes since new and he heard it running before it was dismantled from it's past life as a fire engine. He is under no doubt as to it's credibility.

I am mesmerized by its simplistic beauty,
this is a no frills engine. It would be quite happy in a tractor or a boat. But it's going in our Vannie.

Which is waiting patiently for her new engine.
A new 'heart' dare I say. 

Chris maneuvers with millimeter precision, gently cradling the tired engine in his metal arms. There is very little room for error here. Bodies and bolts are in the way, literally, an exact withdrawl is required. and Chris patiently obeys instructions hailed from under the van........ and out she comes




Watch that body! So close.

Happy boys, first part of the play has been completed successfully.
Time for fish and chips and a break.

But not for long, the wolfs are raring to go. There's an engine to put in. Up'n atom.

Take aim, Vannie is waiting patiently. The marriage is about to take place! The Wolf's have brought a small keg of extraordinary fine German beer to celebrate this marriage, ie the fitting of the new engine. We smile and say they can play any games they like, just marry her up!

With millimeter precision, with Chris at the wheel, slowly but surely the engine is offered into place and is accepted, it fits!!!  Phew, what a relief. Morocco her we come.

Well, not quite yet !! There is still plenty of work for the Wolf gang to do, like connecting all that needs connecting and starting her up, then there is the marriage party! Loads to do.

It's looking good, almost there.

It's there and putting it all back together goes smoothly. They really are the business these two Wolfi's.

 Just the last few nuts and bolts and they are finished. Amazing.

 Well that makes me a happy man, smiling like a cheshire cat, we set

 off on a test drive and she goes like a dream. Wolfi is very happy at the sound and feel of the new engine and passes her over to me to drive so I can get a handle on our new bus. She feels like a new Vannie!! Goes like a rocket with minimum smoke from the exhaust. White unburnt diesel smoke at cold startup, this is normal Wolfi tells me, he says it's got the right smell!! All is well.

 Lets take them for a Welsh pint to celebrate and we can open the keg later, hic!

                                                   What a 24 hours. What Wolfi's.