El Capitan : Ta-Daaaaa!

Well. it took 3 days of work, but the holes and the rust are gone, and so is that fugly gold color at the bottom of my rocker panels :)

If I'd known I would be that good with choosing a color match and the actual paint spraying, I would've done a much better job with the putty! I didn't botch it per say, but I was aiming more for a fast result than a top-quality look. Turns out, if the putty job had been flush and even, you'd think El Capitan was just out of a body shop.

I am quite pleased with the results :)

Just a little reminder of what things looked like not 2 days ago...

Are you ready? (Click for bigger pictures)

Like the British say... voilà.

Le passenger side.

Bye bye, rust!

It's not exactly Michelangelo, but it cost a little over $250 and a bit of elbow grease. It would've even been cheaper if I had not chosen color-match paint.

The end result is that the body should now last a least a couple more years and the van looks a little less trashy for border crossings and all. I have to say, I'm pretty proud :)

El Capitan : Pink, Crunchy Peanut Butter

I told you I was unfazed! I started up and early this morning by annoying the crap out of the neighbors with my sandpaper drillhead and, after the pink cloud of dust dissipated, with my stupid big grin; my plan works!

OK, let's not get overenthusiastic and think I can open a body shop. The rocker panels look like they are made out of pink cheese and melted a little bit in the sun, but hey! No rust, no holes :)

Look, mama: no holes!

I patched every single last one of them, sanded the most apparent parts and left the rest exactly as-is, because I'm going to spray the bottom of the van with asphalt coating anyway.

So tomorrow, one last bit of sanding, and then it's all masking tape, newspapers and paint :)

Or maybe I could paint the van pink?

That means if everything goes according to plan, El Capitan will have a brand new, shiny body just in time for my trip to Europe. With a little luck, I might even have time to give it a coat of wax or two.

This is not pro work and it looks a little crappy, but I'm proud anyway to have been able to fix my van!

El Capitan : Body Work

I knew it from the day I saw El Capitan in a suburban parking lot; he needs a body job. The rocker panels have a couple rusty spots, some of which have left little gaping holes, which is never good. So I thought a little day of scraping and buffing, and a little paint, would do the job.

Today was sunny, so I decided to give it a shot. Wisely, I decided to work on one side at a time. I made a ramp out of a piece of concrete and a couple rocks to gain better access to the underbelly of the beast, and I plugged a rotary steel brush on my drill and started peeling off the paint. Not 5 minutes later, a huge hole was already open on the bottom right, close to the rear wheel. Yikes!

It was too late to back out, so I kept grinding away, and by the time I was finished, I think there were more holes than metal on the rocker panel.

I sprayed a little rustproofing base layer, then cut some pre-shaped metal patches to cover the holes. I popped open the body putty mix and applied a generous coat of the stuff to fill the biggest gaps. You'd think after having done so much construction work and so many gypsum joints, I'd be good with a trowel.

Well, it seems I still suck.

So basically, El Capitan now looks like I spreaded pink peanut butter on it. The crunchy type.

But I remain unfazed, optimistic.

Tomorrow's a new day, and I will keep working until all the rust is gone and the holes are patched up, and I will try to do the best job I possibly can. And take my adventure photos from juuust a little bit further away :)

My New Life

It's been less than 48 hours, and so far it feels like I'm just enjoying a regular weekend. But the reality is slowly sinking in: I am a free man and I will roam around for a year without a house, a job or any responsibility. I'm a hobo. And it feels awesome.

As the stress and worries of my regular worker life slowly fade away, I am starting to look forward to my first adventures. Just to give you some idea of what I'll be doing and where I'll be going, here's a little list of places I will go to and events I'll be attending.

June-July
Flying to Paris on the 21, and running my first race in the middle of the City of Lights. I might head to Istanbul after, to visit the legendary, bustling city.

August
Headed over to Montana to meet Hurricane Leslie and discover the mountain trails of one of the few states I haven't yet visited. I might help out with the movie, too.

September
14: Water is Life 50K with the Hopi of Arizona
21: Javelina Jangover Night Trail Race, Arizona

October
5: Hunter - Gatherer Survival Run, Texas
12: Canyon de Chelly 55K with the Navajo of Arizona
26: Javelina Jundred 100-mile, Arizona

November
9: Eric Orton's ultra running camp with Fuego Y Agua - Nicaragua

December
1: Copper Canyons of Mexico
9: Rarajipare in Urique, the annual Raramuri ball race event

February
8: Fuego Y Agua 100K, Nicaragua

March
2: Ultra Marathon Caballo Blanco, Mexico

In between all that, I'm planning visits to Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, California and several other places to meet some of my running family and to run with some great, inspiring people. I will be writing stories all along, so hopefully you get to share the adventures, elation and challenges of a wanderer's life :)

Roam free.

Run free.

El Capitan : Flintify!

Today is a very special day for me. This morning, I left my flat and closed the door behind me, for the very last time. I am now a homeless person.

I had to store away most of my belongings and leave behind some things I very much love, like my cigar humidor and my collection of crafts from around the world.

Upon stepping down the porch, I felt the urge to do something seemingly irrelevant and futile; I wanted to make sure El Capitan is really mine. I wanted to make sure it looked like me. So I decorated it. El Capitan got Flintified :)

For your viewing pleasure :

This is how El Capitan looks as of this morning. No more step boards, no roof racks, no frills.

Every vehicle I own gets plastered with stickers. It makes them unique and homey.

I could not have left home without my Caballo Blanco front plate and my Sweeney shovel.
Also of note; a sea turtle tattoo for the hood :)

When I was done, I realized that this was an important step for me. It's a statement. This means my home is everywhere. This means I am actively living the life I envision for myself.

This means I'm free.

El Capitan : Interior Design

I spent last Saturday working on the interior layout of my soon-to-be home on wheels. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I was in good spirits, so I took the power tools outside and merrily got to work.

The new 4-bin base

I started be re-doing the base under the bed. The plastic bins I found were way narrower than the slots I had created, and too much space was wasted. I figured I better pull the base out and improve storage capacity while I still had the time. I unscrewed and moved the inside panels and added an extra one, so the base now has 4 bins as drawers and an extra slot for tools at the back.

Toe killers. Not good.

I also noticed, after removing my passenger seats, that 4 big screws stuck out of the floor, just high enough to destroy a pinky and make my life miserable. I didn’t want to saw them off, in case I ever wanted to put the seats back, so I cut a piece of plywood and created a flat space just in front of the sliding door. I covered it in floor mats for comfort. Bonus : it also prevents the bed base from sliding off and keeps everything in its place.

Smooth floor holds everything in place

I finished up “the kitchen” by cutting cupboard panels in the base and adding a plywood countertop that can be used as a cooking space or as the base for the stove, in case I want to cook inside. Right next to it is a stack of cheap plastic drawers that I will use to store utensils, tools and all sorts of useful little things.

Kitchen and stove

I switched the fridge to the side of the bed, because I find it’s a better use of the available space. However, it makes it the furthest possible away from the 12V outlet and the eventual battery bank, so I’m going to have to wire an extra outlet at the back, which should be no biggie.

Mini drawers

The first test of El Capitan’s coziness is coming up this weekend, as my Belle and I will drive up to Ottawa for the marathon and spend two days on the road. I’m sure I’m going to come back from there with a ton of improvements and modifications, but I’m looking forward to it!

Next up : a visit to the mechanic’s shop and some body work :)

Project : El Capitan

You guys already know it : I’m dropping out. I’m swimming out of my usual pond and into the unknown. I’m off to meet my running family, make new friends and explore the world.

The now [in]famous El Capitan

I decided the roof over my head would follow me everywhere, so I merged two old dreams together; traveling the world and having a camper van. That’s how I came across El Capitan, also known as The Flame, an old ’98 Safari box van, already converted with a smooth interior and camper windows. At $1,300, I couldn’t hope for anything better.

I drove it home, then down to New York State for The Leatherman’s Loop. It drives awesome. It needs a little work here and there, of course, but El Capitan is in great shape :)

I started the work by getting rid of all the extra stuff that just adds weight or decreases gas mileage. Gone are the running boards and the roof racks. I removed the two passenger seats, the seatbelts and their plating. I even opened the side panels and discovered an old, broken heating / air conditioning machine. 15 more pounds out the window. I must’ve removed at least 150 pounds of stuff.

My bed, in Hobo-mode

Then I got to work and created a retractable bed. It’s 30-inches wide for when I’m alone, but it can expand to 48 inches when I’ll be on the road with my Belle. Pretty neat. The bed sits on a storage compartment with plastic bins as drawers, so I can take them out of the van easily if needed.

Next in line was “the kitchen”. I made a 38” countertop with a sink (I bought a $10 stainless bowl and cut a whole at the bottom for the plumbing), under which 2 sets of drawers will be used to store kitchen gear. There’s also room for extra propane tanks for the stove.

Le fridge.

So far, so good. Yesterday, I went out to the outdoor store and got a 2-burner fold-away stove, a 2-way electric cooler (as a fridge) and a bunch of other stuff to make things nice and cozy, like new seat covers. I ordered a custom-made mattress, too, that will double as a couch when I’m not sleeping.

The next big thing after all that will be to take care of the rusty side panels, which I will scrape with a steel brush, putty-up, prime and re-paint. While I’m at it, I’ll also cover the back doors in stickers, Flint-style. Then it’ll be a big, nice wash, 3 good layers of wax and a rustproofing treatment.

Le stove.

There’s still a lot of work to do, but things are looking good. My Belle and I will get to test my new layout in 2 weeks, when we go run the Ottawa Marathon. It’ll be my first running gig sleeping in El Capitan, and my Belle is going to be with me. Life is good :)

I’ll keep you posted on the work being done and make new pics as I go!