2023 #4: Stretching the Tanks

We returned to one of our favorite places, Hammonassett State Park, for our longest run of dry camping yet. Hammonassett has lots of decent bathhouses in the campground. We always try to book a site close to one of them. The question was, how long could we stretch our black and grey tanks before we had to dump? The plan was to use the bathhouses as much as possible, saving our black tank for mostly middle-of-the-night liquid deposits, and only showering in the trailer rarely.

We booked 12 nights but Steph had to return to our house on 2 of those days because of severe weather and doctor appointments. We never dumped. When we left the campground on the 13th day our tank readings were: Black 69%, Grey 75%, and Fresh 25%. Based on this, I think we can go a max of 15-16 days before having to dump in this situation. 

There were definitely compromises we had to make. We either used the campground showers or used medical body cleansing wipes we found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VAE97N6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The wipes allow you to clean up with very little water. My personal routine was: Day 1 use the body wipes, Day 2 use the body wipe and wash hair, Day 3 use the bathhouse shower. I felt clean and still preserved our grey tank storage.

Once again, power was not an issue with our solar panels and big lithium batteries. The weather was sunny, hot, and humid most days (if it wasn't torrential downpours). We could run the air conditioner for about 45 minutes each night while we watched TV before going to bed. We kept the MaxxAir fan and Steph's marine fan on all night. Even with all that, the solar mostly refilled the batteries the next day. We never used our generator.

Speaking of the heat, we bought something new that helps on those sweltering days sitting outside or in the Clam shelter: Home Depot Ridgid Cordless Hybrid Jobsite Fan. Since we're already in the Ridgid ecosystem in our trailer with a cordless drill, handheld shop vac, and impact wrench the fan uses the same batteries. We could put it on the ground in front of us to get a little breeze in our camp chairs and recharge the batteries at night using the trailer's batteries. It worked great (and it's nice to have for power failures on hot days at home, too).

And speaking of the Clam, we learned something about correct setup. During a night of strong wind and heavy rain the top of our Clam collapsed and filled with water. No damage done, but inconvenient. According to Clam, my setup might have contributed to the collapse. I had staked the Clam down with ropes and stakes going to the sidewalls only. Turns out, inward pressure on the sidewalls supports the roof. If wind pushes the Clam sideways, pulling against the rope, that pulls the sidewall out and helps collapse the roof. To set up the Clam correctly, make sure you stake down all the corners of your Clam first, keep the sidewall ropes and stakes close to the base - so they pull down more than out, and don't overtighten the ropes. That should help keep the roof strong.

So, it was a great couple of weeks at "Hammo." We saw an osprey up close, eating the fish (s)he caught. 

Lots of bike riding into Madison and Clinton, CT. Ice cream from Lenny and Joes and Ashley's. Sea food. Campfires. Friends and family visiting. Hearing the surf at night. Walking to the beach. Next year, we'll try 3 weeks.