Current Location
Great Yarmouth
UK TOUR
The Plan
The plan is to drive from the South East coast of England, up the East coast to the northern tip of Scotland, cross to the Orkney Islands and back down the West Coast.
Along the way I will be stopping to do various jobs on overland vehicles and meet up with like minded people. If you would like any work done on your overland truck or camper or just fancy a meet up get in touch.
Two of my goals are to see some of the Seal colonies around the UK coast and Puffins.
I absolutely love the scenery in Scotland and cannot wait to get up there with my camera. I also want to visit the 4 most extremities of the UK. North, South East and West.
You can see our rougth location on the map.
STATUS
We left Hastings on the 18th February.
14th March. Still in Felixstowe.
Have been kept busy working on a future overland truck. Very similar to Matilda.
Follow me on Instagram, Face book and You Tube for the latest updates.
30th April
Finally left Felixstowe heading to Lowestoft for one reason. Its the most easterly point in the UK so had to be done. Does not seem to be much to do so will be leaving tomorrow.
1st May
Arrived in Great Yarmouth. Just because we can and it has a nice beach. The weather was a bit mixed but pleased to have a good reason to get the camera out. I much prefer some drama and colour to my photos.
4th May.
Arrived in Louth to see Paul Jackman who needs some electrics in his T244 cab and additional electrics in the habitat.
August.
I will be based in Haverhill for the foreseeable future building an overland truck for a customer.
You can follow the weekly build vlog on my youtube channel or head to the video page.
Africa
THE PLAN
To circumnavigate Africa overland and produce an overland travel series to be shared free on You Tube.
STATUS
Preparations are now starting. (May 2020) There are a number of modifications being made to Matilda. These will take place over the next year while. These include additional water tanks, reduction in chassis weight, larger black water tank, additional solar, an electric winch, gas oven and more.
Having recently returned from overlanding in Central Asia I now need to raise the funds for Africa.
SUPPORT THIS PROJECT
Why donate.
Any donations will go to the Africa fund and support the new Africa travel series.
All donations are greatly
appreciated as it keeps the videos coming.
THE NORTH POLE
THE PLAN
A solo expedition to reach the geographic North Pole using a self built solar powered vehicle.
STATUS
04/10/20. UPDATE
I had a bit of a break through this week inspired by seeing a photograph or a Triumph Tiger with spiky rear tyre and a ski on the front. Taking a motorcycle to the North pole will be a harder trip but significantly reduces the costs involved, the amount of time I need to spend in a workshop building a vehicle ( This is very good, I would rather be exploring than on the back end of on of an angle grinder) and the personal rewards are somewhat larger. The potential danger of falling through the ice is very real and needs to be dealt with. But I have a number or ingenious ideas. I am really liking the simplicity of this idea. I will need to build a composite sledge with detachable wheels which will house my gear, batteries, solar panels and double up as my sleeping pod. A donor bike needs to be selected and then decide whether to add a ski on the front or a larger spiky front tyre. I am leaning towards the large spiky tyre as the bike will need to operate over rocky terrain while in Green land.
I am feeling a little excited. 😁
12/05/2020
Actively researching.
Currently looking for sponsorship and funding.
Considering a Alvis Stalwart for the base vehicle as it has excellent off road capability and it can swim. Another great choice would the the Hagglands BV206 tracked vehicle as it has exceptional off road capabilities, very low ground pressure and it can also swim.
Potential expedition date. Spring 2022
SUPPORT THIS PROJECT
Why donate.
Donations would accelerate this project and get it up and going.
Right now I need to source a base vehicle. The Alvis Stalwart is the favourite at the moment and would make an excellent expedition vehicle. A lot of work and research will go into building this vehicle. Especially the electric drive, solar arrays and heating system.
Everything I do will be on You Tube, including the expedition.
All donations are greatly
appreciated.
CROSSING THE GOBI
THE PLAN
Ever since I was a teenager I have wanted to
not only see, but to cross the Gobi Desert.
It's a huge land mass in central Asia with very
little there. So I have to go and see it, see
what is there.
STATUS
Completed.
However. I need to go back. This time in the
summer. I was there in November / December,
and it was stunningly beautiful, but quite a
different experience to that I would expect in
the summer. You may notice not a lot of
interaction with the locals in my Mongolia videos. This is because I met very few. Most had gone to the cities for winter or were hibernating in their Gurts. I expect a summer expedition to be more social and rewarding as cultural experience
Although my aim was to cross the Gobi, It's the journey that makes an adventure. The expedition took me through 18 countries over 18 months including large parts of Siberia and Kazakhstan. I even got married along the way.
MATILDA
THE PLAN
Build an expedition truck for off grid independent travel to the worlds most remote and wild places in comfort.
STATUS
Although a project like this is never finished, Matilda is fully operational and left the UK on an expedition to Mongolia in May 2018 and returned in October 2019.
There are always improvements that can be made and I have a number or modification I intend to make.
Electrics. 12v, 24v and 240v
Batteries 2 x 210 AH Exide Equipment Gel
1 x Viltron Easy Solar, 24v 1600 MPPT
charger, inverter
2 x Victron Orion 24v-12v 25 amp converter
Victron Cylix split charge relay
Victron shunt and battery, solar monitor
1040 watts of solar
Water
355 litres of fresh water.
5 stage water filtration system.
Ability to fill the tanks from lakes and rivers
60 litre grey water tank
22 litre twin coil calorifier hot water tank heated with 240v, the engine, or Webasto water heater.
Dometic Sanieo Toilet
Over head shower
Heating
2kw diesel air heater, Webasto 2000 STC
9 kW Diesel water heater. Webasto Thermo Pro 90. Engine pre heat, habitat heating, hot water.
Engine can also heat the habitat when driving or in the case of heater failure
Log burner
Domestic
144 litre fridge freezer.
43" flat screen 4k TV
21 240 volt plug sockets
Sleeping in 2 doubles. 1 of which is fixed, the other being the dinning area.
9 windows 5 opening. Large windows all use high security polycarbonate glass.
3 skylights
240 v washing machine
Dedicated camera and lens storage
Dedicated battery charging area for drones, cameras etc.
Cab / Hab crawl through with secure sliding door.
Book shelves
2000 litre garage space accessed from the rear
2 ring gas hob (Gas oven to be added soon)
Sonos speakers
LED down lighting and reading lamps
Exterior
1000 litre exterior side lockers
60 litre side locker with tyre inflation system fitted
2 x 80 litre rear lockers for tool storage
Roof rack 1800mm x 1800mm with roof hatch and tie down points.
Crane fitted to roof rack with a max lifting capacity of 200kg
Optional front motorcycle mounting
Exterior all round perimeter lighting
Under chassis storage area for shovels etc.
330 litre fuel tank plus 4 jerry cans
THE BUILD
Matilda is a Leyland DAF T244 ex British Army truck with a gross vehicle weight of 10,800KG.
Equipped with a 5.9L Cummins Turbo Diesel 6BT engine and Manual 6 speed gear box with High and Low ratio. Permanent 4 wheel drive with a centre diff lock. This means the centre diff lock with lock drive to the front and back axles. But this is not a differential lock. If you were to have the right hand wheels on ice, and the left on rough ground, the wheels on ice will spin. I have actually experienced this situation.
Specification
Matilda's habitation pod is an extended army workshop body. Originally a mobile field workshop with lathe and various tools inside. The box was built in 1986, is very well built and made from aluminium sections with a 1.5 mm aluminium skin. I added an extra metre to the back by making a welded box section frame which was then bolted to be back. This increased the inside living space by 22% and allowed me to fit in everything I wanted. Inside space measures 2,300mm wide x 5300mm long x 1920 mm high.
First job was to strip out all the old cabinets and equipment. Then I decided on a layout and where to put the large side opening window. This is a key element of what makes Matilda a nice place to be. It allows in lots of light and the enjoyment of your surroundings even in severe weather. Once a hole was cut the box was reinforced to restore the structural integrity. A custom window was then made by myself. The biggest reasons to make my own window was quality, and the ability to have a window that opens up and out of your viewing area. The majority of the windows you buy are expensive, flimsy, and block your view when open.
Extension
At the time of cutting the window hole I hadn't yet decided on the final layout. Space is very limited so I decided to extend the box by 1 metre at the back, removing the original back doors and turning one of them 90˚ to become the rear garage door. The back was extended by welding up a steel frame. 30mm x 30mm box section was used and then the frame was bolted to the back or the box first, and later welded. The hardest part about this job was creating the curve to match the original roof line. Once the frame was finished 1.5mm aluminium sheet was riveted and glued on to form the exterior surface. The inside was then insulated using celotex and then ply lined. This then gave me a international length of 5.3 metres and gave me the space needed to create Matilda's lovely interior.
As large window was also cut into the back bedroom area and an additional 2 smaller window cut, 1 large sky light and 2 smaller. The large Skylight was fitted in the bedroom and a small one in the bathroom, and one above the cooking area. I think this arrangement has worked perfectly. Having the large skylight in the bedroom and an extractor fan in the main saloon area gives you the ability to draw a nice breeze through the bedroom skylight keeping cool even in the hot Kazakhstan summer.
A skylight above the cooking area makes perfect sense as does the bathroom.
Tunnel
The final hole I cut was in the front of the box to create a tunnel / crawl through into the cab. I decided this was a must have and am pleased I did it. No particular reason other than convenance. Once the hole was cut i reinforced the box and built a sliding secure steel door. If I ever decided to ship the truck I can be confident that no one will be getting into Matilda with the secure steel door. Not easily. (When shipping you must leave the keys with the shipping company.) I then built a tunnel, essential a wooden aluminium clad tube to join the cab and habitat together and then added a fairing over the top to increase it weather proofing and aesthetically join the habitat and cab together, also with a small hope of improving the fuel consumption.
Matilda Motorcycle.
Having such a big slow truck I also wanted the ability to travel short distances in a freer more mobile way. Whether it’s to pop to the shops having set up camp or to explore the surrounding area. Matilda’s motorcycle can be put either on the roof rack or on the front of the truck for severe off roading.
Having the bike is also a great back up
vehicle if something goes wrong with
Matilda. Ive not needed the motorcycle
in an emergency but I have suffered
some mechanical problems and I was
very pleased to have another means of
transport while waiting for parts. On 2
occasions I have used the bike to head to
a border in order to leave a country and
re enter to renew my visa. On both
occasions I could not use Matilda.
Another time in Irkutsk, Siberia I had 2 cats I had rescued from the snow. They had been living with me for 2 weeks while I found a suitable home for them. I found some wonderful people who ran a shelter where the cats would be cared for and found a home. My truck was parked by the river while I was waiting for a clutch master cylinder to arrive from the UK. Having the bike gave me the freedom to explore as well as take the cats to the shelter. I put the 2 cats in my backpack, and rode to the shelter on the Suzuki. The cats didn’t mind being in the bag but did want to see what was going. It was a sad day as the cats and I had really bonded. They would have made great travel companions but my Russian visa was going to expire before I could get their documents.
This section is incomplete. More information coming soon. If interested to read more let me know, and tell me if there is anything in particular and i will add to sooner rather than later.