Oh my God!

The rain has just poured in through the top of the back door! About a pint came in during a massive downpour, soaked two tea towels and most of a kitchen roll which I used to try and block the flow. The only way I could stop it coming down off the roof and through the seal was to open the door and let it fall past the van like a waterfall.

This answers the question about the damp carpet...

The ultimate solution was to turn the van so the cab was lower than the back door, so the water ran over the windscreen.

And as I type, here comes the rain again...

And we're off!

Set off to Killinghall on my maiden voyage, despite a dodgy alternator. Eventually I will be unable to start the engine if it isn't fixed so am discussing with the dealer, hopefully I can get it done locally under guarantee.

Terrible weather, and a good job I had a practise as a few lessons learned.

Karen and Ian came up to see me, bearing Toblerone and a sleeping bag (yes, I had left my bedding at home, I have the brains of a nematode).

Home at last

Picked up the van and got safely home. All the manuals and handbooks were there, so spent much of the evening trying to digest those. Showed her off to several friends and Karen rang up to see how I was getting on. The van seems OK (just lousy brakes) but I have a few niggles:

• Battery light is permanently on - is this normal?
• Air bag light shows that this is switched off - need to switch back on
• A scratch on the rear near-side, which I don't recall seeing at the garage
• The table seems to have gone AWOL
• Can't remember what position the switches should be when I am not using it!

At the moment it's on the drive as I am too nervous to attempt getting it in the garage without someone checking I am not going to scrape the roof.