Hook up and leave at 2am or not
hi,
Sorry if this is a daft question. I'm new to caravanning!
I'm setting off to Cornwall this week and want to leave at 2am to miss most of the traffic.
Ideally id like to hook it up to the car on the drive, removing the wheel locks. That way when i get the family up to go at 2am when can jump in the car and set off without any hassle or messing about hooking up.
if the van and car are locked is this safe to do so for a few hours or would people not recommend?
what does everyone else do when setting off in the middle of the night?
thanks in advance.
D
Comments
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Although not having done this myself time wise, I see nothing wrong in doing what you plan. My only thing I would do to ensure safety is to recheck the 'hookup' is still secure, walk around the van for security rather than jump in the car and go.
Trailer to car security and light check is always top of the list just before driving away from home or site.
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Never left at that sort of time. However, I would have thought whatever devices your insurance requires for storage at your property would still need to be in place. Possibly wheel lock, hitch lock. Certainly some policies require these to be fitted if leaving unattended at services.
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Added to that, only you can assess the risk where you live as you know the area.
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Oooo. Reading the title i thought this was going to about leaving site at 2.00am. I was looking forward to reading peoples comments on that proposal.
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We've done a similar thing in the dim and distant past, but can't recall ever having got as far as going to sleep before setting out, so lights have been on, curtains open, activity around the house... so in these circumstances a thief probably wouldn't have bothered! 😃
David
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As Deleted User User suggests could you not leave on the Friday evening, once everyone is ready and stop a couple of times when convenient or book a CL, a bit late now, where you can arrive late and head off early or even delay arriving until the Sunday?
It's quite a long way to tow, on what I expect will be busy roads, especially with all the staycations happening, making the journey part if your holiday. If you're new to caravanning you're probably thinking 'solo' type driving. Making the journey part of the holiday is less stressful and more holiday, exciting fr younger children too. Easy to say when you're retired and no time pressures- but might be worth considering for coming back and future holidays.
Do let us know how you get on and enjoy yourselves. 🙂
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Excellent idea, I’ve done that many times from East Yorkshire to Newquay. Calm, quiet easy driving too. It’s far better than getting stuck in the horrendous guaranteed jams in high Summer. No one ‘needs’ to catch up on lost sleep it will happen naturally. You will not get to your destination stressed it’s a good plan.
PS-Tinwheeler is a Cornishman that’s really well travelled & he often suggests not getting caught up in the mayhem of the road to Cornwall👍🏻
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"We used to go to Scotland that way and use campsite at Tebay M6 (unfortunately no longer there) but it broke the back of the journey. "
web site still seems to be very active
"Our Caravan Park at Tebay Northbound is open from March to October."
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As Rocky said, it's a good plan, NTC19. At present, Cornwall is very busy. I don’t know which area you're heading for but, if using the A38, beware of holdups on the Tamar Bridge due to resurfacing and, if using the A30, there are roadworks affecting the single carriageway section in the Truro area between Carland Cross and Chiverton Cross.
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Where in North Yorkshire to where in Cornwall ? Sounds as though it might be 400 miles. Is that with one driver or two? Take care.
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In my opinion an excellent time to travel. You didn't say which day you were going on as this will still make a difference to the volume of traffic even in the wee hours, Fridays and Saturdays can still be as busy as Piccadilly during the Summer months. We frequently travelled in the early hours. I would suggest that if you are going to hook up the previous evening to drop the Jockey Wheel down to take the weight off the car until you are ready to leave and remember to wind it up before setting off.
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Excellent idea, whilst driving at night does require some adjustment the roads are quiet and the drive more relaxed. We did exactly what you are thinking about for 15 years or so. We would leave our home in Essex at 2am for a 5am ferry or tunnel and then 300 to 500 miles through France. Every 2 hours or so we would stop for a break.
Hitch lock and wheel lock both left on and van hooked up on mains to keep fridge running. 13 pin electrics not connected until we would leave. The mains hook up was possible with a cover over the lead going across pavement to the van as we lived in a quiet road.
We now live on Merseyside and leave at 8 to 9 pm, travel overnight to the port and then continue journey as previously with regular rest breaks.
Colin
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+1, instead of feeling tired I always felt great & relaxed, no concerns of trucks shooting thru too close either👍🏻
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I had a walk round it a couple of months ago when I stopped for lunch heading north. Surprisingly quiet considering the proximity of the motorway. Being the middle of the day, it was empty.
Back to the original query, being new to caravanning, I would counsel against a journey of 400 odd miles in a day. Back when I towed, I had a rule of thumb of 200-250 in the UK and 300-350 on the continent. I would suggest trying to get 150 odd miles under your belt the day before and an earlyish start the following morning.
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When in my forties and fifties I used to drive through the night to Dover from Yorkshire and then on to Beaune,after a broken sleep on the ferry.Today I would not entertain the idea.You arrive feeling like a "chewed chip" and it takes a couple of days to recover.Snappiness in the Family often ensued..As my eyesight has deteriorated with the onset of cataracts I try to avoid night driving,if at all possible.The flare from the headlamps of oncoming lorries makes it difficult to accurately judge their proximity to the outfit.I gave up towing in favour of an MH,now pulling into a "park-up" en route is far easier to do.
Today,if on a long haul, we set off after "rush hour" and as darkness falls I find a halt for a while .Then as dawn breaks off we go.Over the years we have worked out where we may safely pull in for a short break en route.
These days I try to avoid "long hauls" if I can by doing hops and visits along the way.It is meant to be a holiday not a test of endurance,after all.
Still,if you have to,a night drive can be quieter- like you I was in the position of having to slot holidays into time frames once.
Good luck and try not to have a blazing row with the OH when you arrive exhausted and she insists on putting up the awning straight away!The kids may still be asleep and of minimal assistance in setting up camp.
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That’s going to be a long tow, even if traffic is light. We live in South Yorks, 10 minutes to M1, and if we chose to use M1/M42/M5, Thats a good five hours plus into North Cornwall without stops of any kind.
Try and avoid Bristol area between 7.30- 10.00am.
We tried the overnight tow a couple of times, it never worked for us, but others swear by it. We used to set off Friday evening, do the M1, come off onto Fosse Way and find somewhere to overnight for a few hours, getting back on road around 5am, so we were well down past the main bottlenecks by 9am.
Good luck and safe journey.
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We once tried and overnight tow to take advantage of a very cheap ferry fare to France. The boys were probably 12 and 14. I can't remember what time we left MK but I don't think we got much sleep before we left and the plan was to have a snooze at the Services on the M2. That didn't really work out either so by the time we got to Belgium we were far from refreshed. We eventually got to our site in Holland and started to set up and the boys went off to explore. When they returned they found us both asleep in the van!!!
Obviously it depends how young you are but as Ken mentioned if you remove yourselves from normal sleep patterns it can mess you up for days. Have you thought about doing the journey with an overnight stop?
David
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Hi I have done Newcastle to Devon some years gone I left at around 10.0pm drove for about 4hrs and pulled in to a big services next to other caravans to have a sleep for a few hours
If your going to connect the Electrics up from caravan to car make sure your not going to drain your battery as you may be live from car to caravan when you turn off the ignition.
Good luck
John
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If possible take a long break at Gloucester services, they are probably the best for space and access. I think they are also the only ones I'd recommend for an overnight stop although I think the cost is over £20 and the services have limited overnight access. This gives a head start for getting through the "Bermuda Triangle" (Bristol to Exeter) where delays can cause long tail backs.
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Good point John. All too easy to drain car battery.
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We never drive through the night, we'd rather arrive late and collapse into bed but our son always drives overnight between the SW and the NE. We used to live a ten hour drive from the SW and the visitors who drove overnight to see us often missed the following day, having to recover. But we do start early on some longer trips, 5-6 am is about the earliest we attempt and it certainly gives you a head start on motorway traffic.
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Even living in Bristol and close to the M5 we are leaving early evening to stop overnight in the services.
Caravan is in storage unable to get to it before 7am which by then makes the M5 hard work.
Cant park outside the house street full of cars.
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Its many years now since we drove all night and day but we were younger then.
We used to set out early evening from north Germany heading for the channel ports of Calais or Dunkirk. OH did the driving the 2 boys were in the back mostly sleeping and I would nap now and again. Once at the port we left the boys asleep and OH would grab a coffee. Once on board we had to wake the boys up but they had a good 6 hours so were ok.
A drink and something to eat then it was usually time to get back in the car and start to drive up to Scotland. Stopping every couple of hours for drinks food and toilets. OH managed all the driving with no ill effects.
Those were the days, would not even consider it now a days, we stop overnight twice now when going to the channel ports. Our son on the other hand will do Tidworth to Perth in one go, stop overnight then go back down again the next day. He does this when he collects his 2 children from boarding school. Sometimes its his wife that collects the children, she usually stops for a couple of days though before going back.
We try to stick to 200 - 250 miles sometimes a little more if going to the ports.
Its what you are used to, if you are a long distance driver as your job, then not an issue but if you are not used to doing long distance driving and especially at night towing then don't do lit.
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What a reassuring thread this is. We all do something slightly different, the changes more notable as we get older and have more time on our hands. One common point though stands out though, and that is what we are happy and feel safe to do governs how we travel.
Colin
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I guess you just need to plan what you do arriving into Cornwall early. There will be plenty of lay-by options on the A30 to pass a few hours or maybe less if travelling to a site in the far west?
Personally I never sleep properly before commencing a middle of the night journey so would always opt for an overnight stay near the destination rather than drive tired and arrive knackered. Also, the world can seem an inhospitable place at 3am if you have any problems especially motorway services - personal choice.
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Personally i think it is dangerous to drive long hours without a break, when living in Scotland we regularly used to drive to Rooksbury park 12 hours towing the van, but we used to stop at Tebay services grab a nights kip and then continue, i once did it solo in the Discovery but vowed never again, grabbing a cat nap doing 70mph is not my idea of fun, but i was much younger, now 5-6 hours is more than enough for me. When the children were young we would always leave at some ungodly hour because they were too excited to sleep, now we are in no rush so now we just chill leave whenever, arrive whenever, as for leaving the caravan hooked up, we have left our van hooked up in worst places than on our drive, Tebay services for one, to get a meal in the restaurant even when it has been the Appleby Horsefair,
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