I am exhausted! I have just completed a 1.5 day Caravan Club 'Practical Caravanning' course.
The course advert promised that I would 'leave the course full of confidence to take to the roads and tour wherever your heart leads you' and it delivered that 100%. It costs £165 and I felt money well spent. The course covers a little instruction in the classroom but the majority of time is spent outside where you practice, make mistakes, watch others make mistakes and repeat.
For someone who is completely new to towing and not that confident a driver, I would highly recommend they do this course. In saying that, the majority of those who attended my course had actually towed before so were familiar with terms such as 'hitching up', 'jockey wheel' and 'steadies' and I initially felt a little intimidated however, it soon became clear that the outside practice would allow me the opportunity to learn what I needed to learn and let everyone get as much or as little from the course as they needed.
The majority of course participants were men (3 women, 8 men) and I was the only woman who would be travelling solo. I felt quite depressed about this until I remembered I was trying to be independent, inspirational and gutsy. I didn't stay in my independent mood for long though as I couldn't get my tow ball or my towing mirrors on so needed help in the first five minutes (Rosa Luxemburg did not have to tow a caravan).
Despite reading the course information beforehand, I didn't really think about the fact that I would be reversing. The words 'practice in manoeuvring an outfit forwards and backwards' should have given me a clue but it only dawned on me a couple of days before. Those days turned into long sleepless nights and a headache as I really can't reverse very well. I never parallel park and I never reverse into parking bays. Now I was in a situation that not only did I need to reverse, I had to reverse the car to a fixed spot i.e. until the tow ball was underneath. I actually thought I might cry.
To say that the instructors John and Dave were patient with me was an understatement. At one point when I was attempting the straight line reverse manoeuvre, Dave asked me what I could see in my towing mirrors. When I said I could see the side of the caravan, he looked completely baffled. After I insisted that I could see the side, he got me out of the car and then sat in the car to have a look for himself. He then asked me to show him the side of the caravan. Turned out, what I thought was the 'side' was actually the 'front'. Dave then walked me round the caravan pointing out the various bits e.g. front, side, roof, door etc. which helped enormously next time I tried to reverse.
Dave also showed me the secret trick to reversing a caravan on your own. A stone. It is all very technical but basically as I will not have anyone with me to guide me, give me directions and make me a cup of tea, I have to use a stone. A stone. If ever I needed life coaching, this was it. Don't bother going to Relate for a fresh perspective on your life and relationships, just do a day and a half of Practical Caravanning and you will soon come to terms with your future.
It can be any old stone or as Dave suggested, I could go to a nice beach and pick a really nice one but either way, this is what I have to use to aid me in my reversing manoeuvres. And, it works. I hitched up rather nicely today and all because of one little stone. I have also, in the spirit of mindfulness and acceptance, decided to paint and decorate the stone and give it pride of place in my caravan.
In addition to the stone, I learned lots of useful tips on the course such as the towing mirrors I had bought were shit and John promptly instructed me to take them back, take no nonsense from Halfords, get a refund and order a set of plain Milenco towing mirrors. He also told me to consider purchasing a caravan motor mover so that I can relax and manoeuvre the caravan easily. I am pretty sure he muttered under his breath that it would help others around me relax too.
I checked out the whole reversing lark with the Facebook Eriba Puck group who have reassured me that 'pushing the Puck unhitched is a damn sight quicker and easier than reversing' and 'a Puck? You can pick it up, put it in a carrier bag and place it wherever you want'. Spot on advice however, should pushing and shoving fail, I have my stone and I know how to use it.
By the end of the first day of the course, I felt that this was all a dreadful mistake and that not only was my dream of towing my caravan one day through Europe never going to materialise but that I should sell my car and never drive again. I had visions of me electrocuting myself on site or driving off without winding up the jockey wheel. My teacher daughter informed me that I was in Stage 2 of the 'Learning Challenge' and that I would soon have my 'eureka' moment. It has yet to happen but I am heading in the right direction. I now know that coupling is not always sexual and can refer to mechanical coupling and I can confidently show you the front, rear and side of a caravan. I can also hitch up, tow and reverse.
Throughout the course, Dave reminded us all to smile 😊, this was not meant to be painful or scary but enjoyable. Even more profound and encouraging were his words 'as long as you get to where you are going, it doesn't bloody matter.....does it?'. I think I will write that on my stone.
No comments:
Post a Comment