Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2008 15:14:17 GMT
Have at last migrated from the old MSN Group.
Now retired, ex-teacher (physics), have been involved in caravanning since early boyhood (1951), and between my late parents and my brother and myself we have had Safaris in the family since parents bought their first Safari (a 12/2) new in 1974.
Ten years later they upgraded to a 1982 14/2, the latest model available, since the company had by then ceased production of traditional Safaris; they were fortunate in being able to acquire one only two years old which had had only a very few weekends' use and was still in new condition.
Then in 1989 they were faced with needing a structural repair to the much loved and much travelled Safari, and they were acutely aware that that even after repair the caravan would still be seven years old and of a make that was no longer in production, so they asked Vernon Meadows (then owner of Pearman Briggs, still the country's main Safari dealer) whether they would be better advised to trade up to a new caravan of a different make.
He advised them to change, and sold them his own Abbey 512 GT, used as the firm's demonstrator model, but this turned out to be a disastrous mistake, and 18 months later they asked me to start looking for another traditional Safari for them. The result was a 1981 14/2, again found through Pearman Briggs, which they kept for almost the rest of their lives.
After Mother died, Father continued to use the Safari until he felt that he had reached the stage where he was beyond managing a caravan that he had to tow; by his late eighties he was finding that hitching up, and levelling it, and winding the corner steadies, and reversing and manoeuvring it were all starting to become difficult for him. So he passed the Safari over to my brother, and he and I jointly bought a motorhome to enable him to continue independent caravanning. That was another disaster; a wickedly expensive purchase, nice enough as a large caravan (but so was my Safari), but not satisfactory in its role as a car - and when on holiday one needs both. And the money was utterly wasted because he never felt up to going away in it on his own, which was the sole reason why we had bought it, - but we neither of us realised at the time that he had only another three months to live.
Meanwhile I had bought my own first Safari, a superb 1978 17/2, in January 1991, and as well as using it for holidays I also lived in it as a business pied-a-terre for the next seven years. That was replaced in 2002 by an even better 17/2, dating from 1980, and the 1978 one later went to fellow member Colin Dixon.
I am no longer particularly active in caravanning, because caravanning has always played second fiddle to my first love - sailing - and I cannot tow a caravan and a boat simultaneously. My adult involvement in caravanning became most active between 1990 and 2004, when because of changed circumstances I had swallowed the anchor, so I thought, albeit reluctantly, but by the autumn of 2004 I was in a position to again buy another boat and I haven't looked back since.
Additionally, having downsized from yachts to dinghies I am now looking towards reversing that process (although this time I shall keep the dinghies as well), so the caravan nowadays is relegated to just occasional use, plus a reserve for the time in the future when I may become too old for sailing. Since if I part with the Safari now I doubt whether I could ever afford to replace with anything comparable in (say) ten years' time, it makes better sense to hang onto it. But apart from about one holiday per year it nowadays largely remains parked or in storage.
However I am still very willing to assist newer owners with technical advice, but regret not at the previous level of service because I no longer monitor the site as frequently as I used to do.
Oliver
Now retired, ex-teacher (physics), have been involved in caravanning since early boyhood (1951), and between my late parents and my brother and myself we have had Safaris in the family since parents bought their first Safari (a 12/2) new in 1974.
Ten years later they upgraded to a 1982 14/2, the latest model available, since the company had by then ceased production of traditional Safaris; they were fortunate in being able to acquire one only two years old which had had only a very few weekends' use and was still in new condition.
Then in 1989 they were faced with needing a structural repair to the much loved and much travelled Safari, and they were acutely aware that that even after repair the caravan would still be seven years old and of a make that was no longer in production, so they asked Vernon Meadows (then owner of Pearman Briggs, still the country's main Safari dealer) whether they would be better advised to trade up to a new caravan of a different make.
He advised them to change, and sold them his own Abbey 512 GT, used as the firm's demonstrator model, but this turned out to be a disastrous mistake, and 18 months later they asked me to start looking for another traditional Safari for them. The result was a 1981 14/2, again found through Pearman Briggs, which they kept for almost the rest of their lives.
After Mother died, Father continued to use the Safari until he felt that he had reached the stage where he was beyond managing a caravan that he had to tow; by his late eighties he was finding that hitching up, and levelling it, and winding the corner steadies, and reversing and manoeuvring it were all starting to become difficult for him. So he passed the Safari over to my brother, and he and I jointly bought a motorhome to enable him to continue independent caravanning. That was another disaster; a wickedly expensive purchase, nice enough as a large caravan (but so was my Safari), but not satisfactory in its role as a car - and when on holiday one needs both. And the money was utterly wasted because he never felt up to going away in it on his own, which was the sole reason why we had bought it, - but we neither of us realised at the time that he had only another three months to live.
Meanwhile I had bought my own first Safari, a superb 1978 17/2, in January 1991, and as well as using it for holidays I also lived in it as a business pied-a-terre for the next seven years. That was replaced in 2002 by an even better 17/2, dating from 1980, and the 1978 one later went to fellow member Colin Dixon.
I am no longer particularly active in caravanning, because caravanning has always played second fiddle to my first love - sailing - and I cannot tow a caravan and a boat simultaneously. My adult involvement in caravanning became most active between 1990 and 2004, when because of changed circumstances I had swallowed the anchor, so I thought, albeit reluctantly, but by the autumn of 2004 I was in a position to again buy another boat and I haven't looked back since.
Additionally, having downsized from yachts to dinghies I am now looking towards reversing that process (although this time I shall keep the dinghies as well), so the caravan nowadays is relegated to just occasional use, plus a reserve for the time in the future when I may become too old for sailing. Since if I part with the Safari now I doubt whether I could ever afford to replace with anything comparable in (say) ten years' time, it makes better sense to hang onto it. But apart from about one holiday per year it nowadays largely remains parked or in storage.
However I am still very willing to assist newer owners with technical advice, but regret not at the previous level of service because I no longer monitor the site as frequently as I used to do.
Oliver
