Thursday, April 4, 2013

Building My Awning at Coyote Howls

Most of the last couple of months I've been at Coyote Howls campground in Why, AZ. It's minimalist camping in the desert with bathrooms, showers and dump stations, but no power and marginal water. I have been living on my solar panels, but the generator did come out for one big project. The awning has been in the planning stages for a long time. Our boat had a large awning but it was easy to take down in strong winds (that only come at 2 AM) as it rolled up and stored on the radar arch at the stern. Since I'm by myself, that was again my priority. Well, that and shade.

 

 
The awning factory was a blue tarp, my Honda generator, and my Pfaff 130 on the tailgate of the truck. Oh, also my buddy Jim who sews way better than me and who got me to come down to the winter warmth of Coyote Howls.
 
 
After one long day, we had something that looked like an awning.
 
 
 
 
There is a one inch diameter aluminum tube in a sleeve at the end of the awning. The poles go through grommets in the fabric and through the tube. The main purpose of the tube is to allow me to roll the awning up and to store in a zippered bag on the awning track.
 
 
So far, it's a success after about a month of use, including a road trip to Tucson to hear Antsy McClain sing at Alumafiesta. Never ever miss a chance to see him perform.
 
 
 
-steve
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

1 comment:

  1. The awning looks great Steve and I like the orange poles, did you get those at REI? Still snowing here in Wisconsin, we can't wait to get Nellie out of the barn and try out her new awning. Looks very comfortable where you are.
    Take care Doug

    ReplyDelete