This is the time of year when most motorhome owners have to make a decision. Are you going to lay-up your van for the winter months or are you going to stay using it? Bottom line - there is only one person qualified to make that decision and that's you. So, do you STOP or STAY GOING?
Thankfully Richard Ferris shares his wisdom with us on this matter! If you are not already familiar with Richard Ferris, he is a long time friend of the Anchor Point Motorhome team. He and James became friendly when Anchor Point Motorhomes started out, and this friendship has lasted throughout the years. His knowledge and wisdom on owning a motorhome in Ireland is vast and invaluable, and here are his thoughts on the matter in his own words.
Lay it up
If you decide on the winterize option and need details on the work required to lay it up, check with our website, but please do it before the freezing weather starts. Failure to act now could result in an amount of extra work and expense later.
Even if you are going to stay using your van during the winter months there are some good tips on winter preparation to prevent from frost damage.
As an alternative, if you belong to one of the motorhome clubs with a winter programme this should keep you on the move, but even occasional shopping trips, social meetings (ours has often been used for coffee mornings) or family days out can help, but there's one other possibility: actually go camping!
Wander in winter
If you have a copy of the 2024 Caravan Camping & Motorhome Guide take a look on the inside back cover. There are eight OPEN ALL YEAR campsites listed here and on their website (see link), a further 6 sites that operate on demand and must be pre-booked. Truthfully we'd recommend that you should always phone before travelling as there was one site some years ago that advertised it was open but was closed when we got there.
Just a few days ago (mid November 2024 at the time of writing) we took our own advice and phoned Inch Campsite to check.
Pick a place - we chose Inch Campsite
There was absolutely no problem and to our surprise there was already another motorhome on site when we arrived and a further motorhome arrived in the late afternoon. As you will see from the photo attached Inch Beach Campsite is in a superb location, surrounded by hills, mountains and the sea. and the sunset the night we were there was spectacular. The site itself has a tiered layout with electric points widely available. These are very welcome in winter conditions and the nightly charge of €30.00 including the electricity was not only very acceptable, but there were no restriction notices on its use, for which full marks! We must also mention the brand new ladies facilities which were amongst the very best in Ireland. Sadly due to current planning permission delays the mens facilities were sort of adequate and clean but the environment that surrounded them was rather rustic by comparison. There was a notice in the mens to suggest that the ladies facilities could be shared when it was very quiet.
Our experience
We must of course mention the famous local Inch Strand. The entrance to this is directly across the road from the campsite, and even in cooler weather is busy with walkers and drivers but we didn't notice any swimmers! Personally we would NOT take our van on the very long beach because even though it's well compacted, it might be very easy to hit a soft spot and trying to get a heavily loaded sunken van out could be a nightmare, but as a walking space it's brilliant! One last point to mention. The on- the- beach cafe is shut and there is no local shop open out of season, so you really do need to bring everything you will need with you.
For us this was a unique experience that we hope to be able to repeat again soon.
Anchor Point Motorhomes are here to help
We hope you enjoyed Richard's blog and advice, if you are interested in becoming a campervan owner or purchasing a motorhome, come and visit us to see the range at our showrooms in Shannonside Business Park, Birdhill, Co. Tipperary V94VY98. Anchor Point Motorhomes is your Hymer, Burstner, Carado, Weinsberg and Westfalia Motorhome Ireland dealer and we pride ourselves on delivering a 5 star service to all our customers.
Feel free to call us on 353 (0)61 379903 or pop in to see us. A warm welcome awaits!
