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Sienna Van Camper Re-Conversion

April 6, 2024 by · Leave a Comment

Sienna Van Camper Re-Converion

Thank you for reading my post on the Sienna Van Camper Re-Converion. The van in question is a 2014 Toyota Sienna with about 135,000 miles on it. It’s just about broken in, I’d guess.

The original build, done in 2021. This baby is gone!

 

Susan relaxing in the original build. Main problem? You couldn’t sit up.

Motivated by Susan, I tore the original camper build apart and started from scratch. These photos show the new build.

1. From bottom left, clockwise:
– at the bottom on a vertical support is a small blue-black dot, the light switch for the “trunk.” Directly above it is a large black square, the electrical distribution panel, a.k.a. fuse box. Above that is the charge controller, which takes the raw electrical input from the solar panel (not shown) and feeds it to the battery. The fuse box and controller are mounted on the face of the main storage cabinet. Along the top is a rack, storage for linens, towels, shopping bags, etc. Along the top right side of the frame is Susan’s storage cabinet. On the bottom right is a yellow extension cord. The red and black cables are the solar panel electrical feeds. In the center is the couch/bed, shown in the couch position. You can couch out the back or in the van. All the interior lights are turned on.

2. Close-up of the fuse box and charge controller. Above the fuse box is a light switch and a 12-volt plug. You can see I’ve tossed some essentials into the cabinet. Don’t forget the loo roll. The red-orange thing below it is a knife sharpener.

3. Same shot as 2, with the panel open. There are 15 different circuits, not all in use.

4. View of the “trunk”. The usual trunk junk and the all-important battery.

5. View from passenger sliding door, from top left. Susan and I both have reading lamps. In between is the ceiling storage rack, currently just holding a couple shopping bags. The main storage cabinet’s front face has 12-volt plug, a power strip (we have an inverter that changes the 12-volt DC current to 110-volt AC current), the battery power gauge, and the switch that turns the inverter on/off. In front of that is the sink on a vanity. Extending across the van from that is the dining table, and of course, the couch/bed, still in the couch position.

6. The back windows are screened. The sink has a 5-gallon reservoir in the vanity, along with an electric pump to deliver the water (cold only). It drains (by gravity) into another 5-gallon jug. The counter top was polyurethaned to protect it (we hope) from moisture.

7. View from the couch, from left clockwise. Above the sink is a black blob, my fan. Next to it is a 12-volt plug that supplies its power, and a light switch that turns the light strip on and off. The headboard has hooks (actual fishhooks!) that keep clothes and hats off the floor. To the right of Susan’s hat and the paper towel roll is Susan’s fan with another 12-volt plug. And the table.

8. A view from the table, dominated by the guy who did all the work. He looks like he’s wondering, When did I get to be the same age as old people?? You can see Susan’s cabinet with a 12-volt plug and her reading lamp.

No holes were made in the van for this build. If this van dies, I could remove all this stuff and put it in another Sienna in a day or two, and most of that time would be spent on the wiring.

I would like to thank Eric enjoys Earth for his many design ideas that were incorporated into this build. Anyone considering a van conversion should check out Eric’s youtube channel!

And that, folks, is the Sienna Van Camper Re-Converion post. Thanks again for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Convert a van! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, © John Kumiski 2024. All rights are reserved.

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April Fool’s Fishing Report

April 5, 2024 by · Leave a Comment

April Fool’s Fishing Report

Thank you for reading this April Fool’s Fishing Report. No pranks were perpetrated by this reporter, nor were any played on him.

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

Monday Caleb Vogl joined me in the Bang-O-Craft for some Indian River Lagoon exploration. I was surprised in a good way at how clear the water was. Even saw some seagrass trying to grow! What we didn’t see was a ton of fish. There were some redfish at one spot we visited, enough that I was able to get two modest specimens on spin with the plastic shad, which apparently are now referred to as swimbaits. Whatever. My buddy only got a couple puffers, which made him unhappy. But Rodney Smith says there’s no such thing as a bad fish.

The Econ

 

There were a few late irises.

Tuesday I did a walk-in to the Econlockhatchee. The stumpknocker bite was hot! And mind you, I was bass fishing. The stumpies were hitting and getting hooked on plastic worms rigged with a 3/0 hook, and were some of the largest ones I’d ever seen. And a half-dozen bass ate my baits too, five nice ones up to a four-pounder, and one dinker. It was a pretty good day.

These lizard-tails made the woods smell sweet.

 

And the woods looked great, too.

The rest of the week I spent working on the van that I thought I was almost finished with. Honestly, I think I can wrap it up tomorrow. It’s wiring and plumbing I’m working on, so it could be weeks….

Last week I wrote about the recent on-line webinar, “A Conversation with Dr. Duane De Freese and Keith Winsten” which reported on the current and future state of our Indian River Lagoon. The link to see this event came today, and you can see it here-

And that, folks, is the April Fool’s fishing report. Thanks again for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Go walking! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, © John Kumiski 2024. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Sienna Van conversion · Tagged: , , ,

Van Conversion and Two Days Fishing, Again

January 27, 2024 by · Leave a Comment

Van Conversion and Two Days Fishing

Didn’t I use this title last week? Thank you for reading this post on Van Conversion and Two Days Fishing. The fishing was fair at best, but let’s look to the van first…

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

I’ve built the cabinet in the back of the van. Debating as to whether to put doors on the hatches. Will need to take a couple short trips to see if stuff falls out, I suppose.

Whenever I use the Bang-O-Craft, I always run all the gasoline out of the carburetor at the end of the trip. When I used it last week, I forgot to do that. When I finished working on the van Tuesday, it was about 1500 hours. I’ll run the gas out of the boat! I’ll bring a fishing rod!

I went to CS Lee Park. There was exactly one trailer in the lot, not a good sign. I ran the boat up to the mouth of the Econ. Saw no breaking fish at all- no gar, no mullet, and certainly no shad. Did not get a bite on tandem-rigged crappie jigs. A virtual biological desert! Floated down the river to the boat ramp, casting the entire way, solidly skunked.

There was an FWC creel survey dude there, who interviewed me. He told me no one has caught anything out of that ramp for at least three weeks. He further said such shad as were being caught were being taken out of the Cameron Wright ramp, near Sanford. Sounds like a poor shad season to me…

Friday under a heavy overcast I went back to the Indian River Lagoon, tailing black drum on my mind. Naturally, I didn’t see a one. I did get rained on. In my waders, with a raincoat on, it was not unpleasant. I did see a fair number of redfish. Unfortunately, all but two were flushed by running them over with the kayak, not a good technique for catching them.

The two I had shots at were bank-crawlers. I hit one on the tail with the RipTide shad, also not a good technique for catching them. The other spooked off my schmutz-coated fly (a wiry green algae collection guaranteed to offend any fish).

I got a trout and a small red blind-casting the shad to keep the skunk at bay. I have to think if I went there with good visibility I’d get a few fish. It doesn’t look like that chance will happen this week, though

And that, folks, is a Van Conversion and Two Days Fishing Report. Thanks again for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Go on a walk! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, © John Kumiski 2024. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida, Sienna Van conversion · Tagged: , , ,

Van Conversion and Two Days Fishing

January 20, 2024 by · Leave a Comment

Van Conversion and Two Days Fishing

Thank you for reading this post on Van Conversion and Two Days Fishing. The fishing was fair at best, but let’s look to the van first…

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

I’m building a cabinet in the back of the van. It’s hard! I’m hardly a skilled woodworker, and nothing in the van is square or level. In spite of that the cabinet is mostly done. It may not be bee-you-tee-full, but it will be funk-shun-al. Once I run some wiring along the back of it, I can put the face back on, and probably cover a few of the hatches with doors. All in good time.

Once I run the wiring. Should only take a week…

OK, fishing. Thursday was the best day of the week, speaking weather. Nice day, windless. But overcast much of the day. I fished in the Indian River Lagoon.

It’s hard to see fish when it’s overcast. I got a few trout blind-casting with the shad, and a small red too.

Got a few trout on the shad.

God smiled on me in the form of a bank-crawling, ten-pound red. I got the shad in front of him and he crushed it. Pulled the kayak quite a way, a nice, fun ride!

He pulled the kayak quite a way.

I found some tailing black drum. There was no way to tell which way they were facing or moving. I’d see a tail, put the fly near it, and hope for the best. I didn’t get a bite. I don’t think that was the best, but at least I had some shots, so no complaints. But no fish on fly, second trip in a row.

Friday I picked up Tom Van Horn at noon and we went to Mullet Lake Park in search of the wily American shad. I didn’t even bring a fly rod. The river is running quite high, especially for the “dry season”. Tom quickly got the skunk off the boat with a fat crappie he got on a Road Runner. I got one a short time later on a crappie jig. Then we had a long dry spell.

Shad-a-lac!

We decided to run down to Marina Isle. I couldn’t help but notice on the way that there was rain falling to the south. We stopped, turned around, and started trolling back to the boat ramp. Tom got a bite and got an American shad! His first of the season! We got to the ramp and the rain started to fall on us at the same time. It was only about 2:30. I’d like to think we didn’t miss much in the way of fishing.

The hero and the fish.

Tom went shad fishing Thursday out of CS Lee Park. Out four hours, he got exactly no hits, a good skunking. So our three fish in two hours was, speaking comparatively, some hot fishin’!

The weather’s not looking good for the weekend, but at least we have some playoff football to watch.

And that, folks, is a Van Conversion and Two Days Fishing Report. Thanks again for reading, and thank you, Tom!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Go on a walk! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, © John Kumiski 2024. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: central florida fishing report, Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida, Sienna Van conversion · Tagged: , , , , , ,

One Day on Banana River Lagoon

January 13, 2024 by · Leave a Comment

One Day on Banana River Lagoon

We had some crappy weather this week. We had a couple nice days, too. Caleb Vogl and I got out one day on the Banana River Lagoon. It was hardly gangbusters, but there were some encouraging signs.

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

Caleb is a young guy, from Kansas City. He wants to be a fishing guide. Tom Doerr introduced us, asked me to help him. So I guess I’m in the role of mentor, or perhaps tormentor. At any rate, we went to the Banana River Lagoon on Wednesday. The water was moderately clear, and there was quite a bit of widgeon grass growing, which was good. Lots of Rhodophyta, too, not so good.

We paddled for well over an hour before seeing a fish. No shots were forthcoming. More paddling turned up a few tailers. Caleb hooked one on a DOA shrimp. It was quite entertaining, and he got this beast-

 

He carefully released it.

It did not start a trend. I only got a couple fly shots that did not work, and we each got one (more, in his case) slot-sized fish on spin tackle. When we got back to our vehicles, Caleb said, “Wow! We paddled a long way today!” Yes, we did. You’ll cover some ground fishing with me. Three fish between two of us in over eight hours. Good thing one was a career fish!

In other news, I’m doing a new build of my Sienna camper van. I hope to be finished next month (A-ha-ha-hahaha!). Here’s how the interior looks as of this writing-

The laminate floor is installed, the cabinet is in progress. The bed and sink vanity are still in planning stage.

Weather forecasts predict some pretty crappy weather this coming week, too.

Happy MLK Jr. Day Monday!

And that, folks, is a One Day on Banana River Lagoon Report. Thanks for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Go on a walk! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, © John Kumiski 2024. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Paddle Fishing Florida, Sienna Van conversion · Tagged: , , , ,

A Fine Day Fishing, And Happy New Year!

December 31, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

A Fine Day Fishing, And Happy New Year!

The weather broke enough for me to have a fine day fishing, so that’s a good thing. Hope everyone’s Christmas was cheery, and best wishes to everyone for a happy new year!

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

According to the weather forecast (which are, of course, very unreliable and untrustworthy), Wednesday was supposed to be the best day of the past week. The forecast wasn’t spot on (there was more sunshine than expected), but it was darn close.

It was a gorgeous day, light winds, comfortably warm when the sun was shining, great for paddling. The water in the Mosquito Lagoon was quite clear. The odd thing was, all the fish I caught were gotten blind-casting with a fly rod. I could not catch any of the fish I saw. Most of them were either 10 feet away or already run over when I saw them, but I did have two decent shots at reds. Both fish spooked off the fly. In spite of that minor frustration it was a wonderful day, and I stayed out until sunset. I did not make a single photo, though.

Clousers with synthetics.

There’s plague of puffers out there. I just tied up a half-dozen Clouser style minnows with synthetic wings. Bucktail cannot hold up to the constant trimming by the puffers. Hope these new ones are more durable! I caught three puffers Wednesday, and by the third was considering starting to kill them. Didn’t happen. No fish were harmed, was fishing barbless…

All you want out there right now…

Almost finished putting a floor into the van, intend to finish today. Here’s what it looks like so far-

The almost-finished floor in the van.

Read this from the Miami Herald.

That’s a Fine Day Fishing Report. Thanks for reading! And again, best wishes for a great new year.

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Go on a walk! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, © John Kumiski 2023. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Flies and Fly Tying, Sienna Van conversion · Tagged: , , , , ,

Boreas Makes an Appearance

December 16, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

Boreas Makes an Appearance

In ancient Greece, Boreas was the god of winter winds. Yeah! He showed up this week! Wind speeds ranged from 15 to 30 miles an hour, steadily, all week. No, I did not fish. The bad news is, it looks the same for next week, too. Merry Christmas!

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

Tuesday I had a doctor’s appointment. When I got there, I got a, “We’re very sorry, Mr. Kumiski, but the doctor isn’t here today. They were supposed to call you…” No one called me. If I hadn’t shown up, I would have gotten an invoice. Since the doc didn’t show up, I sent them one.

When they don’t pay (and they won’t), I will write it off on my taxes as an uncollectable debt. This is the same doctor that, when I was sick and called repeatedly, took four months to return the call. Then I got billed $150 for a ten-minute telephone conversation. Power to the patients!

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Susan and I have been pretty happy with the camper setup in my Toyota Sienna, but we found a better design, which you can see below-

I spent part of a couple days this week disassembling the old camper build, in preparation of assembling a new one. The new bed will be a few inches narrower than the old one, but we think overall this build will make better use of the space we have in there.

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I tied a few flies, and did some writing, some of which was about tying flies!

https://riversandfeathers.com/author/john-kumiski/

https://blog.globaloutdoors.com/?author=604144e9071ab616be8ac66a

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I took a walk on the Florida Trail, but did not take any pictures. But I did wrap and ship presents and even a (very) few Christmas cards! Pretty laid-back week, all-in-all.

That’s the Boreas Makes an Appearance Report. Thanks for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Go on a trip! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, ©John Kumiski 2023. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Sienna Van conversion, Uncategorized · Tagged: , , ,

No Fishing This Week, but…

April 15, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

No Fishing This Week, but…

For me, there was no fishing this week. The wind machine cranked through mid-week, with small craft advisories until Wednesday night. I could have gone Friday, but…

Regular readers of this blog know I have been working on building a canoe. I started skinning it on Friday.

Sewing on the skin, which is a ballistic nylon.

 

Skin tacked on, ready for permanent attachment.

Regular readers of this blog also know I have a Sienna van, adapted to camping. After replacing the shocks, all that build needed a re-build. Along with house repairs, that’s what occupied me the rest of the week. Now we can go camping again!

Since most folks look to this blog for fishing, I dug up some April-y kinds of photos from years past, all taken on the Atlantic.

My first cobia, my best on fly, taken off Cocoa Beach a long time ago while out with Rodney Smith.

 

Son Alex with a tripletail, taken off Cocoa Beach.

 

Son Maxx with a cobia, taken off Cocoa Beach.

 

Rodney Smith with a tripletail, taken off Cocoa Beach.

 

Tammy Wilson, cobia, off Cape Canaveral.

 

Mike Conneen, king mackerel, off Cape Canaveral.

 

 

I don’t remember this guy’s name. He was on a charter with Tom Van Horn, off Cape Canaveral. He had a heck of a day! I tagged along to get pictures.

And that’s the no fishing this week report. Thanks for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Take a walk! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2023. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Fishing Reports, Sienna Van conversion, Uncategorized · Tagged: , ,

Fished a Day, Again, Report

April 7, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

Fished a Day, Again, Report

Regular readers of this blog know I have been working on building a canoe. But now that the frame is done, there’s not much for me to do on it until the skin gets here next week.

Regular readers of this blog also know I have a Sienna van, adapted to camping. The van has almost 120,000 miles on it. I wanted new shocks. The only way to access the shock top is through panels on the van’s interior. So all that camping build needed to be removed, which took most of the day on Monday. It looks like a cave inside the vehicle now.

Minor construction around the house took most of Tuesday. There’s more to come.

FISHING DAY Wednesday I dropped my kayak into the Indian River Lagoon’s brown water which was loaded with Rhodophyta and a filamentous green alga. Yuk.

I did not see a dolphin or a manatee. I did see what was for me a new organism. There were small mussels, quite a lot of them, growing on the stems and roots of the black mangroves. Some research followed. There are a couple native mussel species in the lagoon. There are also a couple invasive species. I have no mussel expertise, but I did contact Dr. Walters at UCF, who does. I will keep you informed.

I did see a few fish. Fishing was tough- it was windier than I expected it to be. I hardly touched the fly rod. When it’s windy it’s nearly impossible to control the boat and fly fish at the same time. I got six bites using spin tackle, and caught them all- two trout, two reds, and two snook. Got a bad picture of the best red, which I sight-fished.

It was swimming down the bank. I cast ahead of it while the kayak drifted, not moving the lure until I thought the fish would see it. When I twitched the bait, he crushed it. It was quite gratifying, best fish of the day.

Thursday, fun with cars. Put those new shocks in. It’s something I do infrequently, so a 30- or 40-minute job takes all morning. But they’re in. After I get the camper build back in there, I need to do the struts on the front end…

And there’s always the house construction, and the exotic ferns to keep me off the water. The joys of home ownership. It seems to come in waves, that sort of thing.

And that’s the Fished a Day again report. Thanks for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Take a walk! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2023. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: central florida fishing report, Paddle Fishing Florida, Sienna Van conversion · Tagged: , , , ,

Virtual Tour of Sienna Van Build

March 27, 2021 by · 2 Comments

Virtual Tour of Sienna Van Build

The beast.

Thank you for reading this week’s Virtual Tour of Sienna Van Build.

Anyone who reads these posts on a regular basis knows that I have been working on a camper van conversion since purchasing the Sienna. I’m finished! thank you for your patience!

The solar panel supplies the power.

As you peruse the photos, keep in mind that I don’t have any sort of shop. I do have a rickety folding table and a couple of c-clamps, as well as a skil-saw, an electric jig saw, and an electric sander. And an electric drill, that was real important.

The power feeds into a charge controller.

On the roof is mounted a 200 watt, 12 volt solar panel from Rich Solar. Wires feed the generated current into a Rich Solar charge controller. From there a steady 12V current feeds into a positive busbar, which routes the energy to whatever circuits might be active (lights, fans, refrigerator, 12V sockets) or charges the auxiliary battery, or both. Or it might go into a Renogy inverter and get changed from 12V DC to 120V AC, for charging computers and i-pads, running an electric shaver, or what-have-you.

The positive busbar feeds power to the battery and to the 12V circuits, including the Dometic refrigerator. The inverter is under the busbars, hidden from view by the fridge.

There’s also a cable from the battery to a Renogy DC to DC charger, so I can charge my auxiliary battery from the car’s alternator.

The electrical distribution panel, full of fuses and two circuit breakers. We’re under the bed here. The yellow plug is the shore power line. There is an LED strip under here, too!

Again, I used a wiring diagram I got from ExploristLife.com. The only difference is that Nate uses his panels to charge four auxiliary batteries. He’s got a beefier vehicle than I, however. My thoughts were, if he uses these gauges of wire for a 400 watt system, they are way more than adequate for mine.

The rear cabinet, passenger side. Light strip underneath.

I have lots of fuses and circuit breakers in that wiring. And a fire extinguisher in the van!

The rear cabinet, driver side. Light strip underneath.

Lights- I have seven separate light circuits. Five of them are LED strips, two are LED reading lamps.

Switches and 12V plug, driver side. Top switch for under cabinet light, middle switch for under bed light, bottom switch controls inverter.To the right of the switches find the battery gauge. Above that is the reading lamp base. Below the gauge is a power strip, but I took the photo before installing the strip.

12 Volt plugs. There are five separate circuits for 12V plugs. Two of them are dedicated to our fans. The other three are for charging devices with a USB adapter plug.

Battery monitor.

There’s a battery monitor, analogous to a fuel gauge on a vehicle.

Looking in from the rear.

Under the rear bumper is a plug for plugging into the grid. I carry an extension cord.

Looking back from the sliding door.

Mounted inside the vehicle at the back of the driver side sliding door is a power strip that either plugs into the grid power or the inverter, for using devices requiring 120 volt AC power.

A headboard makes use of formerly unusable space, with lots of hooks for hanging things. At each end are our fans, those black things. And another light strip.

There are four small cabinets. There are plenty of hooks for hanging things.

The water box, filled with odds and ends. The front end of the bed is folded up.

I built a wooden box, for carrying bottles of water. It holds four one-gallon bottles and a five-gallon jug.

Of course there’s the bed, but the mattress is not in the van in these photos.

There’s also a little port-a-potty for buggy night-time urges.

We’re ready to pack it up and go.

Thank you for reading this week’s Virtual Tour of Sienna Van Build!

Life is great and I love life!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! or walk on a trail!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide

Purchase a signed copy of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2021. All rights are reserved.

Filed Under: Photo Essays, Sienna Van conversion · Tagged: , , ,
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