I`m home now and was waiting for someone else to start this thread :shock: Went off to the Castle at Caldicot this morning in aid of SIDS for a nice little cruise back to Sunny and not windy Bristol. On the way a few of us convoyed over and went via the old Severn Bridge, a bit of a mistake perhaps. Worrying at the toll booth that they might hit me for a commercial rate in my bus because the back was stripped out completely and really not looking very camperish, this was going to prove to be the least of my worries as the man just gave me change of a tenner and just charged me the standard rate. Off I go as slow as you like while the rest of our small convoy caught up, then second and then third gear and the bus gets a bit out of line so we stay at thirty ish even though the limit on the bridge was forty in the wind. Half way across after several visits covering all lanes ,, I hear a little noise, a bit like a slap then a bit more like a slap slap slap then nothing and then a bit more slap slap slap. The bus is getting a bit frisky now as we are right over the Severn and the bus is starting to go all over the place. I`m thinking that my fan belt is delaminating and I`ll need to stop on the other side, then it gets louder more of a bang bang bang, and I`m having trouble holding on to the bus in the wind. I glance in the rear view to see how the rest are coping and I spot where the banging is coming from,, the pop top has been blown up :shock: :shock: :shock: I got no option now but to pull over and there isn`t a hard shoulder as such and the outside lane is closed,, Oh Dear :roll: I jump in the back of the bus and the wind has hit the side of the Devon Pop Top and has half wrenched it off the bus and now it`s acting like a sail,,, I can`t pull it back down,, the brackets are all twisted , they won`t give way and let me pull it down, the springs are twanging around all over the place, I`m hanging on to it but can`t pull it down. Nick pulls up in his pick up at the same time and he can`t quite get around the side of the bus in the wind but he squeezes through then he can`t open the passenger door against the wind and he can`t get in. Nick runs around to the drivers side and jumps in, thank god for the walkthrough,,the wind is getting stronger and the van is starting to lean as Nick opens the door, I yell at him to shut the door and he slams it and jumps in the back with me, between us we pull the roof down but we can`t secure it, there`s next to nothing in the back of the van because it`s all stripped out, no rope no bungees no cable ties ,,nothing. With both of us holding down a corner each the wind is getting stronger and stronger but we still can`t get it down tight because of the mess that is the remains of the support brackets. Nick manages to lodge a spring tube in the pull down handle and keep the rear almost down but the wind has caught the whole thing like a sail and won`t let it drop the roof iss still up about a foot. Nick look out the back window at his pickup with his little lad in and that`s starting to shake as the wind has got inside the tarpaulin and is shaking his pickup about. The wind hasn`t died one little bit and we can only hear bits of what is said,, Nick is gonna get his pickup off the bridge and phone the emergency services, I watch him wrap the tarp up and stuff is flying out of his pick up and he heads off the bridge. I`m still hanging on to the front corner and my phone starts ringing,can`t answer it as I can hardly hear it and my hands are a bit busy holding down the front corner. The pull down handle has long since snapped and I`m holding onto the struts and wracking my brains,, what can I use,, what can I use, how can I make that spring into some sort of tie down? Then the wind starts to move the whole van, it lifts just a bit maybe six inches and then it drops again very gently but the wind dosen`t stop and my arms are getting tired,, real tired and my mouth is so dry but I can`t move. I spot the passenger seat belt and I sort of wrap that around the strut but it`s not quite long enough to tie to anything then I spot a large chain and padlock that I lock the steering wheel to the brake pedal with and I`m dragging it towards me with my toe , but it won`t come, it keeps getting caught in the ribs of the cargo mat, bit by bit I get it over. The cab drivers door opens and the highway patrol man is there,, I shout at him "SHUT the effing door" the wind is back inside lifting me again,, " Is your engine still running sir" yes I`m telling him,, "Is this vehicle driveable sir" :x "Will you shut that bloody DOOR" my arms are now throbbing, I have the chain,, he tells me the winds are gusting at 60 to 90 mph and might be an idea if I made a run for it as it`s calmer off the bridge :roll: He shuts the door like he`s closing the door on a brand new range rover and goes back to his Disco, so now my drivers door is flapping about wildly and the van is actually jumping about. I manage to padlock the chain to the end of the seat belt so I can hold the roof down from the drivers seat, I jump in the seat,, I slam the door,, where are my keys, where are my bloody keys ??? I see the indicators are still on from when I landed, the keys are in the ignition,, the tacho tells me the motors still running. I get first with my right hand because I`m still holding the roof down with the chain in my left hand. I`m steering with one hand and holding with the other, I change gear but I can`t remember how, the bus is like a bucking bronco now and we`re up to about twenty five or so and the brightly coloured Disco is following at a safe distance and we hit the slip road and the wind dies a bit and a bit more,, I pass Nick who`s walking back hand over hand on the handrail of the bridge, I couldn`t let him in if I wanted too with everything tied up around door handles and anything that I could get a grip on. Another half a mile or so to get to the lay by and they`re all waiting for me (apart from Nick) Took a long time to roll that first fag with fingers that belonged to someone else that were shaking so much.
Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,Thanks Nick,, I`d have been in the EarlyBay hang gliding team without his help :mrgreen:
Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,Thanks Nick,, I`d have been in the EarlyBay hang gliding team without his help :mrgreen:
