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Likewise I do most of the towing, I was caravanning whilst with my first husband back in the early 80's and learned to tow a caravan then, so he could have a snooze after coming off a night shift whilst we travelled to our campsite destination,

 It was me that introduced my 2nd husband to caravanning when we met over 20 years ago, and I have towed many outfits over the years including heavy 4x4 rigs and large vans over varied terrain and narrow lanes down to CC rallies, although I must admitt that I still dont like reversing them, and tend to use the Mover these days if I need to get into a tight spot!  

We have just returned to caravanning after a ten year break, and now retired, my husband has decided to brush up his towing skills and have a go again, but only on straight open roads, and swiftly hands it back to me if we are approaching any town centres or narrow country lanes down to the campsites.

You go girl, we can do it just as good as the Boys, given a little practice!

It is funny though when you see the look on some blokes faces when its a girl who is manovering the caravan off a muddy pitch at a Rally, and when shes done she then goes over and offers them a hand to get out of the pit they have dug with their revving up and spinning wheels,  It used to happen often when we had the beefy 4x4 and used to caravan all year round, often it was just simpler to pull out the whole rig intact than just hitch up their van to our bracket, and saved me a lot of work as they still stood there shocked as to what to do or say to a lady who had come to rescue them for a change, and often did nothing towards getting their van attached for a pull out of the mud! Its probably a bit easier for me to swallow though due to the fact that I grew up with a farming background, and learned a lot of tricks about towing from an early age, and to be fair to my husband, he does suffer with Arthritis in his knee joints now, so long spells behind the wheel can be quite painfull for him hitched up or otherwise.

Julia

My daughter in law is a driving instructer, and a very good one too ,with the amount of succesful cliants she has after fewer hours than most of her colligues, but no way can she reverse her caravan up her drive.I get a call Sunday afternoons after a weekend away to do it for her.   As there is about 2ft each side,I think she could do it if she tried, but  wants someone to blame if the van hits the wall or the house.

My OH does the towing in our house, don't tell her I admit it but she is pretty damn good at it to, I hate driving and had a go at towing a few years ago but got very agitated and OH took over after an hour as I got very stressed. She loves towing and has towed from The very tip of cornwall right up to scotland and everywhere inbetween. She drives buses and coaches for a living but she is never happier than when the van is on the back. I map read/programme sat nav and open sweets, I know my place! LOL

Message for romany girl -

YES - " Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves"...  !  

With particular reference to the last paragraph of your post, you are now my hero(ine) - & I want to be you !!!   Off to practice towing.....      

Quote: Originally posted by gazmister123 on 26/7/2009

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My OH does the towing in our house, don't tell her I admit it but she is pretty damn good at it to, I hate driving and had a go at towing a few years ago but got very agitated and OH took over after an hour as I got very stressed. She loves towing and has towed from The very tip of cornwall right up to scotland and everywhere inbetween. She drives buses and coaches for a living but she is never happier than when the van is on the back. I map read/programme sat nav and open sweets, I know my place! LOL

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Thanks Gypsydoll, if you think manouvering a caravan is tricky, you should try mooring a river cruiser in tidal waters and high winds, they have no brakes either!

All good fun though, and something i have been learning to do during my ten years off from road caravanning, as they are really just the same to live in except they float, and you still get some strange looks from the Boys!

Julia

Hi!

I am new to caravanning though my husband has done it many years ago. I went on a CC towing course in North Wales and the instructor was brilliant. Not only did I come away confident to tow and reverse, I also know all the finer points about weight, nose weight, packing, hitching, unhitching. At the end of the day and a half I just wanted to rush home, hitch up and hit the road!  I now know much more than my husband and he is quite happy now to sit back and let me take the wheel which I love to do. It means I can have the caravan ready to roll when he drives in from work and so we save a lot of time.

I would recommend any lady to take a CC course.

JR

HI

I use to tow our caravan, but i am a nervous wreck when OH sits next to me and when he sits next to me in the car without the caravan on, i went on my own with my mum and I felt more better with out him and and enjoyed towing it on my own and setting up myself.  

Quote: Originally posted by suzanne1230_1 on 27/7/2009

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HI

I use to tow our caravan, but i am a nervous wreck when OH sits next to me and when he sits next to me in the car without the caravan on, i went on my own with my mum and I felt more better with out him and and enjoyed towing it on my own and setting up myself.  

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The OH has done numerous trips with the van on the back including back from Peterborough to Essex over Easter, she has also towed in France.

She prefers the easy job of the LH seat, but she keeps in practice incase she has to one day, but her view is along the lines of why have a dog and bark yourself.  I'll get back in my kennel now.