New here and soon, new to everywhere!

[SJ Fish Whisperer]

I have recently closed up my Kayak Fishing business and plan to build out a Skoolie. I am from the Cape May, NJ area and plan to travel wherever the fishing is good in my Skoolie that I will name; "My Island".



I came across this forum in my never ending Skoolie research and there seems to be many folks in here lending a helping hand. I want to get the basics right from the get go and a resource like this is invaluable. Thank you in advance to everyone that took the time to be helpful. I'm sure I'll learn a lot here.

[rossvtaylor]

Welcome! And what a cool place to live. I was fortunate to have been able to make quite a few work trips to Cape May and I really enjoyed those. Good for you!

And, yes, this is the place to be for some good help. There are folks here with true expertise in just about any facet of a build...from engine electronics to air conditioning to real-world energy systems to whatever. I think you'll find it much more helpful than the social media groups.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

welcome.
what type of bus are you dreaming/thinking of.?
throw a bus in the picture and the ones that have or have had that style or specific bus type can and will give you the pros and cons so you can have some food for thought before making the leap.
once again welcome.

[SJ Fish Whisperer]

Thank you both.


I am thinking a 5 window Skoolie or Shuttle bus size??? I have made up a few blueprints and would like to be as close to L15' x W7.5' as I can. I am 6'3" and want to insulate the floors so I have that problem too. I've heard a "Collins?" is a taller bus? I'll be towing my 4 kayak trailer everywhere I go so the smaller the footprint the better I guess.



The 7.3 Power Stroke seems to be in demand. I'm thinking these might be a bit of a unicorn these days since I'm so late to the movement.



Like everyone else, I'm watching videos and picking up some great tips from folks on YouTube. I'm reading a lot on this forum and appreciate those that take the time to share what they have learned along the way.

[Dbacks2k4]

Originally Posted by SJ Fish Whisperer

The 7.3 Power Stroke seems to be in demand. I'm thinking these might be a bit of a unicorn these days since I'm so late to the movement.

The 7.3 is pretty commonly found yet. Just a heads up the 7.3 power stroke on Ford cutaway chassis is slightly different from the 7.3 T444e found in international buses. They share a common design and several parts but not *all* parts so when doing repairs a little due diligence is required.