Jay and Alice of the Muskoka Foundation and builders of the massive (and impressive) Eco-Roamer came to Overland Training for some custom instruction on recovering and driving such a large vehicle. They both have a lot of experience as overlanders, but the Eco-Roamer, by virtue of its size and weight, presents some unique challenges for overland travel.
Eco-Roamer crossing the water
The custom training we arranged included driving and recovery components as well as terrain evaluation and awareness and vehicle inspection. Duncan Barbour, stuck in town after the Overland Expo due to the Icelandic volcano was a great help in the training and added his extensive heavy truck experience to the mix.
Duncan discusses line selection with Alice
Alice guides the Eco-Roamer through the water
Alice stowing the winch line after a recovery exercise
“Both Alice and I learned a lot, and it was fantastic pushing the EcoRoamer to it’s limits. I think we are now much clearer on the fact that it is not nearly as fragile as we had feared, but clearly a large / heavy vehicle with some substantial limitations,” said Jay after the training.
Maya, perhaps the youngest Overland Training recipiant
You can see the build up of the Eco-Roamer at Expedition Portal. Jay also made a great video of the training and posted it to YouTube. Check it out.
Links:
Muskoka Foundation
Wildtrackers
Expedition Portal
Overland Expo