Ventura marlin porch awning/Bailey Senator Vermont

[MagicDee]

Hello anybody, I'm brand new to caravanning and have just purchased a 2006 BAILEY SENATOR VERMONT. Can anyone tell me if a VENTURA MARLIN PORCH AWNING will fit my caravan. Thanks

 

[Mel]

Hi Magic Dee, welcome to the forum. The Marlin needs about 340 cm of straight awning rail and a height of 235-250 cm (according to the website). The easiest thing to do woul be to measure your Bailey. My Guess would be that given the awning size for a full awning for your van is 940cm, then you will probably just about have enough straight rail. I can't comment on the height. However, what you need to work out is if the awning will cross a window or locker. Some people don't find this a problem, but others would prefer it not to.
Mel

 

[Martin24]

The measurements that Mel has given you look pretty good to me. The reason I won't have a porch awning coming down over a window is the potential issue of scratching the window if the awning moves even slightly in the wind. Going across an external locker is only an issue if you want to use it.

 

[MagicDee]

Hi Mel. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply with your advice which is very helpful. I was hoping though, that someone with the same van and awning might confirm that that the awning is a PRACTICAL fit before I buy one.

 

[MagicDee]

Hi Martin. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply with your advice which is very helpful.
Are you saying that the awning WILL cover the window? Do you have the same caravan and awning?
I was hoping that someone with the same van and awning might confirm that that the awning is a PRACTICAL fit before I buy one.

 

[Martin24]

Hi Martin. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply with your advice which is very helpful.
Are you saying that the awning WILL cover the window? Do you have the same caravan and awning?
I was hoping that someone with the same van and awning might confirm that that the awning is a PRACTICAL fit before I buy one.

Not at all, without measuring it yourself, as you say you need an owner to contribute, I was really just following on from what Mel had said and explaining the conditions that might apply from what she said. Have you got the 'van yet? If you have then all you need to do is measure where you want it and if that is happily 340cm along the awning rail you'll be fine. If the height of your van, awning rail to ground is within the parameters of 235-250 cm which it probably would be, all will be well. If it's still at the dealer ask them to measure the height and straight awning rail for you and ask if a 340 straight run will cross any windows or lockers. To be fair the positioning of the 340 straight run is the most important thing to worry about when using a porch awning. When we bought our current van it would have been a deal breaker for us if our porch hadn't fitted exactly where we wanted it to because we're so happy with the awning we have.

Good luck and keep asking, that's what we're all on the forum for, to share and help out the best any of us can.

 

[otherclive]

Having a porch awning avoiding the windows is best if you can achieve that. But I’ve now had three vans where unavoidably the porch awning crossed the front side window as there wasn’t enough clear space between the rear vertical side of the window and the door frame. So I carry a j- cloth and before erecting the awning I wash the window with a generous amount of water and do the same for the awning foam pad. I also use stoppers which fit in the awning rail and stop fore and aft movement.
Only on one van after five years did I see any scratches on the window. These were easily polished out using proprietary polish by Fenwicks.

 

[Craigyoung]

Hi magicdee,
if it's any consolation our porch awning covers half of the rear side window on our van to !

Craig .

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

Hi Martin. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply with your advice which is very helpful.
Are you saying that the awning WILL cover the window? Do you have the same caravan and awning?
I was hoping that someone with the same van and awning might confirm that that the awning is a PRACTICAL fit before I buy one.

Hi MagicDee,

I had a Ventura Marlin porch awning on my Series 5 Senator Indiana, so I can confirm height wise it will fit (as I recall, all series 5 senators were the same height), however it will, fit along the straight top part of the awning rail, on your Vermont & quiet possibly will fit without the awning touching the nearside front window, but it will be tight!

The full, ground to ground, awning length for your Vermont is 940mm, so if you allow 300mm X 2 (the upright height from ground to the top of the awning rail inc the curved front & rear of the awning rail) that leaves you 340mm, so in theory it will fit? however this is my "best guess" & in reality you'd have to find a series 5 Vermont owner who has a Ventura Marlin to confirm, or you could just measure the top of the awning rail from the rear, where the rail becomes straight, to the front, where the rail starts to bend, but as this rail has a more "gentle" curve than the rear, you could always take into account, in your measurements, the first part of the curvature of the rail.

PM me with your email address & I'll send a photo of the Marlin in use fitted to my Indiana, so you can at least see how it looks.

 

[Icaru5]

Hi magicdee,
if it's any consolation our porch awning covers half of the rear side window on our van to !

Craig .

Which Awning did you go for Craig ?

 

[Craigyoung]

We have bought the Kampa ralley pole 390 , when we got the new van , the Isabella that we had for the Orion was just too small and the porch awning we had was even smaller so we got rid of both , compromised and bought an inbetween which is spot on for us .

 

[Icaru5]

We have bought the Kampa ralley pole 390 , when we got the new van , the Isabella that we had for the Orion was just too small and the porch awning we had was even smaller so we got rid of both , compromised and bought an inbetween which is spot on for us .

Thanks Craig. I guess that would make sense. We got the Vango Kalari 420. The left hand side of the awning sits (just !) to the right of the front side window, and the right hand side sits just behind the rear side window. The additional external, small triangular piece of canvas at the top right hand side of the awning does curve around the rear curvature of the awning rail, but this desn’t cause any problems.

I am considering a smaller airbeam porch awning though, for those weekend stays which don’t justify erecting our main awning.