Bob in front of his current camper: a Renault Trafic that he has converted himself. Pictures by Richard Wainwright (00659542)

ACCORDING to one of his mates, Bob Vincent – aka Island musician Jersey Bob – is a vanarchist.

He is one of a growing number of Islanders who spend their weekends, and sometimes longer, living in the back of a home-made home on wheels. ‘I think everyone should do it,’ he says. ‘We should all be vanarchists.’

But before middle Jersey’s God-fearing throngs start reaching for their pitchforks, there is nothing to fear. Bob and his ilk are more likely to be parked up having a brew and enjoying a good chinwag about music or surfing than plotting the next popular uprising.

Bob has been a vanarchist for several years and once was the man behind the wheel of the Ambience ex-ambulance.

His passion for the itinerant lifestyle was sparked on a trip to New Zealand – which is also where he became known as Jersey Bob. He lived in a bus that he helped to convert with a friend and toured the islands playing music.

When he got back to Jersey, he decided it was time to get himself a van and enlisted the help of his father, Mick, who was a chippy for more than 50 years. ‘We did out my dad’s old Daihatsu work van,’ he says. ‘I bought a table from the auction for a fiver and put little oak beams in the roof.

‘My dad did all of the work and I was only allowed to watch. That’s how I picked up the skills. It was because of him that I started. I had the ideas and he did the work. He left all his tools to me when he died and I managed to get onto a two-year course at Highlands. I am learning how to use all the proper old school tools.’

The love of hand working wood runs in the family. Bob’s uncle has a house in France and has tackled the renovation project without a power tool in sight.

Bob and his dad converted two vans into bespoke campers. One was the old ambulance which he decided should have a French feel inside.

‘It was a bit or a nightmare and a labour of love,’ he recalls. ‘I had to replace the floor and everything. When I sold it, I lost quite a lot of money. I try and do a different design with each of them. They are kind of bespoke with their own character.’

Since those early days, Bob has fitted out many vans for friends and himself. Some have been lined in tongue and groove or with MDF and he has fitted bench seats in many of them and even fitted a little coffee bar for four people to sit round.

Bob’s latest van project is called the Folk Buzz (www.myspace.com/the folkbuzz), which began its life as a minibus at Mont à l’Abbé school. ‘It is basically an acoustic music venue with a stage in the back,’ he explains. ‘I have done about four events in it. We had around 22 people in it, including Deputy Daniel Wimberley.

‘There were so many pubs shutting down that I thought I would get my own venue. The only difference is we only sell tea and cakes. We have had some busy nights. I have played at Anne Port and we did one night at Beauport. It is all completely acoustic. The stage is big enough for a solo or maybe two artists.

‘The great thing about it being acoustic is that as soon as you walk a little bit away, you cannot hear it. There is a festival in Guernsey which is interested in me taking it over.’
Bob’s current van is a Renault Trafic.

‘It was an empty shell when I got it. I bought a second hand table at the auction. I have got a little sofa-bed in it, two stools and a sitting area where you can fit six people that drops down into a bed.

‘It is really rustic with a cooker that folds away. It is very spacious and I have got everything I need. You lose so much space in a professional camper to stuff that you don’t really need.

‘I have even got a nice thick red carpet in there which I got from a house clearance.
‘It has got a few dings in it, but mechanically it is the best one I have ever had. I drove to Italy at Christmas and then Barcelona. It was great.’

The Renault is currently for sale, if anyone wants to contact Bob via his website.
Bob added: ‘My little nephew saw it and said I was like a snail that carried his home with him. It is not much bigger that driving a car, but you can pull up, make a cup of tea and read the papers. It is nice to be able to park up wherever you want.’

Bob’s favourite vantage points for a brew are Saie harbour, Les Platons and Grosnez. Basically, he likes anywhere that does not have what he calls ‘Dandara views’.

‘After a while you forget you are in a van,’ he says. ‘You shut the curtains and it just feels like home.’

As for the future, Bob is now considering kitting out campers for people who want one with that very personal touch and oodles of character. ‘I have not set a business up, but I would like to,’ he adds. ‘So far, I have just done it for friends. If I did have a business, I would call it Van Sweet Van.’

Bob can be contacted on 07797 775124.