Install of Safety Netting on Lifelines

[2d Wind]

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere, but numerous searches here and elsewhere haven't turned it up.

We've installed safety netting on our lifelines (for dog purposes) from the bow through just before the cockpit with no problems, using a thin line wrapped around top lifeline and aluminum toe rail.

We are now stuck with how/if to install it along the lines that come up and down (clip/unclip?) for entry purposes along either side of the cockpit. On the one hand, this seems like one the areas we might most need it in place, but on the other hand, if we can't take the lines down, we won't be able to get the dogs (or my parents for that matter) on to the boat to begin with. Anyone have any experience / thoughts on this?

Many thanks!

 

[John]

If I can remember, I'll take a photo of how I did it, but basically I used zip locks for the upper and middle line - attached to the pelican hook and just attached the bottom.

 

[chp]

I did the same as John. Just used tie wraps on the pelican latch and loose tie wraps on the stern rail to slide the net down.

 

[MitchM]

make the area of the entry gate a separate piece of netting . imagine a rectangle of netting A B C D fastened to stanchions S on rt and left: on the top of the stanchions are rope loops. on the netting points A and B there are small carabiners. (you can find very good small carabiners at moosejaw.com or REI.com a lot cheaper than the boating supply stores...)

S A........B..S
S................S
S................S
S C..........D S


put 2 carabiners or snaplinks at netting corners A and B to attach to the uppermost part of the rt and left stanchions that border the entry way. you can fashion a loop of rope on the top of e ach stanchions into which the carabiner/snaplinks will hook. with snaplinks you can attach and detach the gate from the contact points A and B and let the netting rectangle fall to the deck to step over to g et off the boat... on our boat, to keep the aussie from greeting all on the dock , we have the netting gate bordered with sunbrella to match the suncovers, and the smallest size mountain climbing carabiners attach the A B corners to the stanchions... the sunbrella borders make it easy to roll up the netting to step over it , and look nice.

fair winds, calm dogs to you all.

 

[njsail]

I just installed netting last week. My last boat I did the wrap a rope around the lifeline route and it's a pain. The rope constantly twists. Last week I took the top lifeline off and weaved it through the netting. It went on simple. Just make sure it's a uniform tightness on the net so it hangs to the same distance (roughly) to the toe rail. I used a thin rope on the bottom to go from stanchion to stanchion while weaving the rope through the bottom of the netting. By making it tight it works great. We have 2 dogs and it works great. Keep the lowest lifeline on the outside so if the dog pushes on the net the lifeline would provide resistance to the pressure. Good luck. It goes up quick if you use this technique.

my opinion: Don't use the plastic ties because they degrade in UV and pop off at the most inopportune times. They also have sharp edges if you cut the remainder of the tie off. It would always catch me at the wrong time. That was the last time I used ties (on my last boat) for life line netting.

 

[2d Wind]

Thanks

Appreciate the information. Will try to implement and will report back.