Ready for the mast

Point Roberts Marina, Washington state. Just waiting for the mast. It was put on by a cherry picker from the dock above. It was the first multihull mast they installed and it was a little hairy because they were not used to the width on the boat and were concerned about reaching that far out. All went fine in the end.

You may notice an SS wire running from the main hull bow to the float bows. I installed netting here. The whole area between the floats and the main hull, from the bows to the leading edge of the wing deck was netting. I used a double knot cargo net material for the nets. The hole between the weave was about one inch. This area became the most popular place to lay in and to watch the water and fish. BIG MISTAKE! 

There was no problem the first few years. On the summer of the fourth year this stuff had been installed, Susan was washing the deck and went out on the net to get the brush she had put there. She never made it. Halfway out, she went through the net. I am so very lucky we were at the dock when this happened. A little help from a neighbor we got her out. Ruined her day.

When I bought the netting, I was told it had a 10-year UV protection on it. 10 years where? In the Arctic? Sure not here and most definitely not in the South. Whenever you buy anything that may be important to your safety now or in the future, test it. Try to find someone else who has bought the same and find out their experience with the product. 

I have the same netting on the stern areas as well. They are much smaller nets and do not get used as much. The only time they are stood on is to raise the dinghy over the roller on the rear wing deck.

I should have known better. Most catamarans use webbing for their nets. One-inch or even two-inch black webbing, woven in a basket weave and fastened securely on all four sides. There must be a reason for that. There is. It is the only stuff that has any sort of history of lasting when exposed to the sun on a continuous basis. I now have to install four new webbing nets on the boat.