Guard rail netting - what’s the trick?

[KAL]

Hi all. Bought some guard rail netting to string along the, errrr, guard rails, but finding it difficult to fit.

Seems if you stretch it along the top wire then try to tension it down, there’s not enough give for it to reach the toe-rail, yet, leaving it more loose results in bagging along the top or bottom.

I’d really appreciate some advice from another who has done this successfully.

Many thanks!

 

[colind3782]

Do what I did. Buy plenty of extra netting, watch youtube videos, have a few goes and, eventually, get an acceptable result.

 

[KAL]

Thanks Colind. Looks like it’s not a popular thing to fit, by the lack of responses!

 

[Lodesman77]

You already have the answer - watch a you tube video. For example...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B65D1EZvHo&t=1s

 

[Pye_End]

I lace about 1m along the top, and then 1m along the bottom and pull the bottom tight (I can't lace to a toe rail so have a line along the bottom secured at the stanchions and pushpit/pulpit), and keep going like that till it looks neat at the stanchions, and eventually the other end. If you lace to the toe rail it might be easier to lace to a line first till you get the geography right, then lace to the toe rail afterwards.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I found the best way to deal with netting is to cut it into small sections with a sharp knife, such as a Stanley knife, and then to carefully fold it up and slip it into the marina skip. Looks great in the bottom of the skip and my boat looks much tidier

 

[sailaboutvic]

Hope your is better quality then ours was , it lasted less then a season in the Med sun , won't bother again

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Ensuring that the upper line is properly taut is a good place to start. Most that I see have this lifeline excessively loose.

 

[Dukester52]

I had the sagging issue, so ran a small rope along the foot of the netting as ballast. Worked a treat

 

[PaulRainbow]

Hi all. Bought some guard rail netting to string along the, errrr, guard rails, but finding it difficult to fit.

Seems if you stretch it along the top wire then try to tension it down, there’s not enough give for it to reach the toe-rail, yet, leaving it more loose results in bagging along the top or bottom.

I’d really appreciate some advice from another who has done this successfully.

Many thanks!

On a more serious note........

Mine had the top wire threaded through the netting. The bottom edge had a thin line (about 3 or 4mm) threaded through it, this was then held down to the toe rail with some stainless lacing hooks, screwed to the toe rail.

Like these : http://www.cjmarine.co.uk/lacing-hooks-stainless-steel

 

[John the kiwi]

the secret is to realise that the netting is formed by lots of squares, but they are on the 45 degree diagonal.
This means if you tension from a top fixed point down at 45 degrees to a second fixed point you wont distort the pattern of squares.
The thing is The netting wont stretch (ok, apart from the stretch in the cord) on the diagonal as you are essentially pulling a straight bit of string.
One you have a diagonal in place then its easy to pull out the square corners and then repeat.
Easier to do than explain.

 

[KAL]

Very much appreciated all.

Paul, I hope I won’t need to resort to your 1st suggestion, but it did make us chortle!

Will take advice and muddle through.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Hope your is better quality then ours was , it lasted less then a season in the Med sun , won't bother again

I bought some when I got my boat, never used it, stored it in a bag in a dimly lit workshop and when I looked at it five years later it had gone hard and brittle. Cost a bomb, too.

 

[Ruffles]

I've fitted it quite a few times. (As it's nylon and thin string it really needs to be replaced every 2 years. Though someone posted a while ago that you can get polyester netting)

The trick I found is to buy a big packet of removable cable ties. I start at the cockpit on a stanchion, cable tie to the stanchion and then cable tie along the top wire and the toe rail. Keep going until you have gone past another two stanchions - or have run out of ties or patience. Adjust until it's tight. Then start with two lacing cords; top and bottom. The plastic reels from B&Q are ideal as you can pass the reel through the loop. As you lace remove the ties replacing them on the next section.

The whole process is extremely tedious, takes half a day and is best done with the boat in the water as you're bending over the rail a lot of the time. It's a long way down headfirst.

You'll need a section near the shrouds where you can insert a toe to step aboard. Make an arc from the lacing cord.

Well worth it if you have small children.

When you remove the netting you will forget it's no longer there and lose loads of fenders!

 

[duncan99210]

We've had netting on Rampage for years now (grandkids restraint). The first lit was diamond shaped, the second squares. Both fitted the same way: remove top guard rail, weave the end of the guardrail through the top edge of the netting, tension guardrail, take a piece of 3-4mm line, thread through bottom edge of netting, passing it under stanchion bases as you go. Takes a bit of working out to accommodate stanchions so the top and bottom edges match the stanchions. We also cut holes round the midships cleat and fairlead to allow mooring lines through: we edged the holes with the same line as used to hold the bottom of the netting. The current netting has been in place for four years now in the Med, no signs of uv damage but the cheap line we used died after 18 months and had to be replaced.