Bow nets

I bought some regular dyneema SK75 and at a fisheries-supply- shop a 'netting needle'....

(I removed this image because unfortunately it is not possible anymore to show a small picture made by someone else on your hobby blog without running the risk of getting harrassed by claim-hyena-lawfirms for 'copyright infringment')

.... to knot my own bow nets.

I extended the nets a bit by using the all purpose-eye on the float to support the net. 

Knotting the nets was good fun. I use the nets to store fenders, to attach the front mooring-line, and as some extra security while moving on the boat. Plus my children and wife like to use them to hang out while sailing in calm conditions.

floating hull scrubber

After my last post I dit some work on the boat and the trailer but my Phone with the pictures crashed. I will make some pictures of the trailer shortly and put them on my blog.

In the meantime:

My anti  fouling is not up to the task of keeping the bottem clean enough. As an alternative to getting the boat out of the water and on stands to clean the bottom (can't do it on the trailer because I made the 'farrier-style' fitting tub on the trailer so most of the bottom is not in reach while on the trailer) I made a 'floating scrubber' with some pvc pipe, wood and a piece of doormat. 

I didn't try to build it to last a long time, only to see if this idea would work.

The idea is the bend stick allows you to reach the whole bottom with the scrubber, while the buoyancy provides enough force to effectively scrub the bottom.

I used the scrubber while sitting in a small inflatable boat and it worked quite well. The scrubber was a bit too bouyant; I'll make another version with a bit smaller piece of PVC pipe and that will probably become my scrubber for the coming years.

Unfortunately it didn't get all of the fouling off, which was not a big surprise. The boat has been in salt water for over two years now. End of season I will get the boat out, do a very thorough cleaning and anti-fouling. After that I will use the scrubber as an extra to keep the bottom tidy.

Next post: bow nets.