Trampolines

[Gator81]

Thanks for the info, Bryan! I learn a thing or three every time I log onto this forum.

Yes, I'm a UF alum. Looking forward to the basketball game with UCLA in a few days!

[bryanweaver]

Go Gators! '85 college of Engineering

[muskoka]

Great info - thanks!

[bryanweaver]

The link below is for what appears to the be holy grail of tramp netting. Small size net, low stretch, UV resistant...reputed high price (unconfirmed by me). Almost the holy grail.

African Cats: comfortable lightweight performance leisure catamarans

[bryanweaver]

This is a good source for webbing and tools like hot hole punches


John Howard Company-Textile Supplier - Buckles, plastic hardware, thread, cordage, webbing, elastic, nylon fabric, cordura fabric, balistic fabric, hook & loop, hot cutting tools

This is the mill that makes the mesh netting found on Manta, Corsair and other boats.

Fablok Mills Inc. - Home - Knitting, Dyeing & Finishing - Service you Can Count On!

[Roy M]

I have a Searunner 40, using 2" bownets that were built by MARE COMPANY in Marina del Rey, Los Angeles, CA. These are the second set, lasting each about fifteen years. I need to replace them, but am unable to find any mention of MARECO anymore. Does anyone have a suggestion for a San Diego or SoCal source? I don't mind paying the bucks since they are worth every penny when I need to walk on them, and they are especially nice to lay on when the timing is right.

[bryanweaver]

If I were still in business, I would suggest my company, but that is no more.

Try Stark manufacturing in Chula Vista, ask for Steve Heigy (the owner). They used to do some subcontract fabrication for me (Mentor Marine) on tramps.

Welcome!

Or, you could contact one of the people that used to sew for me. Although her speciality is boat covers and awnings, I made her do a fair amount of tramps for me. Advanced Sewing, Sandy Cormack 619-588-7397. During the day she works for a canvas shop.

[Lucky]

I must say being a Cat owner (Belize 43) that needs a new tramp in a year or so I find the contributions by Brian absolutely fantastic, thanks a lot! I wish all the other treads would be so to the point in stead of all the jobbo that doesn't add any value to the discussion

Even if I live in Norway I buy a lot of gear in the US, better prices than over here so I keep a sharp lookout for all useful info I can get.

Again Brian thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.

Happy lead free sailin!

[bryanweaver]

Originally Posted by Lucky

I must say being a Cat owner (Belize 43) that needs a new tramp in a year or so I find the contributions by Brian absolutely fantastic, thanks a lot! I wish all the other treads would be so to the point in stead of all the jobbo that doesn't add any value to the discussion

Even if I live in Norway I buy a lot of gear in the US, better prices than over here so I keep a sharp lookout for all useful info I can get.

Again Brian thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.

Happy lead free sailin!

Why not do a a "rate this thread" using the features of this forum. If nothing else, it will let others know there is something worth reading here. I'm certainly not going to do it since I am not learning anything from this thread.

Bryan

[bryanweaver]

Here is something that seems logical but I don't see ever: putting UV protective covers on the tramps when not using the boat? (I see sunbrella used on everything else, even the stainless steel bbqs and cheap plastic chairs).

Most of the "wear and tear" on a tramp comes from UV degradation, I have a whole pile of old tramps that used to be black and now they are various shades of grey, tan, purple-ish, etc. all because of UV breaking down the nets. The Corsair nets were notorious for this. When dissected, all the materials under flaps or edge material that were protected from the sun are still strong.

Why doesn't anybody cover them up when the boat just sits? It also keeps bird crud off.

FYI, when I was building tramps, I had my critical stitching that held the tramps together all done before I sewed on any of the vinyl border material. My design logic was that the stitching on the border really is nothing more than something to keep the borders in place. The critical stitching was always hidden if possible. Even if the threads that held the border material on disintegrated, the tramps were still 100% full strength. To understand what I mean, take a look at one of the Sunrise tramps, they have a vinyl border about 4" all the way around, I don't know (and I am not going to slam a manufacturer here) if they have critical stitching under the vinyl, or if the stitching that is visible to the sun is what holds the tramp together.

Also, on the topic of tramp construction, I would always have enough material (extra layers of webbing within a stress area for instance) to fill the grommets. If a grommet does not have enough thickness to bite into, it tends to float around and will pull out. Also, if given a choice, use more grommets for a given length of run as the cost of a grommet is nil, while the goal is to better distribute loads. When doing Hobie cats, (those tramps tended to get very rough treatment), the factory had grommets every 5-6" apart, I built everything 2.5-3" apart. The amount of lacing is more, the labor is more, but the end result is better load distribution.

[toewsrus]

We're closing on our catamaran this week and will need to replace the tramps. I've been reading a lot and wanted to get some feedback on our plan.

We'll be doing mostly coastal cruising and have three kids so we decided on a square mesh from sailrite. This should be comfortable and strong.

On the outside we were going to reenforce the mesh with Shelter-Rite. My concern with this is that it's Nylon. Any suggestions?

We'll be using the hot knifes and hot punches to punch and cut everything. The grommets we'll be using are Stainless 3/8" spur and rolled grommets. Should these match the grommet size or one size higher?

We'll tie these off with a 1/4" polyester double brade line. Tieing individual lines from the center of each side to the corner.

The mounting system on the boat is still in good condition so we'll be re-using that again.

We may have to seam the mesh material, What we're planning on using is a double fold and covering it with the Shelter-Rite material. It would look like this:



I hope that made sense. It's basically like interlocking your fingers on each of your hands and trying to pull them apart. Is there a better way to make this seam?

Let me know what you all think, I want to hear all the criticism and ideas before I get started.

Thanks

[maxingout]

We used the square mesh on our Privilege 39 catamaran. Our boat is going on fourteen years old, and we have only had to replace the mesh one time. The mesh is still in good shape.

One caution about this mesh. When you are in heavy seas going to windward, a volcanic eruption of water will come up through the mesh when you bash into a wave. Because the mesh is so strong and the holes are so small, the water hits with mesh with a substantial impact. On an eight hundred mile sail to windward to New Caledonia, we broke about 12 stainless steel eye bolts that anchored the mesh to the hull. The mesh does not give and the stainless steel eyebolts will fail long before any harm comes to the mesh.

I carry a box of stainless steel eyebolts on board just in case we have a windward challenge that is going to destroy eyebolts.

When I was in Australia, they had two different grades of mesh. A finer mesh like the one you are getting to be used in coastal cruising. They also had a mesh with larger holes for catamarans sailing offshore. I saw a catamaran behind Fraser Island in Oz, and it was without both trampolines because it had fine mesh, and the fittings holding the mesh did not stand up to the rough (high speed) offshore sail to the Louisiades.

I have modified the attachment of the mesh tramps to the eye bolts to take some of the strain of the eyebolts. I now use black bunge chord to stretch the trampoline tight, and to give the tramps some movement when the water comes up through tramps in rough seas. I also back up the bunge chord with spectra that isn't very tight in case the bunge fails for some reason. The black bunge has never failed.

Good luck on your tramps.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by colemj

Multihullnets.com recently started selling a new net they call "Offshore". I have a sample of this and it looks like the perfect combination (compromise?) among strength, openess and comfort.

multihullnets, product, open

Mark

That look's to be the same net I used on my tramp's last time.

For 44 ft CC benifit, I got it from a trawler net supplier in Redcliffe . Sorry, it was a while back and no detail's now. But could be purchased by the metre for the right money.

I then took it to a tarp manufacturer and had similar to the attachment in the multinet pic, but without the eyelets.

Instead I had a pocket big enough to slide a 20mm anodised ally tube in and cut scollops out opposite the saddles and attached with multiple wrap's of black VB cord.

The load was spread better with the tube than the eyelet's, I had concerns of the eyelet's pulling out as they had started to creep in version 1 and 2 with Bainbridge cloth.

If doing them again I would not use saddles either.

I would use 15mm PVC tube coved and glassed onto the hull with 2 staggered layers of 440 DB and epoxy. Where an attachment point is required grind out an orange wedge shape and tidy up ith the nose of a belt sander. This is the size you are after and look's very neat and is very strong with no leak's.

A solid glass rod about 5 mm can be fed into the PVC tube to attach the multi wrap VB cord to the Ally tube.

I had used the Baimbridge cloth at the start, It was hopless and did not last long and I actually went through them one night without warning, and no visible sign of breakdown.

Luckily I was at anchor, but I only just managed to get back on board as I was by myself, had no ladder set up and was half pissed.

Pretty scary, in a very sharky area with big current, and the next daw I had planned on going out 200nm and back for something to do.

I had them replaced under "warranty"

When I did a step extension, I made it easier to get aboard.


Protection from the sun.

I had no issues with the black woven trawler net, but had seen people use outdoor acrylic paint, Like Solarblock to paint tramps and edges of furling sail's de-flatable dinghy covers etc.

Dave

[toewsrus]

Maxing out:

I'd like to use the square mesh with a larger hole - say 1/2" instead of 1/4", but I can't find it anywhere.

Multihull nets has some alternatives, but it doesn't look like they sell raw materials

[muskoka]

Bump. And question. I was quoted for a 'Fabloc' net by unnamed 'others' - but I decided upon the Sunrise Offshore 3/8" Open Polyester Net.

The Fabloc was more expensive yet the Offshore seemed to be a more durable net? Am I missing something in the equation?