The last couple of days, in-between the hiking trips with more and less luck (we still have not found the track from Paopao to Vaiare…), we replaced the netting of the railing around Pitufa. Sounds easier than it actually was–in total we spent 3 full working days cutting, attaching, stretching, swearing, undoing, reattaching and tightening the bloody thing.
The old one had started to disintegrate after being exposed to the elements for more than 7 years. The new one covers only the lower half (from the middle lifeline down to the toe rail) which looks more elegant than the old full-height solution. Also, we often had to reattach the old one onto the upper lifeline due to chafing (e.g., from sheets), so this should no longer happen with the lower-half solution. Of course, there is a higher chance of loosing hats and laundry now, but it is still high enough to keep our ships cat Leeloo from slipping over board. Leeloo was suprisingly disinterested in the actual process of replacing her net, but as soon as it was finished she checked it by vigurously bumping her head into it and declared it Leeloo-safety-approved.
