Written by Mia:

We decided early on that we wanted to install netting to the sides of Itchy Foot to help keep things and us from falling overboard.

So, we did a little research and a little shopping and Mia’s first exterior boat project was born… I watched a how-to video (they tried to make it look simple in the video by having a woman install it – HA don’t think we didn’t notice Sailrite!) and then full of vim and vigour I got started. The internet said it would take the better part of a day to install it.

I just finished it… on DAY 8!! And I was still pretty proud of myself… when bragging about this to people around me I should have made sure they knew I was looking for a compliment and not criticism 😉 I must admit that might have been a little unclear.

Here’s what I learned:

1. Use shorter bits of string for weaving a long bit of string will get VERY tangled especially when it is 20m long and it is easy to spend more time untangling it than actually weaving it through…
2. Don’t look at your neighbour’s netting because it will make a person crazy when they see that some rails (not yours) are designed to handle this very elegantly…
3. Help from a 5 year old is not always helpful, but we are lucky to have a very patient and self amused son.
4. Learn to tie knots to be independent, Jon tied most of mine when resulted in me making lots of references to Princess Bride which is funny to begin with and then starts to get really old and not very empowering… sorry Robin Wright!
5. To learn to use a Heat Knife. Go me! I am the only member of the crew that has this talent. That makes me indispensable.
6. Learn when to say it is good enough – (learned that one from “Iron and Ink”, the tattoo place on our street in Oslo…) because redoing stuff you thought was already done will make you and “knot boy” crazy!
7. When finishing the last bit of the project make sure you are not alone, patting yourself on the back is hard 😉