Wildest Dreams

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined how much work it is to put up a tarp this size.  I heavily under estimated the time to install.  I figured it would take the better part of a day.  One neighbour though a few hours, the other a couple of days.  Well, today has been 3-1/2 and I still have more to go.

It was very clear after the second day that the nylon rope was not going to cut it.  A piece that I had used to tie the edge of the tarp to the main cable, so the tarp would not slide down and bunch up on the cable – snapped.  I then started having problems with the ropes starting to fray as I was clamping to them to use the come-a-long to apply tension.  So yesterday I switch to galvanized aircraft cable.  I am using 1/8″, 3/16″, and 1/4″ depending on the length needed and what was available at the store.  Yesterday saw the 4 attachment points at the front finished.  Today I lowered the main overhead cable so I could repair that side edge restraint and then got to work on the back side of the tarp just after lunch.  After 5 hours I managed to rig one attachment point and prep for the second.  Now it was a significant attachment point that goes clear across my neighbours yard to a tree.  It is a 120ft run and I used the 1/4″ for this so I could really tension it.

Tomorrow I will run the second attachment point at the other side of the back end to about 80ft away to a tall cedar and again use the 1/4″.  This should leave just a minor middle of edge point that I will attach to the apply tree just to maintain height and prevent flapping.  Then I will need to retention the one near the street cam as the tarp shifted when I lowered the main line this morning. Hopefully by noon all will be complete and I will have this installation behind me.  I will also need to replace the cable to the shed cam that was damaged today when I raised up the back edge of the tarp.

One of the building inspectors (the one that I encountered with the security fence ordeal) drove slowly by today and had a good look.  Hopefully the fact that they did not stop and get out is a sign that they have nothing to say on the subject.  I certainly have not seen any rule or policy preventing this type of installation but then who knows.

I will try to remember to take a photo of the finished install tomorrow because the vastness of them overwhelms the web cams field of view.

Thanks for visiting.