Since the rope is white and our sails are white, I tried to dye the rope a yellow/tan - this will give it more contrast against the white sails and help it match the sisal rope I am already using on the mast. I used 2 packets of yellow dye and half a packet of purple in about 3 gallons of water in a 5 gallon bucket. I weighed it down with concrete block and stirred it around a few time, total soak time was about 15 minutes. It turned out more brown and less yellow than I wanted, if I were to do it again I would use less purple in the mix.
Take a minute to learn the difference between a square knot and a granny knot. The difference is subtle but a square knot will hold and a granny knot will come loose. With the square knot, notice that the red rope always passes over the blue rope. You can also put a blob of white glue on your knots to keep them from coming undone.
My Dollar Tree store had 5x8 inch ovals cut from 1/4 wood. They are marked "Crafter's Square Paint Your Own Wood Shapes", I bought 10 of them. I bought 10-24 x 2 inch machine screws and cut ten 1 1/8" pieces of 1 inch PVC pipe (I had 1 inch pipe laying around, you could use anything from 3/4" PVC to 2" ABS). I marked down the center line of the wood ovals and two marks 2 inches from each end and drilled holes just big enough for the screws, then assembled them and tightened the screws.
Next, I stained them with some MinWax "Golden Oak" wood stain, including the PVC pipe and they are ready to hang from the mast. You can learn from my mistakes, it would have been easier to stain them before putting them together.
I drilled holes in my top crossbeam and tied the pulleys to the beam with a 2 foot piece of rope using a square knot.
Next: a rope ladder for the monkey.
Posted 2/1/10
Updated 5/19/10