New Bimini Advice Needed

I need some opinions and expert advice. I have never commissioned a bimini for a boat before. I have a spray dodger on my E25 and am having a new custom bimini made this week for additional shade next summer and I want to do it right by avoiding pitfalls.

My question is this: Should I have the bimini attach (zip?) to the dodger or leave a space, or have a panel made that can attach one to the other, or be left out to leave a ventilation space? What is the good, bad, and ugly about one vs. the other?

Since I am having new metal bent as well, is there anything I should be aware of insofar and do's and don'ts? Any thoughts to tube thickness, mounting plates, relative strength, attachment considerations, etc.?

I am thinking of being able to fold back the bimini to bungee to the split backstay if I want it mounted yet remain furled. Any thoughts?

Steve Swann
Seahorse

DOn't put fittings on the deck or coamings where you might want to sit when the bimini isn't up. Those hurt when you aren't looking.

I am partial to the units with a zip in panel- they offer the most flexibility.

Just my 0.02
Chris

Things that go "ouch!"

Thanks Chris.

I understand about things that go bump in the cockpit. I have a friend who even went so far as to remove all his cockpit locker hasps and now has lines routed inside that lead down below to secure the lids and there are no protrusions anywhere in his cockpit.

I was thinking a zip-in/out fwd panel between the two might be a good thing, but was just checking to see if this made sense.

Do you think it is advisable to put a small clear patch or two on the rooftop to be able to observe the mainsail? Or at least a small part of it?

Steve

Be carefull with the frame design. The morons who designed and installed the bimini on my boat put it in a place where it interferes with the primary winches. I guess the DPO didn't care. I would have gone balistic. Especially after holes had been drilled.

Dodger and Winch Interference

My dodger already interferes with my primaries. Fortunately, I have a 25' boat so I can tug on a sheet nearly all the way to trim using just my brawn. From this point, I just use the winch handle for a couple of staggered ratchet pulls and I am sheeted trim. No doubt a bigger foresail associated with a larger boat would really become a problem!

Add a skylight

Not sure what an E25 has for indicating wind direction but if you need to look up at the mast fly to see which way the apparent wind is blowing then don't forget to have a 15" square (or so) plastic window skylight cut into the top of the bimini so you can see the top of the mast when the bimini is unfolded and the sails are flying. I had one on my last boat and it also had an extra peice of material that had velcro edges to stick it over the window so sun light couldn't come through. My cureent boat has a guage at the wheel but sometimes I still look up the stick. Old habits are hard to break.

Bob

A Room with a View

Bob,

Thanks, I'll do just what you suggest with the window. I'm not a good enough sailor to sail in the blind. And, it'll be cheaper to do this than to put in a $400-800 electronic wind direction instrument! The sun cover is also an excellent idea.

Steve

more thoughts

I really like the zip-out panel between the dodger & bimini, as well as the "window" for watching the masthead fly. All the suggestions you have recieved are accurate. I would also recommend 1" stainless tubing for the framing. Will look nice for many years and give you something secure to grab and not break when the inevitable "opps" occurs and and you're scrambling for your life!
Enjoy, have fun & sail fast
Bud E34 "Escapade"

One more good bimini idea!

I'm at home this week recovering from some surgery I had last week so I've had a lot of time to think about things on this site. So, I rmembered another great idea that a canvas guy did for us when we owned our other boat, a Hunter 285. It was a "brace bar" that clamped onto the aft rails instead of using straps going to pad eyes. We found ourselves tripping over the straps of the old bimini and told the canvas guy about this and he came up with his brace bar.

I found an old photo of our boat showing the area I'm talking about and I've attached it to this posting. I've also labeled some of the components in the shot to help make it easier to understand. This idea worked so well on our Hunter that we plan to have the same thing done to the old bimini on our "new" Ericson 32.

Bob

Have you thought about if you want your bimini open when you are sailing? The reason I say this is because mine currently was made for at anchor or at dock. It impedes my boom. from swinging.

After all of this I decided I wanted it open when sailing or at least having the ability to make a choice.

I really like the strut idea for eliminating the straps. A few things that I think are esential for the bimini, many have been already mentioned:

1. 1" tubes, anything smaller will end up getting bent when you fall into it or someone uses it to fend off your boat from the dock or you grab it as a last effort from falling overboard...
2. A cover so when it is not in use it can be protected from the UVs. Biminis are not cheap and a cover is the best way to protect them when not in use. I recommend the same for a dodger.
3. The ability to use the bimini when sailing. You wont always be using it for sun protection. It can be nice when its raining too. You also may want sun protection even when there is enough breeze to sail.
3 a. A window to view main trim and/or masthead windex. If you can sail with it up you will want to be able to easily guage trim. A cover to close the window too is important on the hot days spent motoring.
4. A connector panel to go between the dodger if you have one and the bimini. This will give the rest of your cockpit a break from the sun and rain and also your cockpit cushions from the dew at night. Depending on the height of your dodger you may find visibility poor when using the connector. This is the case on my boat so I dont use the connector when navigating in tight quarters. When I replace my dodger I will make it 6" higher.
5. This should be obvious but make sure the bimini and its parts will not interfere with the operation of any part of the boat; helm, engine controls, winches, main sheet, jib sheets, spinnaker sheets, docklines etc.
5 a. Make sure when measuring the height that you do so with the mainsail up and sheeted in hard. The boom end may be lower when this is done and you want to make sure you clear it.

Shady Characters...

Thanks for the additional advice, folks! This is all helping immensely.

The boom on the E25 ends just about at the aft end of my spray dodger. It is foward enough that you only bang your head on the very back of it coming up the companionway ladder and the cockpit is esentially clear of this piece of hardware. I can make the bimini tall, make a zippered side access to get in and out of the cockpit with it up (thanks for the tip, Kim!), and it will furl against the split backstays out of the way when desired (cover and chafe patches needed).

I have printed off some of these pictures to take to the Bimini Boys. My spray dodger already interferes with my winches somewhat. Since my foresails are relatively small, this isn't too much of a problem to winch/ratchet a small amount at a time. I don't quite see how to re-engineering the trailing edges of this dodger to clear the winches better.

I like the idea of the removable panel put between the dodger and bimini. This will allow a sloping upward rise to the bimini for more headroom. Kim Schoedel suggested two zippers on the panel meeting in the middle so I can start one side outward, then the other. I can keep better tension on the cloth and have a way to manage the tautness.

I am also having zippers put all the way around in case I want to later put on camper cover sides and/or insect screens.

Since this is a trailerable boat, all my canvass comes off when the boat is on the trailer.

I grew up in the tropics and have the skin damage to prove it so a bimini is in my near future as well. In looking at other boats I see two different ways to fasten the bimini frame to the boat. The older boats generally have a bimini frame that fits inside the existing aft cockpit railing and fastens to the cockpit sides with fittings similar to a dodger, etc. Some of the newer boats have the bimini frame integrated into the aft cockpit rail so the bimini frame is actually part of and attached to the aft cockpit railing.

To me this is an important distinction. The rail mounted setups, either clamped or actually welded on, look better, feel far more secure, with less fittings, holes, etc. in the fiberglass. Obviously this would cost more money but the difference in quality and the integrated look as opposed to the "tacked on" look may be worth it to you. You can guess which way I am going to go..... RT

Bimini advice

Based on my experience with the Bimini I inherited, here's my recommendations:

1. Be sure to measure height when your boom is at it's lowest point under sail, otherwise you will need to raise the boom to avoid hiting the Bimini, creating unwanted twist in the mainsail.
2. Attach 1" ss tube frame to the stern rail port and starboard sides if possible rather than drilling holes in your coamings or deck. Use the best grade of stainless available for all metal frame components
3. Install a window in the Bimini to check your masthead wind arrow and/or telltales.
4. Have a Bimini boot made to cover it when not in use. It makes for a neater appearance, protects against UV, and prevents wind damage.
5. Have a zip-in filler piece made to fit between the Bimini and dodger to keep the companionway and cockpit drier in wet weather. I have also seen side curtains on some boats.
6. Use Tenara thread or goretex thread used to construct all canvas. It costs more initially, but should eliminate the necessity to restitch later due to UV damage to the thread. My canvas guy charged me $50 recently to restitch the top seam of my mainsail cover.
7. Make sure that sacrificial chafe strips (deerskin or vinyl) are added to leading and trailing edges, as well as points of contact with the frame.
8. All zippers need to be extra heavy duty and designed for easy replacement. Plastic, not metal, oversized zipper pulls.

As you may have surmised, these are all the features my Bimini doesn't have. They add to the cost of the project, but IMHO are well worth it. The Bimini and Dodger are by far the 2 most appreciated features on my boat, followed by roller furling, A/C, windlass, water heater, Northstar GPS.

Vince Benn
"Wild Blue"

Bimini advice

Based on my experience with the Bimini I inherited, here's my recommendations:

1. Be sure to measure height when your boom is at it's lowest point under sail, otherwise you will need to raise the boom to avoid hitting the Bimini, creating unwanted twist in the mainsail.
2. Attach 1" ss tube frame to the stern rail port and starboard sides if possible rather than drilling holes in your coamings or deck. Use the best grade of stainless available for all metal frame components
3. Install a window in the Bimini to check your masthead wind arrow and/or telltales.
4. Have a Bimini boot made to cover it when not in use. It makes for a neater appearance, protects against UV, and prevents wind damage.
5. Have a zip-in filler piece made to fit between the Bimini and dodger to keep the companionway and cockpit drier in wet weather. I have also seen side curtains on some boats.
6. Use Tenara thread or goretex thread used to construct all canvas. It costs more initially, but should eliminate the necessity to restitch later due to UV damage to the thread. My canvas guy charged me $50 recently to restitch the top seam of my mainsail cover.
7. Make sure that sacrificial chafe strips (deerskin or vinyl) are added to leading and trailing edges, as well as points of contact with the frame.
8. All zippers need to be extra heavy duty and designed for easy replacement. Plastic, not metal, oversized zipper pulls.

As you may have surmised, these are all the features my Bimini doesn't have. They add to the cost of the project, but IMHO are well worth it. The Bimini and Dodger are by far the 2 most appreciated features on my boat, followed by roller furling, A/C, windlass, water heater, Northstar GPS.

Vince Benn
"Wild Blue"