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CS bimini?


JeffM

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I've been meditating a bimini for the Beatrice Ann.  I'd like to be able to get out of sun, as well as rain.  i've considered half-a-dozen cockamamie schemes to accomplish this, but have reluctantly decided I'd be unlikely to come up with an improved wheel.  Don't know how to manage it, nor how much it would clutter the aft deck when folded, nor how badly it would affect sailing characteristics.  I know Duckworks carries the parts.  As far as i've searched, only Terri Dunn has one.  Does anyone know anything specific?

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I thought about the aft bimini, but abandoned it because of similar concerns about interference with ease of sailing. Also, my sails are pretty low, so I wouldn't have much room to work with anyway. Instead, I've adopted the broad-brimmed hat idea, and have also learned to choose tacks that, whenever possible, keep me in the shadow of the sails, where it is substantially cooler than in the direct Georgia sun.

If I were going to mount something, I would probably explore the Mantis Portable Shade idea since it would be positionable, collapsible, stowable, and generally less intrusive than a full/true bimini. But they seem awfully expensive, so I would probably try to make my own. Who knows where that might lead...

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....Instead, I've adopted the broad-brimmed hat idea, and have also learned to choose tacks that, whenever possible, keep me in the shadow of the sails, where it is substantially cooler than in the direct Georgia sun.....

That certainly brings up a  good point though.  In afternoon if on a tack where sun is coming over windward deck,  if sun angle is low enough a Bimini might well do no better than the sails.  IE Sitting on windward deck would likely still expose you to plenty of sun if angle was such that Bimini proved useless.

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Assuming that I can actually install my bimini as planned, I can't imagine sailing with it up.  Unless you had a pretty good sized window in it, you'd lose the ability to see the sails.  I just don't think I'd ever do that.

I'd only use mine for apres-sail activities.  When I've been sailing all day in the sun, it's mighty nice to be able to sit in the shade and relax.  Also, assuming that I can get the enclosure side panels installed and working, it will be nice for some privacy.  When boat-camping on a busy beach, it's nice to have a private place to change clothes and clean up.  I had one of these on my Potter 15 and loved it.  Below is a photo of Tetra in the 2009 Texas 200 giving me a little piece of privacy among 50 other boats.  Hopefully I can make this work on the Lapwing.

post-0-129497639507_thumb.jpg

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IE Sitting on windward deck would likely still expose you to plenty of sun if angle was such that Bimini proved useless.

Ray, I had the same thought. That's why IF I was going to install one, I'd probably go with a Mantis Shade and put a bracket on each side. Then you could position the shade on either side of the boat, depending on your tack, and get full shade in any position. But even then, it would only be useful if you were on a long tack... I wouldn't want to be moving a shade back and forth all the time on short tacks. And did I mention that they are expensive?  :)

John, that's a neat idea. I can see why that would be useful/desirable when at anchor or on the beach. If I ever get around to making a spray dodger, I was thinking I would just make a zip-on tent body to cover the aft section for the same reasons: privacy, bug protection, etc.

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I have a bimini for my CS 20 that I rarely use. It is nice for drifting around the local reservoir on a hot day. It was nice to have some shade in the boat at the end of the day on the 2008 Texas 200. I did not like sailing with the bimini up on the 200. I had this vision of the wind catching the bimini and turning the boat over.

My masts are 22'. I think my Bimimi is 32" high, 5' long. Perhaps 6' long, I don't remember for sure. I think I got it from Overtons. The Mizzen clears the bimini. There is seated headroom. It gets in the way a bit when folded back but not too bad. If you look close you can see the bimini in my avatar.

It has hung in my garage for the past two  years.

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I went up to look the "Loon" a 15 foot Bay River Skiff that Tom built.  It is featured on the B&B site in the Baja Cruise article.   It has receptacles around the boat that can be used to hold about anything but John uses it to hold umbrellas.  He just moves the umbrellas around as needed.  In fact I think there is a picture of the umbrella in the article.

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I've played around with umbrellas at various times, in the interest of having the shade where I want it and in the smallest possible package.  Never figured out how to make it stay where I wanted it, and in any kind of wind it blowes inside-out pretty easily.  Something like that Mantis thingy is an idea worth having, though.

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Here's something different.

The smallest one of these might work? http://www.ronstan.com/marine/range.asp?RnID=272

Video of a big version: http://www.ronstan.com/info/airarch_video.asp

Or conceptually, making a tarp that accepts a few tent-poles that fit in to oarlocks to provide an arch might be one direction to go in.

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Actually, Jeff, I found a video of the mantis shade product that makes it appear like they might be a good investment after all. Much more fully featured and positionable than I realized, and built with top-notch materials, which means the $180 - 220 price tag I usually see may not be so outrageous as I first thought.

Here's a link to a demo video on YouTube:

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