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Wooden Bimini for Spindrift


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Since I use my little Spindrift for motoring and rowing in addition to sailing, I decided to design and build a bimini sunshade using some of the leftover spruce and plywood from the Spindrift project. I had a typical stainless steel tube bimini on a previous boat, but I though the wood would look nice on this boat.

 

The configuration is very standard for a bimini top- two arches of similar size, and a shorter middle arch to rise in the center of the cover. The one additional element of this top is that I placed hinges at each top corner so that the entire bimini could be folded to a compact size. I've never seen one with that design before since they're usually stowed in-place, but with the multi use Spindrift I want it to be removed easily.

 

Here's the Bimini deployed in the workshop but before varnishing. The attachment lines are temporary until I get better line. There is only one attachment point at the bow with a single clip. I think this will be sufficient since the boat doesn't go very fast, even with the motor. At the stern I clip to the stern u-bolts that are part of the original build.

 

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A view from below:

 

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Here's some of the mechanism I designed and fabricated from brass. It needs polishing and a few extra brass screws and hardware. The primary bracket attaches to the gunwale through to holes I drilled long ago, about a foot in front of the oarlocks.

 

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When stowed, the bimini leaves plenty of room to operate the motor. It would have to be removed to row when it's stowed, but when deployed it leaves plenty of room to row.

 

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The whole package will fold up and fit in a bag. It's pretty lightweight as well, since it's mostly spruce sticks. I can't say it will be as durable as stainless steel, but I'll try to be gentle with it.

 

I made the top from Sunbrella and stiched it with a standard household sewing machine. I was concerned it would be to heavy of material for the machine to handle but it worked just fine. I haven't used a sewing machine in years, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. I may need to add a couple of straps at the center arch, but even if I don't it will still work just fine.

 

I can't wait to varnish it and put it on the water for a test ride. It's been hot and sunny this week!

 

 

 

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I got the first coat of varnish on the struts and with the unusually tropical weather we're having here in California, I'll just have to expect North Carolina summer drying times. Normally the first thinned out coat is dry to the touch in a couple of hours. Not today with this humidity!

 

Since the bimini top hinge bolts tend to stick out dangerously, I found got some rounded off cap nuts today that should prevent snags and injuries. I fabricated all the hinges from leftover brass bar stock I had. It looks really good and it easy to machine with the basic tool shop I have. The bench grinder/buffing wheel has been my best investment recently- from rounding off metal edges to polishing small parts.

 

I have a little Sunbrella material left over so I'm thinking about making a bag for the bimini. Unfortunately I'll be traveling this weekend which will slow my progress and also prevent me from putting the boat in the water to test it all out.

 

Rick- The fore hatch is as big as I could fit. It's a quick release- not a screw-on deckplate. It's mostly waterproof, which is waterproof enough. I wanted to have easy access to a small folding anchor and rode, and a couple of other items. It required a minor re-engineering of the forward structure plans to support the loads of the mast while sailing upwind, but I think it's as strong or maybe even stronger than the original design, and distributes the loads from the mast collar and my Laser rig. There's quite a bit of a load while sailing close hauled- you need to induce a bit of mast bend to get the proper sail shape with a full size Laser sail.

 

Speaking of sailing, I have made provisions for a hiking strap but I haven't gotten around to it yet. The last time we sailed it, we had about 12 knots of wind and it wished we had them. Has anyone else installed hiking straps in their Spindrift?

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