Bimini Top and curtians for 40.5

[Bill Roosa]

Hey everybody
Been working on a new bimini for my boat. I promised a BOM to several of you and here are the picts. Unfrotunatly the curves on the ends are not something I can fugure out how to relate without a template. If you need one I can generate them and mail to you. email is william-roosa@us.army.mil

 

[Rick D]

Bill:

Bill, the US is lucky to have you! I'll post a bimini story of my own.

 

[Bill Roosa]

AWH shucks Rick, (looks down and moves some dirt with toe of shoe) just want to do my part and live the dream.

I began the deconstruction last week to get the various shapes/curves. Have the material (Jocky Red!!!! and water PROOF sumbrella!!!!) in hand and have begun to cut. It actually looks like most of the sewing is pretty easy. Only one seam that has to get rolled up compleatly to get it through the throat of the sewng machine.

 

[PrincessoftheLake]

Bill-
:wow: I am in awe. Thanks for posting this and I will email you for more details.

Just curious, what kind of machine are you using and what glass are you using for the windows?

POTL

 

[Bill Roosa]

I am a member of SWEAT (Society of Workers Engaged in Ancient Trades) so all the tough stuff (leather and 4x thicknesses) are hand sewn. We have a standard home machine and most of the seams are easily doable on them.
The plastic for the windows is 20 gage for the curtians and 40 gauge for the skylights. Available at sailrite. We tried the 30 gauge for windows and it is pretty stiff in the cooler mornings. Had to wait till the sun warmed them up to roll up the curtians. The 20 gauge is much less prone to cracking when cold. The skylights don't get rolled and do have to put up with 100% sun so thicker lasts longer.

 

[Bill Jones]

To make you feel even better about the bimini... about four years ago, I priced a new custom bimimi, dodger with some changes. I was going with a more traditional dodger and lowering the bimini four inches. The estimate.............. $7,000.00!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bill Roosa]

Just an update on the DIY bimini project. Some questions I've been asked;
Can you do this with a standard sewing machine? Yes mostly. You may have to adjust the thread tension to get both sides of the seam to come out looking right. There is a big issue with the throat of the machine being too small to take the rolled up portion though it. Most of the seams are along the edges so that has not proven to be a big issue. I had to hand sew the secondary bail pockets (in the center of the bimini and could not get the rolled up portion through the throat of the machine), the windows (the plastic window material was too thick for the machine to handle), and the leather chafe patch (feed foot would not drag the leather through). The hardest part to date has been the attaching the forward and aft bail pockets to the bimini top. There are 3 curved pieces which all get sewn on with one seam. One of them is a reverse curvature to make it hang down. Getting/keeping everything lined up, fighting with the huge bimini top piece and running out of bobbin thread all conspired to make this fairly stressful for the wife and I. Luckily we smoke and drink beer.
How critical is the compound curve at the binini forward and aft bails? I copied the curve from the old bimini we had but I'm thinking that this is not as critical as I once believed as even with our admittedly amateur attempt the bimini fit fine.

We fitted the new Jockey Red bimini to the boat this weekend to get the exact location for the backstay slots and I'm glad I did. The old dimensions where off by about 4 inches. This may have been due to the fact that we had the mast un-stepped/stepped this winter. Still scratching my head on this one.
A have to admit it did look real snazzy against the rest of the marina boats. They all have the standard bright blue bimini/dodgers. Sticks out like a tader on a fork, which was what we were looking for as we are embracing a red, white, and blue theme.

 

[Rick D]

Boy, does that bring back memories! Sailrite Kits used to be near me in Venice, CA. We're talking 40 years ago plus. Anyhow, being broke a lot, I made a tiller cover, pop-top cover and sail cover for my Thunderbird. Looked darn good and fit better than all my neighbors'. However, it took me months to get the nerve to start cutting.

Later, now married, my wife and I decided to try making a dodger for our O'Day 27. Now that was a serious project! The hardest part was sewing in the windows and the leather chafe protection. The windows had to have some basting on them or they would pucker something fierce while feeding it. There was a LOT of stress in that project; tough on newly married ones like us!