Home made Bimini
- Thread starter Chris Coombs
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make a bimini
You can go to the library in your town and get books on exactly how to design and make a bimini for your boat. I know of two books and there are others. Don Casey has one it is canvas work and sail rapair the other is canvas workers guide by Jim Grant. Each book has a page or two on doing this.
By the way if you are handy at all you can do the whole project. I have both books and used them to get guidlines on sewing canvas and various canvas projects for the boat(s) I have.
You can go to the library in your town and get books on exactly how to design and make a bimini for your boat. I know of two books and there are others. Don Casey has one it is canvas work and sail rapair the other is canvas workers guide by Jim Grant. Each book has a page or two on doing this.
By the way if you are handy at all you can do the whole project. I have both books and used them to get guidlines on sewing canvas and various canvas projects for the boat(s) I have.
You do want to do this
Chris: About 28 years ago, my wife and I were sailing our C-22, on the Chesapeake and were wondering if a bimini would be a good idea. Not all the boats on the bay had them at that time. I built one out of old aluminum tent poles that her dad gave me, as an experiment. We have used it ever since. I do have to say that it does reduce the joy of watching the sails, but it does keep you from getting baked by the sun. If there is ever a question, which is more important, seeing the sails better, or not getting cooked by the summer sun for hours, we always open the bimini. I attached my "bimini cars" to the jib track, because, as I said, this was just an experiment. This made the bimini wider, which is a good thing, because it makes it easier to go forward to the mast or the bow. I have received many favorable comments on the width.
I don't think that there are such things as aluminum tent poles anymore. Mine probably came from a screen dining caming tent. I'm on my second or third nylon top. My first one or two were thin, but the one that I am currently using is much thicker and stronger, and should last a long time. It's about the thickness of a sail bag. I do cover the nylon with a Sunbrella cover when it isn't being used, or it would fade and get weakened and ruined by the sun.
I attached a photo. I circled my bimini with the red circle. It doesn't look good in the photo. The tensioning lines have to be tightened. I think that it rained before I took this photo, which relaxed the lines and the fabric. One thing that you should take note of in the photo is that all of the boats in our fleet have something to shade their cockpits from the sun.
I do recommend that you spend some time and build a bimini, or start saving your petty cash to buy one. I also recommend that you make it wide, so that it makes more shade. The sun isn't always directly overhead. You do want to get the height right too, so that you can sail with the bimini up.
Aldo
Chris: About 28 years ago, my wife and I were sailing our C-22, on the Chesapeake and were wondering if a bimini would be a good idea. Not all the boats on the bay had them at that time. I built one out of old aluminum tent poles that her dad gave me, as an experiment. We have used it ever since. I do have to say that it does reduce the joy of watching the sails, but it does keep you from getting baked by the sun. If there is ever a question, which is more important, seeing the sails better, or not getting cooked by the summer sun for hours, we always open the bimini. I attached my "bimini cars" to the jib track, because, as I said, this was just an experiment. This made the bimini wider, which is a good thing, because it makes it easier to go forward to the mast or the bow. I have received many favorable comments on the width.
I don't think that there are such things as aluminum tent poles anymore. Mine probably came from a screen dining caming tent. I'm on my second or third nylon top. My first one or two were thin, but the one that I am currently using is much thicker and stronger, and should last a long time. It's about the thickness of a sail bag. I do cover the nylon with a Sunbrella cover when it isn't being used, or it would fade and get weakened and ruined by the sun.
I attached a photo. I circled my bimini with the red circle. It doesn't look good in the photo. The tensioning lines have to be tightened. I think that it rained before I took this photo, which relaxed the lines and the fabric. One thing that you should take note of in the photo is that all of the boats in our fleet have something to shade their cockpits from the sun.
I do recommend that you spend some time and build a bimini, or start saving your petty cash to buy one. I also recommend that you make it wide, so that it makes more shade. The sun isn't always directly overhead. You do want to get the height right too, so that you can sail with the bimini up.
Aldo
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