My husband and I just bought a Hunter 23 and were thinking about purchasing a Bimini and Furling system for it. Would like to here some feed back on the pro's and con's. If anybody could recommend a manufacturer or a model for either one it would be appreciated.
Hunter 23 Bimini and Furling system pro's and con's
- Thread starter pinky
- Start date
We have a bimini. It works great in keeping the sun off the cockpit. It does, however, make moving around the boat somewhat difficult. Very little headroom. We have a CDI FF2 and love it. Makes deploying and retrieving the jib a snap. I highly recommend both. I don't have dimensions for the bimini, though. Enjoy your boat!
Sure do. Works great. Two things to keep in mind. Be sure and get as much mud off the anchor as you can before storing it. I couldn't understand the big deal about mud on the anchor since it was out of site and just an anchor. Big mistake. The mud clogs up the drain and makes freezing even worse than it normally is. So now I dunk the anchor as much as it takes before putting it away. The other thing to keep in mind is that the hose will break when it freezes. Check it regularly and replace as needed.
thanks for the info i think we will get both i just asked about the well be cause of the well doors opening and haveing room for the furling drum.if there was a prob i was going to bolt a steel plate to the forstay mounting bracket and extend it up thu the doors for the well and buy shorter forstay to get the furling sys up high enough.
Pinky;
If you can add stainless steel straps or tangs to extend the furling drum above the anchor lid, it will be easier to use. That will mean a revision of the forestay of course. If you plan to order the furler yourself using the FF2 CDI, there is a way to safely unroll that extrusion unless you have a sail shop or rigger do that for you. I will be glad to call if you want me to for advice. Simply send me an email with phone number and location so I will not call you late or early. Once done that information is deleted. I use to be a former dealer.
If you can add stainless steel straps or tangs to extend the furling drum above the anchor lid, it will be easier to use. That will mean a revision of the forestay of course. If you plan to order the furler yourself using the FF2 CDI, there is a way to safely unroll that extrusion unless you have a sail shop or rigger do that for you. I will be glad to call if you want me to for advice. Simply send me an email with phone number and location so I will not call you late or early. Once done that information is deleted. I use to be a former dealer.
My 23 has an older Harken furler, which is fine. It does have stainless straps that extend the drum above the deck level (I can't see how any furler could possibly be used without these on a 23). My key problem now is that the new jib halyard I bought has a rather long splice (maybe 2 inches) and it binds in the sheave, making it some what tough to get enough tension. I have some issues with halyard wrap now. I don't want to tackle re-splicing this type of braided line, and the supplier says it can't be re-spliced as the line gets stiff after it has been used - I did not know that.
My wife and I have a Hunter 23 and we got a Bimini 3 years ago. I am very fair skinned and burn EASILY during the afternoon hours. The bimini is a must have for me! The Hunter 23 boom is rather low, so the bimini is not terribly tall, doesn't help that I'm 6'2" and you can only sit while under it. I also had to move the main sheet cunningham block about 4" forward on the boom to fit the bimini while open. All in all, the Hunter 23 is a small sailboat, and with the bimini open, if you have 4 or more people crawling around the boat, it's tight, but if everybody is agile, it's worth the effort. I bought mine from sailboatowners, it was around $300 bucks, as I recall, money well spent, IMHO.
