Wednesday, April 29, 2015

To Go To Bimini, You Need a Bimini

Figure 79 - Pius (aka Paul Newman) and Dr. Bill under the improvised bimini
One of the great benefits of our Yacht Club is that we have members who are talented in just about any aspect of old boat maintenance and repair.  One of these is a guy called Rob.  Rob is the brother of Andy who brought the Beast to life.  Rob's gifts are in canvass, especially covers and biminis.

Last year, just prior to our Fall Down the Bay Cruise, I built a very sturdy homemade bimini made of extra thick walled PVC pipes, a powerboat bimini canvas and stainless nuts and bolts.  It did the job for the trip but made the Constance Marie look like a malnourished floating duck.


Fast forward to earlier this year.  After meeting and negotiating price with Rob in determining whether we should design a 5,6 or 7 foot bimini and what color, I re-directed my efforts to other maintenance issues.  Rob delivered a masterpiece. See for yourself.



Figures 80 -  86

There are several features of this custom bimini that I love.  First, it covers the entire cockpit, second it fits like a glove accommodating my 6.2" height (even with my cap on), third it has a stainless steel crossbars with snap link requiring no fore and aft support straps, fourth, it has quick release pins in the aft support when folding it up, fifth, it has a large see through panel to view the tell tails and windvane and sixth, it has a very cool zippered cover when rolled up.