Mahe 36: Bimini

[Cotemar]

This Bimini is nice. This is What they put on the Charter Mahe 36's boats in BVI. It just clears the boom.

Its a Custom Bimini - Oversized fixed aluminum frame w/ cockpit light.
They charge $8,750

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[Mahe-Mahe]

Wow, that looks better than the factory ones I have seen. I like the increased coverage. Do you know the manufacturer? I want to make sure it is the one I have installed. Thanks for the pics!

[Cotemar]

I agree this is the kind of Bimini I would go for. These two Mahe 36's are in Road Reef Marina (Tortola BVI)just west of Road Town. It must be a local fabrication, because the boats were delivered with no Bimini's. I will be there on 1-2-08, so maybe I can inquire and take some close up pictures to get the real details.

[jean1146]

Very nice bimini.Mine is about he same.you can go back in thr thread and look at it.we also have AC on the boat,one 9000 BTU starboard side and a 12000 BTU on port side .3.5KW Gen in the starboard engine room.it gets a little noisy in the starboard cabin.By the way my bimini opens over the helm so you can stand up for better visibility.it also overlaps the salon roof by 2' so you can stay dry on windy rainy days.JC.

[Cotemar]

Jean1146,
What # thread shows your Bimini?

[jean1146]

cotemar you can see my bimini on thread 6, 7 and 8. I also have an LED light above the table,white and red for night vision.I also have six rod holders so my fishing poles are always ready.....it is a nice set up but kind expensive.on the top I have a 24" wide fiberglass top so I can furl and zip the sail. JC.

[Cotemar]

Jean1146,

That is a nice Bimini and it opens to stand. How sweet is that.
Is yours an aluminum frame or SS?
Was it more or less expensive than the (Tortola BVI)Mahe 36 bimini's at $8,750 ?

[jean1146]

Cotemar mine is all aluminum.it was more expensive,about $10,000.it was worth every penny.

[LarryW]

Hi All

I have waited for some ideas for cover for the helm, on boats like mine with the factory bimini. But havn't see any. So I guess I will be the first.

Larry

[Kipper]

I didn't like the factory bimini for the Mahe so I ordered my boat without it and planned to install one when I got the boat to the States.

I'm now trying to decide what type of bimini to install, soft or hard.

I like the idea of a hard bimini I could move the traveler up and clean the cockpit up a little but I’m concerned about weight and of course it would require a little more thought and engineering to make sure the structure was strong enough and rigid enough to take the traveler loads.

Has anyone installed a hard top and moved the traveler up on a catamaran, any suggestions or advice?

I haven't done it, but do have a few things for you to consider.

First, you're right about the design of the Mahe 36 factory bimini. Canvas on top with FRP under SOME places. It seems custom designed to encourage crew to step off of the hard parts and fall through the canvas.

A hard dodger wouldn't weigh that much if carefully designed, but moving the traveler up there will add greatly to the strength requirements and weight. If you do go that route, don't move the traveler very far forward, if any. You'll increase sheeting loads which are already high on this boat.

I suspect that you would end up with a seperate structure of stainless tubing to carry the traveler loads, similar to what Hunter does with their current large boats.

Bill

[freetime]

Do a search for mahe 36 on this forum, if i remember right it was one thread with just mahe and bimini.

[DtM]

The Mahe 36 bimini. Now there is a large part of our life !!!

The factory bimini is way too low and you will belt your head on it constantly. The hard centre with canvas edges is however a good compromise. Overall, in my opinion the factory bimini is more of a liability than an asset and FP should put a lot more thought into it. Surely they are getting only bad reviews from their dealers.

Our eventual solution was to use the factory structure parts and extend the whole thing up by about a foot. We added side curtains and it is now great and even I do not belt my head every five minutes.

We probably need to take a small wedge out of the leach of the main to prevent the boom from being able to come down to touch the bimini and we are going to make a wire topping lift to guard against accidental damage.

The methodology of using the factory parts and modifying would be way too expensive to do normally but our broker wore the cost !!!!!!

I will try to get some photos up but I am hopeless at this sort of stuff.

daniel

[Cotemar]

Jef,
You may want to consider and enclosure also.
Here is a unique setup I found posted.
Mark

[jean1146]

Scott.
I have a custom Bimini on our boat,when my traveler is hard to port or starboard,it rubs at some point,but this not a problem.My helm can be open or completly coverd with me sitting in the shade,if you go back in the thread I have pictures. About the davits,I have the factory ones,it is all tubular,I haven't had any problems with them.My batteries are still holding after almost 2 years now,wondering how much longer? Over all we are very satisfied with our boat.
JC.