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LarryW · 06-04-2012, 08:33

CATATUDE

Very expensive, about 30K altogether. I had it done by Beachcomber Fiberglass, in Stuart, FL. They may still have the molfd. It is 14' 6" X 11'. It is fiberglass with 1" of foam coring. As you can see I had 2 Hatches molded in. they deflect the wind down into the cockpit while at anchor. I am including pictures of the tarveller.

LarryW · 06-04-2012, 09:06

I ran out of picture space. I also had to move the boom up 22" ,and cou the sail. the picture of the top of the sail shows the results. cut for the top I lost about 4 sq ft. The one picture shows the back rest they made, I mad the starboard part. I got that from the new helm seatwe have, made by Pompanette, in Pompano Beach, FL

Larry

**Cotemar** · 06-04-2012, 17:14

KOKOMO,

Great pictures and what detail. You must have been dreaming about this hardtop for a while to get all the piece to fit together so well. Hats off to you on this one, just amazing.

**Cotemar** · 29-05-2012, 05:58

Mahe's,

Here is a look at the finished hard top over the cockpit and helm.
My previous post has the cost and details.

Bimini

Things that stand out with this new hardtop.
1) No canvas flapping noise on windy days
2) Cooler cockpit
3) Dryer in the cockpit, because of larger covered area
4) Chartplotter and gages are much easier to read without the sun beating on them
5) Traveler mainsheet does not rub canvas anymore
6) No maintenance

Mark

DtM · 30-05-2012, 18:36

Great job.

Well done.

Mowzer · 21-08-2012, 20:50

Hi there,

I'm planning on making a sun shade for the back of our cockpit area and looking for solutions on how to attach it under the bimini. We have pre-evolution hull #110 with the soft bimini attached with lacing to the frame. When we were last at the boat I measured up, took lots of pictures and made a model out of an old sheet and I was thinking of attaching a shade just under the bimini edge with Velcro or snap tabs around the lacing. The shade would unroll and then be tied off to the aft lifelines to stop it flopping around - not planning to use it underway, only when at anchor or dock.

Has anyone done anything similar and if so, how did you attach? Can you post pictures?

Thanks,
Catherine.

Jef & Marin, Netherlands · 22-08-2012, 03:04

Catherine,
We have used velcro on the top and bottom of the FP bimini. It is used to attach a piece of rigging leather over the rear/port corner of the bimini. It protects the bimini against chafe from the main sheets. This works well, so I guess you can sew blue or black velcro to the top of the bimini to attach a sunshade. Advantage is that mounting can be fast. Disadvantage is that in strong winds it might detach.

We are already setting up the sewing machine to make a sunshade on the port side of the bimini. We have purchased sunshade cloth, and we have also ordered and received a zipper to mount to the zipper of the bimini. I just checked: it fits perfectly.
It is a 1.90 meter blue block zipper from YKK from their marine series. It took a long time to order it, but it was not too expensive, 18 euro.
The sunshade will have nylon hooks on the bottom side, to attach it to the guard rail. We also want to add straps to attach it to the deck immediately outside the portside bimini support leg.
Exactly how we will make this (so that it fits nicely on the guard rail AND straight down) we'll find out when making it.

The zipper of course consists of two halves. Interesting is that you can use the other half on the starboard side.......

When we have finished, we'll post with pictures.

**Cotemar** · 22-08-2012, 05:06

Mowzer,

We have a hard top now, so will have to install bolt rope channel.
When we had a canvas top we used shear curtain panels.

IKEA white shear curtain panels with loop tops. Just cut the loops on top and tie them to the canvas lashing. The wind goes through them but mutes out the sun and you can still see through them. They are cheap also.

Gives your Mahe that Arabian look.

MATILDA Pair of curtains - IKEA

MKB53 · 22-08-2012, 14:53

Hi Catherine

We have had shades made up that use the existing zips in the soft bimini and attach to the rails/staunchions with elastic and hooks. I don't have any pictures so will have to take some before I can load them up.

The side covers are canvas which also keeps the rain out of the cockpit. As they attach to the rails there is a nice gap for breeze to get through and are low enough to keep a low sun out. The port shade must project forward down the side deck.

The aft corners and rear panel are a mesh which is cooler than canvas and allows you to see out.

We are very happy with the setup except around the helm which is not to my satisfaction yet. I will see if I have any photos that illustrate it.

Cheers
Martin

Mowzer · 22-08-2012, 20:53

Thanks all for the great ideas and I look forward to seeing more pictures.

I'd thought about trying to use the zipper but wasn't sure I'd find a good match. Any sources in the U.S. or Canada and do you know what size or model number it is? We'll be heading for Annapolis in October so I can always try to find a match there. I was going to use sunshade fabric but I quite like the idea of the "Arabian curtains" as a cheap but stylish alternative.

My goal is to get the shade made and take to the boat with us in November and then do any final tweaking on the fit. I'll post pictures when I'm done too.

MKB53 · 22-08-2012, 21:34

I found a couple of photos that show the aft shades. Also 2 that show the side shade but they are not very good in terms of describing the implementation.

The fact that they stretch out to the guardrail works well in terms of general space, shade and airflow.

I went to a trimmer who had no trouble matching up the standard zippers. The one corner piece has 2 short zippers which actually works well.

The centre shade hooks onto the guard rail at the base as well.
They all have to be removed when sailing.

Cheers

Mowzer · 23-08-2012, 06:12

If I do end up finding a zipper the right size, which side is the zipper stop at the aft of the Bimini and is it one zip across the back or more? Want to make sure I install it the right way around and that doesn't show in any of the pics I took.

MKB53 · 27-08-2012, 23:08

Mark (Cotemar)

I am looking at my Bimini again as I want to mount some flexible solar panels.
The "obvious" change seems to be to expose the center walkway and gel coat it.

Am I correct in understanding that with your Bimini mod you only used the Azek panels on the sides and helm station roof? The center walkway was just gelcoated? Did you need to build it up to improve the curvature?

I had a quick look at mine and thought that a little bit of Bog and some Gelcoat should make it look quite respectable.

Can you please confirm what you did to the centre walkway panel and if you would do anything differently with hindsight?

I am thinking that I will take the centre out of the canvas bimini and attach each side with a bolt rope. That should be easy and I can then think about a hard top on the rest. I have already fitted a S/S rubbing strip for the mainsheet.

Regards
Martin