Do you leave your bimini and dodger up in port?

[Sue Moon]

I saw that there was a survey earlier on the forum about having your bimini up/down, and most of the answers seemed to relate to when one is on the boat or in preparation for storms/hurricanes etc.

But I would like to ask what the general opinion is about leaving the bimini and dodger up when you are not on the boat, eg when leaving it for a week/month and also over winter.

Our boat is berthed on the French Mediterranean coast, so pretty mild, but with the occasional storms. Looking round the port, about half the boats leave their biminis and dodgers up all the time; the rest take them down.

We have been taking ours down whenever we leave the boat, but are wondering if it might be better to leave them up, at least during the summer to protect the cockpit decking and nav screen from the sun. (We put the covers on the table, helms, screen etc, but they still get pretty hot.)

I guess this might depend very much on where one is in the world, but would be interested to hear opinions about the pros and cons of leaving them up.

Sue Moon

[skipperpete]

Hi Sue Moon. My boat is at Port Napoleon marina in southern France and I can assure you that very few boats have Bimini’s or awnings up and generally have bare spars..... the Mistral howls through this region with a ferocity that has to be seen to be believed. The Mistral blows for days, sometimes a week or more, is very cold and plucks at any canvas till it’s loose then shreds it. Perhaps where you are the conditions are milder but along the Sète to Marseille Coast it gets very frisky indeed. The last time I was there we had 150 klm/hr but usually it seems to be 70 to 100 KPH
Pete.

[rslifkin]

In my local area, sailors put their biminis, dodgers and sails up at the beginning of the season and only take them down with a good reason.

If you want to leave them up in high winds at the dock, sit on the boat during those winds a few times. That'll give you an idea of how well the bimini handles it. Depending on the design and supports, it may be a concern or it may not blink at 40 kts.

[HeinSdL]

Strongly recommend to remove all when not on board. Besides the occasional mistral blowing through, the UV degradation (esp of the windows in the sprayhood) is not insignificant. While off the boat for a longer period I cover it with a shabby looking cover to try and keep the sun away and the temperature down. Based in Genoa.

[thinwater]

Around here most only come down only for replacement. A few come down if a huricane (rare) is forecast), but not for winter storms. If they can't handle 60-7- knot thunderstorms they won't last anyway.

[Sue Moon]

I should have specified that we are beyond the worst of the mistral, nearer to Antibes, though can still feel it when the wind blows.

But I'm getting the idea that it's best to continue taking them down. The degradation of the windows of the sprayhood is not something we had considered, but point taken. And I like the idea of an old, shabby cover.

Many thanks for all comments so far.

SueM

[BillKny]

It’s all about cost vs. benefit.

There is a significant benefit to taking them down. It’s will make the rather expensive dodger last longer. That seems a good thing.

There is a cost to taking a Bimini/dodger down in terms of effort. much of the boat canvas work we see is extremely poorly designed from this standpoint, and it could take hours to take them down, and then at least as long to put them back up. No matter how hard it is to take down, it seems just a waste of money to leave them up over the winter season, as so many do.

If there are things you want to protect from the sun, that can be done much more cheaply with a sun cover than leaving the dodger up to take the wear.

Our dodger takes about 90 seconds to fold down and put away under it’s own cover. If we are leaving the boat for any significant period of time, we’ll put a canvas sun/weather cover over the helm.

[sail sfbay]

In the San Francisco Bay everyone keeps their dodger up and some even keep their bimini up or collapse their bimini when off the boat. Mine stays up all the time to protect the Seadek synthetic cockpit flooring, instruments and hardware from uv damage, dirt and soot from seasonal fires. It is a lot of work to take them down and we sail regularily so the dodger and bimini are up and ready. Never been a problem in high wind storms.

[Hudson Force]

We kept our bimini up year round as we were living aboard while cruising and at our home dock, but we did take measures to protect it. We snapped a cover over our windscreen when at the dock. We also had a strong bimini frame with fastenings that allowed it to withstand some harsh weather. We also found it important to have fabric sleeves over the stainless tubing next to any clear acrylic windows as the sun-heated metal can damage the windows.

[Ardbeg]

I have dodger and bimini that stay up all year, on hard or in water. I have complete enclosure that stays up all winter and spring. I have faced winds of 50 knots at dock and 35-45 in Gulf of St Lawrence. I have not really noticed wear except a bit of fading over 10 years. No tears. That is one mans experience.

[Cheechako]

A month, two, or more I would remove or fold them up. Mostly because canvas degrades from sun and etc.
My Bimini folded up and had a cover which was nice.
The Dodger didnt

[Gary Matthesen]

I dont have the kinds of long sustained winds you have, but a thunderstorm may give me gusts to 50k. I keep the Bimini up but closed, leave the dodger up...with the front window open and rolled up. Let the excessive wind blow through, rather then fight it. Will take id down though when a tropical storm is predicted.

[Compactorguy]

I would think it depends on where you are cruising or mooring your vessel and how often you are on board

[Sailmonkey]

We only remove our canvas when we’re disassociated from the boat during hurricane season.

We do have covers on the dodger windows and the Bimini has proven to stay put in winds of 65plus knots.

[wingssail]

It depends on the weather possibilities for when you are gone. If you are gone for a period of weeks or months, (or even one week) when high winds are possible, take the Bimini and other "flappable" canvas down. Leave the boat prepared for the worst that can happen. (In addition to bimini, take down furled sails too!).

Even if high winds are not expected, the extended exposure to sunshine is costly on canvas.

So, leaving your boat is tough on the boat. Take the time to prepare it well so that when you come back it doesn't entail a big expense to get recommission everything.