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Old 11-09-2016, 11:02   #16
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

Been living in our boat for 11 years in Florida, and now sailing the eastern Caribbean without a bimini. We.have a rear traveler and a low boom. We use some Mantis umbrellas made by Pro-Techt. At anchor we.have a small temporary zip on bimini or we use our awning. Sometimes we wish we had a full enclosure, but we also like being open at night especially sailing in nice weather.
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Old 11-09-2016, 11:14   #17
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

A Bimini is a must have for cruising imho - we have a full enclosure


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Old 11-09-2016, 11:14   #18
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

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I'd put a solar panel over the helm station, then use a boom tent when you're anchored.

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Actually I would probably cover the entire from with solar panels. Basically make a Bimini out of flexible solar panels and leave the back alone.

But then I really like being able to look up at the sails, and I find a lot of crap at the back of the boat to get in the way.
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Old 11-09-2016, 11:41   #19
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

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I couldn't imagine living aboard a boat without a Bimini. But this isn't a unique issue to you, I would contact Dehler about how they have resolved it in the past. But you could put a pretty big Bimini on that boat. Just bring it back to the mainsheet. You will be exposed at the helm, but that is a trivial amount of total time onboard.
I'm guessing that you mean a pretty big dodger. That would certainly work and could cover most of the forward half of the cockpit.


A boom tent would also work while anchored. Clip it to the upper lifeline so you don't feel like you are in a cave.
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Old 11-09-2016, 12:24   #20
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

I will go a bit further than everyone elses 'a Bimini is a must have'.
A mainshhet and/traveler in the cockpit is a must not have.

If they cant get it out of the cockpit you *must* go for another boat.

The cockpit is your lounge room, your guest entertainment room, your sundowner room, your romance room, your get-away room.

There are only 2 communal rooms on a boat, the saloon and the cockpit... And both must be livable in the absolute.


No other cruising boat now has a cockpit floor strwen with toe breaking junk. If Dehler dont think its important I wonder what other cruising necesities they scrap?


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Old 11-09-2016, 12:45   #21
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

Shiva has a traveler for the main on the bridge deck. But she has a very large cockpit.

At anchor we set up a "tent" which takes all of 5 minutes. In the Caribbean it's pretty essential to have sun protection.

Up here in LIS we use portable sun control deviced - unbrellas and some one of designs of my own... Bimini doesn't work for a number of reasons... and as I don't sit out at the helm to drive... I don't broil too much and sit under the protection of the dodger.

I do not like the way biminis look... they are practical for live aboards in summer or in the tropics. We like to look at the sky, cluds and the main.
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Old 11-09-2016, 13:02   #22
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

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I'm guessing that you mean a pretty big dodger. That would certainly work and could cover most of the forward half of the cockpit.


A boom tent would also work while anchored. Clip it to the upper lifeline so you don't feel like you are in a cave.
Dodgers usually don't come back past the bulkhead, or at least not much past it. I mean covering everything from the bulkhead back to the traveler. But then I don't like dodgers, they interfere with air flow.
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Old 11-09-2016, 13:05   #23
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

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I will go a bit further than everyone elses 'a Bimini is a must have'.
A mainshhet and/traveler in the cockpit is a must not have.

If they cant get it out of the cockpit you *must* go for another boat.

The cockpit is your lounge room, your guest entertainment room, your sundowner room, your romance room, your get-away room.

There are only 2 communal rooms on a boat, the saloon and the cockpit... And both must be livable in the absolute.


No other cruising boat now has a cockpit floor strwen with toe breaking junk. If Dehler dont think its important I wonder what other cruising necesities they scrap?


Mark
You couldn't stub your toe in the Dehler 38 traveler without unbolting it and setting it on the deck. The entire track is recessed into the floor.
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Old 11-09-2016, 15:43   #24
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

Bimini? Yes, without question.

And a dodger, too! It keeps the waves sweeping the deck and cabin roof from coming into the cockpit when sailing offshore.
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Old 11-09-2016, 16:13   #25
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

In most places, a dodger which you can fully sit under, rather than just behind, makes much more sense. Though sadly they're rare. But even with such a dodger, it's not a substitute for overhead cockpit protection. Though a bimini doesn't even come close to doing the job of proper awnings. And it doesn't much catch rain well either...
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Old 11-09-2016, 16:46   #26
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

No bimini, no dodger, and proud of it!


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Old 11-09-2016, 16:51   #27
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

What I don't like a biminis is.... sailing with them... you can't really see your mainsail that's kinda crazy... unless you have a window... and then the sun comes through that. They're functional at anchor...for sure... and if they collapse easily maybe that's a kinda have it and don't have it solution.

Dodger does not interfere with vision much at all and can block wind and spray. We have a removable center window so we can get nice air flow as well.

Most solutions are compromises.
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Old 11-09-2016, 16:59   #28
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

Even though I am in favor of biminis generally I don't think that one would work too well on this boat. It would only be about 3ft fore/aft and not offer too much shade at all. so I would go with both a boom tent and a long dodger coming back to the primaries. You would have to mess about a bit with a winch handle to get the clearance right.
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Old 11-09-2016, 19:52   #29
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

An awning is a necessity, bimini is a nice to have addiition. You'll spend way way more time at anchor and keeping the sun off the entire deck is the difference between hot, sweaty, and miserable and being cool and comfortable. An awning for the foredeck is also nice. make or buy really sturdy bows to spread the awning out over the deck from side to side. Have the awning made with strong patches at the corners and anywhere there is a grommet that will take a load. Figure out how to secure the awning in strong, gusty trades. put in through hulls in the awning so you can use it to catch rain. No more schlepping water to the boat or buying and maintaining a water maker if you at where there are passing showers. We had a pup tent like awining for the foredeck that also acted as a windscoop that kept a nice breeze blowing down through the forehatch and cooling the boat if it was swinging to the prevailing winds which it almost always was.

A bimini is a nice to have item but is really for sailing not for keeping the whole boat cool at anchor
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Old 11-09-2016, 20:21   #30
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Re: Thoughts on biminis A necessity?

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkJ View Post
I will go a bit further than everyone elses 'a Bimini is a must have'.
A mainshhet and/traveler in the cockpit is a must not have.

If they cant get it out of the cockpit you *must* go for another boat.

The cockpit is your lounge room, your guest entertainment room, your sundowner room, your romance room, your get-away room.

There are only 2 communal rooms on a boat, the saloon and the cockpit... And both must be livable in the absolute.
That's pretty much what I figured, but I wanted some feedback.



Quote:
No other cruising boat now has a cockpit floor strwen with toe breaking junk. If Dehler dont think its important I wonder what other cruising necesities they scrap?
As someone pointed out, on Dehlers it's recessed into the cockpit floor. Most other boats are similar now. And it's not just Dehler, but also off the top of my head, these yachts all have the traveller going through the cockpit:

Salona
Alerion
Dragonfly
Elan
Beneteau (first series)
X-yachts (performance series)
J-boats

I assume it's better for racing. I'm just curious how hard it is to live with that arrangement as a cruiser.
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