Need some help stabilizing a bimini top
John-Any chance you can start a separate thread so I can continue to
receive responses under the original title? Thanks! JR, my boat doesn't have as many attach point options as your boat.
if there was a nearby fixture or railing for an easy brace point, I'd
use it. I'm going to have to add something. Jim, when deployed (with further bracing action from the forward
straps) the oscillating is cut down somewhat, but it is still pretty
hard on the windshield. Wayne, the dealer's service department is proving to be fairly
marginal. They had a lot of trouble getting the 20 hour service and a
very simple warranty punch list right. I don't know that I'd trust
them with this issue, either as advisors or as implementers. |
Aug 13
|
| >But I'm sure they have a lot of appeal to the floating Winnebago crowd. That's just my summer job. :-) |
Wayne.B
Aug 15
|
|
Just so you know I am consistent, I have no use for wheel-based RV
condos, either. |
HK
Aug 15
|
| Well, we sort of agree on that one. Conceptually I can see the
potential appeal, but the reality looks quite different, at least in
south Florida. Almost all of the RV parks that I see are so jammed
that they look like parking lots, very unappealing for the most part.
There are a few exceptions but not that many. The difference between rolling and floating is that the "wheel RVs"
are highly restricted in where they can park. Not true on a
liveaboard boat although there are those who would like fewer
anchorages. |
Wayne.B
Aug 15
|
| The bimini in the picture (your boat?) is not designed to be stowed in
an upright position. So instead of two hard attach points on each
side, there is only the center point, with the tension provided by
four adjustable straps, probably counteracting the lateral forces. When I put a lot of pressure on the front straps (bimini deployed), it
does cut down on the oscillating quite a bit. Not entirely to my
satisfaction, but much better than when the bimini is stowed. Another
two straps leading to the back would probably cut it further still,
but that's not a desirable solution. Too much docking, swimming and
water sports from that part of the boat to want another pair of
straps. |
Aug 14
|
| Probably the best choice. Just need to do it neatly. |
Aug 14
|
| My top snaps to the top of the windshield and has a zippered door at the
walk through. Only have straps to the back. About the back edge of the top
is the distance back.
The 2nd from the left in the lower pictures is the type top.
http://www.northriverboats.com/seahawk_21.html |
CalifBill
Aug 14
|
| For fishing a center console I still prefer a large T-top. What's the point if you can't walk a fish around the boat? |
Wayne.B
Aug 14
|
| Maybe it's the camera angle but from the picture it appears that the top
doesn't extend over the chairs. |
D.Duck
Aug 14
|
| Sure it doesn't wobble. It never sees the water. It also looks like it
wasn't constructed very well or it's not installed correctly. |
Dan
Aug 14
|
|
Yes, indeed, that's something I've had to do twice in 50+ years of
saltwater fishing, and its at the top of the list of techniques on 54'
Bertrams, too. I don't like tee-tops. Never have. First, they're always there, even
when you don't want them there, second, they're a constant windage
problem on the water, third, they act like drogues when you're
trailering, fourth, they're a pain in the ass when you're trying to put
on a full boat cover, fifth, they increase rocking motion on smaller
boats, and so forth and so on. But I'm sure they have a lot of appeal to the floating Winnebago crowd. |
HK
Aug 15
|
| It does look that way, but it's not as pronounced when on board.
Besides, I have the seats pushed way back for access to the center console. |
HK
Aug 15
|
| I thought CC always used T Tops so you can easily walk around the boat
following the fish. Doesn't a bimini negate the benefit of having a CC? |
Reginald
Aug 15
|
|
Check this out: http://www.bimiteetop.com/ Eisboch |
Eisboch
Aug 15
|
| Interesting idea, but I wonder if it is rigid enough for a tee-top.
Those tubes look pretty thin. |
HK
Aug 15
|
| The write-up claims that unlike a regular bimini, the tee-top can be left up
for high speed running (tested to 68 mph). Downside is you can't stand on
it (comparing it to a hard top).
Tubing is available in either aluminum or stainless. Eisboch |
Eisboch
Aug 15
|
| Check out the first two photos on this page ... Shows the bimiteetop
installed on your boat.(Click to enlarge)... Eisboch |
Eisboch
Aug 15
|
| Forgot the link ... http://www.bimiteetop.com/photos.html# Eisboch |
Eisboch
Aug 15
|
| As I said, it is an interesting idea...but not one that interests me.
My new boat has a 6' long perfectly flat deck forward of the center
console for flyfishing, which is all the room I need. No need to "walk
around the boat" chasing a bonefish, because, well, we don't have any
bonefish up here. If I want to liveline or troll or bottom fish, I can
do that from the stern without having to "walk" a fish around the boat.
It's not a technique that occurs around here that often. Most fish can
be controlled from the stern and released near the stern. If I feel like
sightfishing or casting, I can do that from the front of the boat. The bimini is there simply to fend off the sun on those really hot sunny
days when we're drift fishing or anchored. Most of the time it will be
folded flat, out of the way. Like you and a couple of others here, I've had a lot of experience in
boats and with a wide variety of boats. What I want in a small fishing
boat has evolved over these many years. This time around, I wanted a
smallish but deep vee center console, high quality but minimalist in
features (stuff I don't need that requires maintenance). There are a
kazillion boat dealers within 50 miles of where I am right now, so my
choices were virtually unlimited. I picked the boat I did for a lot of
reasons, all based upon what *I* wanted, as opposed to what to what some
boat manufacturers think I need or, ever sillier, what some of the
landlocked "boaters" here read somewhere. Oh...I cut a 2-1/4" hole in a non-structural part of my Parker to
install an accessory. The circle I cut out is 7/16" thick, and consists
of gelcoat and layer after layer of glass cloth and resin. No filler, no
balsa, no foam, no crap. Gelcoat on the outside where you can see it,
and on the inside, where you can't see it unless you cut a hole. |
HK
Aug 15
|
|
I like the Norwegian fishing boat at the bottom center. Great lines. |
HK
Aug 15
|
| I hear you, and a Parker is indeed a well built boat. I just wasn't sure if
you were aware of other options for the bimini. BTW though ... I may be wrong, but if your intention is to use the forward
section of the boat for fly-fishing ... isn't the bimini installed
backwards? Seems to me it should fold up aft, rather than forward, leaving
the area forward of the console clear. The way the braces are set up in
your installation, I think it's designed to fold forward. Just a thought. Eisboch |
Eisboch
Aug 15
|
| It folds flat and rests on the small forward deck. It has a cover. It
won't be in my way; I went flyfishing a few weeks ago with a fellow who
has the same set up. |
HK
Aug 15
|
| Thank you, I will. Content and secure in the knowledge that the Lateral
Brace is the ONLY (read O-N-L-Y) thing stabilizing the frame laterally.
"It serves to prevent the Bimini Frame from occillating side to side,
and banging against the Arch."
JR
here's hoping your boy is on top of everything. JimH wrote:
|
JR
Aug 13
|
| There's nothing that says it will be easy. Get creative and add a hard |
JR
Aug 13
|
| Move your attachment points to the boat and off the windshield. You may
have enough height with you currrent frame to do that. Keep in mind that
you don't need it to be much taller than 6'6" from the boat floor inside.
The longer the frame the more it will sway. "rbstern" <rbstern@aol.com> wrote in message |
jamesgangnc
Aug 14
|
| As long as you are prepared to pay for it yourself, I'd just find a
good boat canvas shop then and let them take care of it. They'll know
how to fix it but it may be a do over. |
Wayne.B
Aug 14
|
|
This sort of bimini doesn't wobble because it is properly supported. http://tinyurl.com/3bqs5d |
HK
Aug 14
|
| Bottom of page: |
JR
Aug 13
|
| We have a 20 foot runabout and I installed the bimini myself. I attached
the bimini frame to the gunnel area outside of the windshield. I then
attached rubber spacers between the frame and the vertical fiberglass area
running under the windshield to the gunnel. Anchor points for the fore and
aft straps are attached to that same fiberglass area running under the
windshield. I still get some sway in the frame (when not up or not deployed) but at
least it is not flexing the windshield as in your case. As and easy fix you may want to put the bimini up (deployed) when running as
the forward and aft securement straps will stop the sway (at least it does
in our case.). If you want I can post link to a pic of our setup. |
JimH
Aug 13
|
| Not relevant as I am sure he does not have a radar arch on his 22 foot
bowrider. |
JimH
Aug 13
|
| --Vic |
Vic
Aug 13
|
| Your frame is partially attached to the radar arch. The arch also prevents
significant sway of the frame. ;-) |
JimH
Aug 13
|
| The Arch does nothing to prevent sway, except get in the way. The
attachments of the frame to the Arch do not affect it's stability, pro
or con. Vic is right.
JR
|
JR
Aug 13
|
| Your frame is inside the confines of your radar arch. It certainly does
add to the stability of the frame and prevents radical sway. Enjoy the evening JR. I am waiting for a phone call from my son on Parris
Island. |
JimH
Aug 13
|
| It needs more bracing, attached to something solid. I'd make an issue
out of it with the dealer before the windshield frame breaks or is
distorted. Any good boat canvas shop should be able to give you a
quote on what is required. |
Wayne.B
Aug 13
|
| JR, since you built your own bimini frame, how did you get the width
correct when bending the tubing?
If I had a length of tubing and needed two bends, such as a bimini
frame, and I need a height of 49" and width of 88" and the tubing was of
appropriate length, where would I start the 90d bends? John |
Midlant
Aug 13
|
