Bimini Project

Posted By: Jim I, 94 S25 'H2O', Wilmington, NC
Date: 4/14/09 7:33a.m.

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Morning All, This was the first project of the “semi-custom” canvas work we completed on H2O. We also did a new dodger, stack pack, and railing cushions that I will post later. I need to finish so we can have our dining room back! I say “we” because I could not have completed the work without the help and guidance of my wife Heather. She started the major sewing, provided an extra set of hands and the re-taught me how to sew. (All of this just a few weeks after she had major jaw surgery!) I say “semi’custom” because we did not make everything from scratch. I found it much simpler and more economical to take pre made components and then modify them into the finished product I wanted. The section on sewing canvas in Don Casey’s sailboat maintenance book was a big help. I highly recommend this book. I’ll put in as much detail as I can but feel free to post some specific questions and I’ll do my best to answer them. To date we have finished the bimini and redid the dodger, are in the process of finishing a stackpack, lifeline covers, winch covers, backrest for helm and stern rail seats and a flagpole cover. Hope to do a pedestal cover and some pockets in the near future. We made sure we bought the actual Sunbrella brand this time. The sail cover we made when we got the boat was made from “sunbrella” off eBay and it was not the real thing and did not retain its color. Cliff Notes version: We made our own canvas and despite a bunch of setbacks and frustrations, are very happy with the results!!! For details, read on. It was pretty labor intensive but it got better as the machine broke in and I got used to it. I had to take some furlough days because of the economy so I had time to include plenty of details. Here is the final fitting prior to removing the straps: Bimini The first step was scouring all the previous posts and websites to see various forms of canvas work on sailboats and Seawards in particular. Chances are I looked at your boat and stole ideas from it…Thanks! I then hitched a ride on John T’s brand new 26RK last season and got a lot of ideas from his boat. I went about finding parts and pieces to make it all happen. Biggest goal was to provide shade for my kids to make a day on the water more enjoyable at a price I could afford. I wanted a custom fitted, stainless steel bow bimini with Captain’s Navy Sunbrella, a window to see the sails/wind indicator and no straps, matching fixed dodger and a stackpack sail cover. Another fine example of my champagne taste on a beer budget. I did not want to use aluminum and to buy and bend all the SS bows and fittings would be expensive and I did not want to risk kinking the SS. Sailrite sells a bow kit but it is pricy as well. I then came across a complete Westland bimini kit that could be ordered in SS on www.go2marine.com on and end of season deal. I could choose the Sunbrella color I wanted and ordered a 36” high kit that was 72” long and 85”-90” wide. This is slightly taller than a stock Seaward bimini but a foot longer and a bit wider. I got this size because I am making stern rail seats and want to have shade over them. I also figured I could cut it down slightly to fit. The bows were formed and then cut into two hockey stick sections with a crowned center section to ship (Sailrite does the same method). They attach together with internal sleeves. The top comes in genuine Sunbrella with stitched bow pockets and a boot. One surprise was that the ends and fittings on the bows came riveted in place. Once I drilled out the rivets, I discovered the end cap fittings were threaded so I ordered a bunch of SS set screws for them so I could adjust the locations. I ended up cutting off around 4 inches from the ends of the main bow and adjusting the fittings to approximately the stock locations. (Use a pipe/tubing cutter, it leaves a much smoother edges than a hacksaw) I mounted it to a piece of plywood in my shop and messed with the setup. I decided to reverse the mounting of the bimini to place the main bow over the stern vs. forward on the stock setup. This will allow me to mount rear braces that attach to the main bow and fold it back. I then ordered a bunch of stainless steel fittings from www.Marinepartdepot.com. The reason I needed extra parts was to convert the bimini to a strapless bimini and to mount it to the handrail. This consisted of cross struts and rear braces similar to Robin’s setup. I also purchased fittings to make the stern rail seats and to convert our dodger to a fixed frame dodger (that comes later). First attempt did not work becuase the top was too wide. I decided to remove 10” out of the center of the bows. I was able to do this because of the way the center section is connected to the ends with a sleeve. I removed 5” from the ends of each curved center bow and then drilled new holes to attach them to the sleeves. I used the hammer rivets again plus some SS screws. This made the top of the bows a foot wider that the attachment points on the rails and still maintained a nice curved shape. I was going to need a bunch of sewing done for the bimini, dodger, sail cover, etc. I realized this was going to get expensive and I was designing as I went so having someone else do the work would not be a very smooth process. I then began a search for a walking foot sewing machine. Another chance to reinforce one of my mottos: “To do a project, buy a tool!” I purchased a Camper’s Tent Maker off eBay from a guy in Norfolk who sells clones of a Sailrite Machine. I then purchased needles and supplies from Sailrite. They sell seam stick (a kind of double sided tape for Sunbrella) and this stuff made the sewing possible because it allows you to sew without pinning the pieces together. I purchased the rest of the supplies from www.perfectfit.com. I got YKK Vislon zippers to allow me to zip the top on and off of the bows. This website had much lower prices on upholstery supplies. They also sell pearl gray split leather to make chafing patches, thread, Sunbrella etc. I was happy with the size of the bimini (until later) so I just used a seam ripper to open the bow pockets. We then sewed 96” long YKK zippers to the inside edge of the end pockets and made a new 30” zippered pocket for the center bow. We fit tested the top on the frame. I picked up some 7/8” SS tubing locally to make the braces. Horizontal braces hold the bimini open and taut and the rear set attach the main bow to the side rails to hold the bimini up. Check out the strapless bimini section on www.geminicanvas.com. They have a really cool hinged strut but I decided against it due to cost and I will be using the bimini up most of the time. If you are going to remove it or fold it back a lot, it is an option worth installing. I went with a side mount setup with a one piece horizontal strut. The side mounts work well and allow you to mount the horizontal strut without interference with the center bow. The rear braces are 7/8” SS mounted to the rail with removable mounts. The bimini rests on these struts when folded back. The backstay has to be unhooked to fold it back anyway so we stitched a patch of chafe leather to both sides and slpit it with an “X” to pass the backstay through instead of a backstay zipper. I figure we can unhook the backstay, unhook the side braces, and fold the top back to rest on the rear braces in short order. I will need to modify the boot though because it no longer fits after the modifications to the bows. 303 fabric spray was applied to make it water repellent. A little 303 protectant on the zippers helps them operate better but you can’t get one 303 product on the other. We then took it to the boat to mark the locations of the window as well as the location for the backstay. We have another zipper for the forward end that we can use to add a section between the bimini and the dodger. A chafe strip of leather stitched on Sunbrella backing is attached to the forward end of the bimini to prevent wear from the boom. Lazy Jacks and/or the backstay hook will also help keep the boom up slightly. A set of webbing straps help maintain shape and keep the center bow in the highest position possible for headroom as well as tensioning the top. Removing the 10” of bows also allowed the top to cover more of the sides. Heather really liked this setup for when the sun is coming in on an angle or when the rain is coming down. The downside is the side flaps obscure vision when standing and, well they can flap. I did not want to cut out and redo 96” long zippers and the boss liked the flaps. Solution was to create a clip system similar to biminiclips that can be purchased online. ¾” PVC pipe was cut with a hacksaw to create a channel lengthwise. The rough edges were sanded and covered in Sunbrella fabric using 3M 77 spray adhesive. A length of ½” PVC pipe is used when you want to “roll up” the sides. The ¾” PVC pipe is then clipped over top. This holds the sides up out of the way until needed. When the sides are rolled down, the ¾” PVC pipe is used to clip it to the 7/8” SS horizontal strut and a slight twist tensions the fabric. This keeps the flaps from flapping and hopefully will direct the rain over the side. The Sunbrella dresses them up and makes them barely noticeable when they are rolled up because they blend with the top. Not necessary but they look good and do add some friction to holding the material tight. I made a couple smaller ones to cover the screws on the bows to prevent wear on the top as well. The wind indicator window is made out of Strataglass as well with a cover that velcros from underneath. Jim