Bimini

It was hot hot day in early August, and we on our way to our favourite anchorage for the weekend. We were sailing downwind with essentially zero apparent wind, baking in the hot sun. It was so hot that it was pretty much unbearable. When my wife asked to go home, I really didn't feel like arguing; it was hot. On the way back, we mused about a bimini. I priced them out from the local suppliers and all were in the thousands of dollars. "Forget that; I can do this myself", I thought. So I bought some sunbrella fabric, some stainless tubing, a sewing machine and a "Sewing for dummies" book. As it sat in a big pile in the den, I thought to myself "what have I done!". In the end, I'm pretty happy with the result. It's big , 6 feet front to back and 8 feet wide, the aft end being nearly flush with the pushpit, the forward end just clearing the boom. It's also solid. Rather than using nylon webbing to hold it in place, there are fore and aft supports to the deck on each side, and a third support to the pushpit. If you fall against it, it's not going anywhere. It's a standard three hoop design, slit to fit around the backstay. One day at anchor, we found the sun bearing down on us in the late afternoon, the rays and the heat sneaking in underneath the bimini. So I added some zippers on three sides to attach some large see-thru shades. The material is also Sunbrella, and is said to stop 98% of the UV while also allowing you to see through and allow a bit of breeze through. Here we see that visibility really is quite good; you don't feel like you're in a closet. From the outside though, it's nearly opaque, so you get a good bit of privacy. Not seen here are zippers sewn to the leading edges of the side panels. This allows a side panel to be attached to another side panel, making for a double-long panel on one side, if that's what the sun calls for. There's also a long zipper on the front edge of the bimini, to attach a long horizontal panel that run forward almost to the mast. It's pretty pleasant on a hot summer day.