Aft Bimini

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dstrecker1
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Aft Bimini

Post by dstrecker1 »

Looking to install an aft bimini. We keep the boat in the New Orleans area. Would appreciate any recommendation on the coverage and any pictures of existing aft bimini. I am also planning on modifying the cockpit bimini by extending it forward and lowering it a bit to provide more shade, especially when traveling into the sun. Has anyone done this?

Dennis & Cindy Strecker
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AMCarter3
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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by AMCarter3 »

Dennis,

We completely replaced our main Bimini with a stronger structure, made it about 4" higher to accommodate taller people and about 12" longer (toward the stern) so it covers the entrance from rain. We felt the original structure was not strong enough in high wind conditions. We added an aft Bimini and put a 280 Watt solar panel on top of it. We did not lower the front of it.

We also just added a carbonate wrap-around front wind shield with a big "smile" window. It extends across the front and wraps about 3' around the sides so people sitting at the helm are protected from wind and rain. (Bear in mind that we live in Bellingham, WA and it can be quite cool/cold and wet in the Spring and Fall... and even sometimes in the summer.) Note we the windshield required adding two vertical stainless support posts in the front to support its weight. As a result, the main Bimini is immensely stronger now.

We are extremely happy with the changes.
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Mac Carter
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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by deising »

Dennis,

If you do a search in the Powercat Forum for Bimini, you will get over 70 hits. Many of them will refer to the Bahamian island, but some will talk about the upper and aft Biminis.

Ours came with the boat and we appreciate its shade. The photo is of the old one showing my failed attempt to attach flexible solar panels to the fabric. The panels failed and the Bimini was then trash. At least you can see the size and shape of ours. I don't even remember what that piece of PVC pipe was supposed to be for.

Diva Di aft Bimini - Copy.jpg
Duane Ising
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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by dstrecker1 »

Thanks for the designs for the aft bimini. I was just out looking at the boat and I don't think I will be able to lower the cockpit bimini as planned. My other thought is to place an additional or extend the bimini about 12" and either at a lower elevation or on a slant in front of the cockpit bimini, similar to the metal visor typical on push boats. When we brought the boat back from Cape Cob we had to plan our trip to minimize running into the afternoon sun. It was brutal running into an afternoon sun for hours at a time.

Dennis & Cindy Strecker
Gemini: 2006 PDQ MV34
Hull #95
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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by AlanH »

We have a fairly low bridge to go under to get out of our neighborhood and we occasionally have to lower the bimini as a result. That is enough work that we had our bimini lowered about 5 inches. It looks fine and protects from the sun a little more. I would attach a picture but it keeps telling me the file is to large. I even converted to a much smaller file and get the same file to large response.

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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by deising »

Dennis,

There have been many times when I moved from the seat to a shady spot on the flybridge, using the remote autopilot control to steer. Obviously, you cannot read the chartplotter or the depth sounder very well, so you need to be in familiar waters.
Duane Ising
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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by AlanH »

Here is a picture of our lowered Bimini.

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IMG_0613.jpeg
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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by AMCarter3 »

Alan,

I get the same "file too big" errors a lot on this forum when I'm using my Firefox browser. Try a different browser. Safari works better for uploading small picture files. (I'm using Apple gear.)
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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by AlanH »

Mac,

I use a Mac (no pun intended) but with Firefox. I wrote to the Forum System Administrator and he upped the size limit which seemed to work. I will try Safari if I encounter problems in the future.

Alan
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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by AMCarter3 »

Alan, that's good to hear. I also interacted with the forum admin about a this over a year ago. It's still a frustrating issue for me. I tried 4 times to send 3 photos to you. All were about the same (reduced) size (230-380KB). Only 2 got uploaded. The third was rejected every time. I gave up on it... figured if you want more detail, you would ask for it and I'd send it via personal email.
Mac Carter
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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by Expatriate »

You can always call Atlantic Towers and spend $10K on a hard top. A lot of money, but it is really nice.

AftBiminiSmall.JPG
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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by dstrecker1 »

Hi Expatriate

I did get a price from them some time ago after I saw some pictures you posted. Very nice indeed, but eventually I want to save some money for electronic upgrade as the E120s are really slow and the depth finder doesn’t read in shallow water.

Dennis &Cindy Strecker
Hull #95
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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by dstrecker1 »

Hi Alan,
Like that your aft Bimini extends over the rear seat and has only 3 points of support. Do you find that the one support in the back is sufficient in high cross winds? Where did you have done? I like how they did the solar panel support.
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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by AlanH »

We are not sure where it was done, the aft bimini was already on when we bought the boat 4.5 years ago. The one rear pole seems to provide plenty of support. Every time we come and go from our house we do lower the radar to get under a low bridge and it rests on a arm on the bimini with out any problem. We have never had any concern about the support.

When we bought the boat we needed a mod to the radar arm and Beth from Rhumb Line recommended a company who did the modification. I believe the boat's prior owner kept it in the Stuart area and may have used the same company to do the original work. Beth might be able to help identify who did it.
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Re: Aft Bimini

Post by dstrecker1 »

Alan,
From what I recall it looks a lot like Dick’s boat, Beth’s father.
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