Sailing with Grace: The quest for the perfect bimini

It all started one day when sitting under a bimini that covered only half the cockpit. The sun was shining and I was sitting in the 8" of remaining shade under the bimini. You must understand that my boat has a cockpit that is typically the envy of everyone at the anchorage. The existing bimini frame and cover was just not big enough to provide enough shade much less protection against the ever present rain showers in the islands. I knew I had a problem.

Like most things in my life, when I become aware of a problem my mind goes into hyperdrive to find an answer. This answer came to me when I was in the Abacos. While crossing the sea of Abaco I broke my dingy davits (story for another post). I had taken them off of the boat and walked with the davits to the boat yard / nearest welding shop (@3 mile walk). As I was getting close to the welding shop and was thinking how heavy the davits really were, I noticed a large pile of aluminum tubing in the corner of the boat yard. In the pile there was a 10' X 14' binimi frame off of a sports fisherman that was wrecked during a hurricane. Of course I did not know how big my cockpit really was so I trekked back to the boat, measured the cockpit, trekked back to the yard, measured the frame, noticed that I had not realized the frame was not quite square, trekked back to the boat, trekked back to the yard... Yes I was in shape and I was fairly certain that the frame would fit my boat. Now to the minor detail of who owned this frame. I asked around the yard and everyone thought the welding shop owned the frame. When I talked with the shop they did not know which ones belonged to the welding shop and which were "being stored" for customers. Only the owner could answer this question and he would be back in a few days.

Not to be deterred I called and called getting the same message. The owner would be back in a few days. I finally decided to show up at the welding shop and stage a sit in. When I arrived they told me that the owner's brother was there and could help me. (his name is Kyle and he does a great job welding aluminum if you are ever in need around the Abacos Bahamas). He was not quite sure but thought the top I wanted belonged to the shop. Finally the owner came back and confirmed he did own the top and it was for sale. He told me to make an offer. Now remember this is a 10' X 14' aluminum frame that is stout enough to hold two hammocks easily. Being a cruiser I offered him $1,500 installed on the boat. He went for the $1,500 but I had to pay the installation ($900 when it was all done).

I brought the boat to the yard and they proceeded to align the frame and make legs. It was 2-3 days of work for $900 and in the end it came out nice. I was even told that the original cost to make the frame was over $20K. In essence I got a deal.

With the frame mounted I stretched a tarp across it and proceeded back to the US. I knew I had gotten a deal when I had to spend a couple of days at Great Sail before making the crossing.

It was @ 2 foot chop in the harbor with 20-30 other boats. I rigged the hammocks and we read books while waiting for a weather window. After a day we started to hear a little radio chatter about how comfortable we looked while everyone else was getting pounded around by the waves. I had rigged the hammocks at a slight angle to the bow that allowed the waves to rock the hammocks as the bow rose and fell. It was quite nice.

When I arrived back in the states I had a cover made for the frame. The bimini has two legs up front and uses the boom crutch as the support in the rear. I have been told the boom crutch is oversized and seems very substantial so I am not too concerned.

I also had them install a wire chase so I could have overhead instruments and rope lights in th

e bimini. (you can just see them on the right). I also had the windshield built so it was a little recessed. This allows me to still see out when it is raining.