Jim,

I sure would like to see some photos of your set-up. That’s what I’d like to have on Silver Heels, too – eventually. Right now I’ve got too many other projects ahead of it, including doing some cruising before I forget how to sail. So I’ve settled for building a dodger hard top and doing the rest in Sunbrella & Strataglass this time around. A true hard dodger/bimini is on my Refit Phase II list, somewhere down the line.

You cutter owners have it easy designing a bimini. On an aft-cockpit ketch it’s a bit of a challenge. I finally came up with a way to have a full, semi-permanent bimini top and also have full access to my mizzen sail for furling, etc. Life is good.

Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Jim-
I’d like to see pictures, too. Especially interested in how you reenforced the structure to support the solar panels.
Best regards,
Quent

Walter,

Photos attached, labeled to illustrate some of the main points. I put the framework together myself from
scrounged parts around the boat yard and from a nearby used boat gear store. Had to re-bend, cut and otherwise
modify the 1″ ss tubing to get what I needed out of it, but it saved me a bundle and I learned a lot. However,
I do not sew. My “canvas guy” lives on a sailboat down the pier and gave me a great deal on the work. Really,
he way under-bid this job. It turned out to be uncommonly complex. I lucked out in that regard. Figure I at
least owe him a lobster dinner gratuity.

Access to the mizzen sail is excellent through the four opening panels. However, even though we put Sunbrella
rain deflector strips over the zippers they leak a little when it rains hard. Everything’s a trade-off, I
guess. I’m now having an in-port tent fly made, a simple trapezoid that will pass over the mizzen boom and
secure to the shrouds. This will rain-proof my bimini except when I’m actually sailing in the rain with the
mizzen hoisted. I can live with that. The fly will also enable me to leave the four large opening panels open
most of the time without letting in the brutal tropical sun, thus providing extra ventilation in the cockpit.
FYI, I’m also having a reversible Sunbrella rain-&-spray side panel made, which I can put up on the weather
side of the cockpit on long, wet passages. It’s a poor man’s version of a full enclosure, something I used and
appreciated on my last cruising boat.

I have not been sailing with this new canvas yet, but I’m pretty happy with it at this point.

Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~