Bimini up Bimini down

[Btcowboy]

So we are wintering in the water. I will have fresh and black water flushed with pink. I will have ceramic heater in cabin for moisture control and a bilge heater keeping it warm. I will be using the boat off and on every couple weeks when I get back home. On Van Isle we don't see much for below freezing temps and very little snow. When it does snow it is heavy and wet and melts within a day or so. Usually just heavy rain.

The question is do I leave my Bimini up and tarp it over with a good tarp? Or do bring down bimini? I want something easy to remove as I said I will be taking it out on the water every couple weeks.

Suggestions or ideas?

 

[AMFM3]

If you have a camper, just leave it up. It's Vancouver and it doesn't get overly "winter" there. We have boats that stay in on Okanagan that go out in winter and leave everything up.

Mark

 

[Btcowboy]

Not sure exactly what a camper is. My Bimini fully encloses the entire cockpit and back seating area. Bit it is just small tubing an canvas. Your right we don't get much real winter weather just worried about the 1 or 2 heavy wet dumps of snow on her. I I worked at home not so bad, but my wife has mobility issues and she wouldn't be able to take the snow off. I may hire one of those boat tenders to check on the boat daily for me

 

[Gofirstclass]

I'd put the bimini down and get a good quality tarp to cover the entire boat. To make sure snow and water fall off the tarp, get a tube ( the type you pull behind the boat) and inflate it, then stand it up between your seats. The tube will stand taller than the windshield so will keep the tarp up high. Any rain or snow that falls will slide off the slick surface of the tarp.

 

[Btcowboy]

That's what I used to do with my bow rider. But I don't see that's possible with my 290 DA. Although the arch may help with that.

 

[Gofirstclass]

Dangit. I hate it when I do stoopid things like not looking to see what kind of boat you're talking about.

Carry on. There's nothing to see here!

 

[AMFM3]

Really, your stainless is strong enough to hold what little snow Vancouver gets. If you want to protect the canvas, put a tarp over it and tie it down.

But if you want to take it out over the winter like you stated, that will be a royal PITA. I guess you have to decide exactly what you want to do over winter.


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[mstang64bb]

I'd put the bimini down and get a good quality tarp to cover the entire boat. To make sure snow and water fall off the tarp, get a tube ( the type you pull behind the boat) and inflate it, then stand it up between your seats. The tube will stand taller than the windshield so will keep the tarp up high. Any rain or snow that falls will slide off the slick surface of the tarp.

+1. I've bought a few "pool pillows" at the dollar store for a few bucks each. They come in assorted sizes, I've used the 1' x 10', and 4' x 8' sizes in the past...

 

[Lazy Daze]

"Camper", meaning "camper canvas" is the designation that Sea Ray assigns to the type of canvas setup you have. In other words, the camper canvas creates a fully usable area in the back of the boat, like a tent or a camper. Leave it all up and enjoy some winter boating.

 

[Btcowboy]

"Camper", meaning "camper canvas" is the designation that Sea Ray assigns to the type of canvas setup you have. In other words, the camper canvas creates a fully usable area in the back of the boat, like a tent or a camper. Leave it all up and enjoy some winter boating.

That's what I thought and I do have. Thanks that's the plan then leave it up but I may tarp over it. Just because I am only home every two weeks to use it for a week if good weather. Thanks again for all your help

 

[Lazy Daze]

In all reality, what's the purpose of tarping it? You'll still end up with the same snow load and the canvas, by itself, is more than capable of holding up to the load. You don't have cheap, plastic hardware, either. If it was me, I wouldn't think twice about not using a tarp. It wouldn't be THAT much of a pain in the butt, but it wouldn't be easy, either. Besides, any part of the tarp that flaps in the wind could prematurely wear the canvas and would definitely harm the clear windows.

 

[Quint4]

Like Dennis said a flapping tarp will cause friction point wear on your canvas. Better without it.

 

[Skuza]

The strength of the poles wouldn't be my concern as would the mounting points. They screw into fiber glass that is brittle. One good load and you have the possibility of ripping out a mount. Now leaving the canvas up untarped might be fine. BUT depending on how you support a tarp it would be transferring more load to the top/supports which it would not be designed to do. Lets face it theyweren't designed to hold snow. Chancing it is when Murphy shows up!

 

[Lazy Daze]

Yup - that Murphy guy can certainly be a pain.

The mounting points are going into, in most cases, solid fiberglass - they're alot stronger than most give them credit for. What I can tell you, though, from years of experience is that we often leave the camper canvas up on our used boats over the winter so we can show them throughout the winter. Sometimes they are shrink wrapped, sometimes not. We've NEVER had any ill effects from this and we get more snow here, too.

If anything, shove a 2x4 under a couple of the bimini bows and down to the deck. When you want to use the boat, just kick the 2x4's out and then wedge them back in when you're done.