Those with black canvas bimini's, any regrets?

[Bob a Buoy]

I'm in south Mississippi, the heat can be oppressive here. My 300DA has a full black camper package. Right now I have the back camper sections off and stored below, the front section is on but all the windows are rolled up and only get zipped down when it rains. It's not hot at all. I can't see how a black Bimini can create that much more heat than a tan one when air can move freely underneath. Maybe when the full canvas is up but that would be an advantage in winter.

 

[Fly'n Family]

We went to an all black canvas set-up last year and love it. Looks fantastic, and has been very functional for us. Helps early and late season when cold, and when it's hot out we take all of it off anyway. We did an extended top piece so as to provide shade for the vast majority of the aft deck, and we haven't noticed any additional heat when all canvas parts are off other than the top. Airflow is airflow...

 

[Kameroo]

When we bought our last bridge boat, it had faded blue canvas. We replaced it with black Sunbrella with .040 Strataglass. It really dressed-up the boat and looked great, even 8 years later when we sold it. Unfortunately, it was also like a science experiment on making an outdoor oven. Never again in a warm climate.

 

[Jimmy Buoy]

My last boat was a 32 Wellcraft St Tropez. Changed the tops to Navy Blue - never again. Even though I'd remove the slant back, side, and front windows it would still have a "microwave" effect on the cockpit. It may have been that there was less clearance since the arch was set lower than my SeaRay, but it was definitely too hot on a calm sunny day to sit at anchor. The heat seemed to radiate down onto us from the top and it just felt unbearable at times. Since the Great Lakes don't heat up enough to swim in usually until July, and jumping in to cool off was "heart attack" cold, you had to keep running the boat to create a breeze...

 

[juggernaut1]

I recently changed to a white bimini top from black, although I went Stamoid - difference is night and day regarding heat. I went for black Sunbrella curtains though.

 

[LKN]

I have the original black bimini top on my 2002 240 Sundeck and it still looks close to brand new. No fading at all and seems easy to clean.

FWIW, this boat has always been dry-stacked so I imagine that helps a lot

 

[OllieC]

I recently changed to a white bimini top from black, although I went Stamoid - difference is night and day regarding heat. I went for black Sunbrella curtains though.

That really blends nicely. I would have never thought.

That setup on my "dingy" wouldn't look correct , but off of your radar arch that looks natural......it gives it a skylight effect.:thumbsup:

 

[bankyf]

No. The black canvas was on a 390EC I owned from 1989 to 1997. I sold it and bought the 450DA in 1997 and it has always had the linen tweed/gold color option. Same beam boats, same slip, same location, same usage patterns, etc., so it is really a direct comparison. And, my 450DA does not have cockpit air. It wasn't available in 1996 and so far, the engineering aspects of adding about 30K BTU's of cooling, the wiring, generator capacity, duct work and the cooling system & plumbing add up to the investment making very little financial sense.

So, just to clarify... On an 80 degree day, the measured temperature in your opened up, but covered with a black canvas top, cockpit area measured 110 degrees? Could the 30 degree claim perhaps be a tad bit exaggerated?

 

[Tonka Boater]

I recently changed to a white bimini top from black, although I went Stamoid - difference is night and day regarding heat. I went for black Sunbrella curtains though.

Wow!! The white Stamoid looks great. I like that it gives you protection but it's somewhat translucent-ish and lets light in to give the cockpit an airy feel. How does it hold up to dirt/staining and how easy it to clean and keep looking bright white?

 

[majoma]

Wow!! The white Stamoid looks great. I like that it gives you protection but it's somewhat translucent-ish and lets light in to give the cockpit an airy feel. How does it hold up to dirt/staining and how easy it to clean and keep looking bright white?

I like to know that too especially regarding bird's poop.

 

[Ctsearay]

Go Black Canvas we don't regret it for a moment, the heat is nice during the begining and end of the season and during the season its off anyways.

 

[juggernaut1]

That really blends nicely. I would have never thought.

That setup on my "dingy" wouldn't look correct , but off of your radar arch that looks natural......it gives it a skylight effect.:thumbsup:

Wow!! The white Stamoid looks great. I like that it gives you protection but it's somewhat translucent-ish and lets light in to give the cockpit an airy feel. How does it hold up to dirt/staining and how easy it to clean and keep looking bright white?

Thanks for the thumbs up fella's.

I must confess the setup was actually the "brainchild" of the guy I used to do the work - which he has done this type of setup on high end Yachts such as Princess etc. I did have a view in the shape, height and size of the bimini and he made it a reality adding his own touches.

Imar makes a Stamoid cleaner and so far so good with the white. The translucency was an added bonus since I didn't want any clears in the Sumbrella side/rear curtains because I couldn't be bothered with water leaking in like the originals used to. Plus with no clears in the Sunbrella I can just roll it up and velcro into place or remove completely for a cleaner look as they just slide in through sail tracks. On a rainy day I can also keep the side curtains down and doesn't feel like a cave inside. Having the white also feels like an extension of the hard top whereas the original black bimini felt like an addition - if that makes sense. The heat rejection from the white Stamoid is incredible - it's generally cool to touch in all but the very hottest days whereas you can feel the heat radiating off the black Sunbrella side curtains like a heater. With the new setup combined with the mesh screens on the front clears/windscreen the temperature drop would have to be a "seat of the pants" 10-20C degree reduction in the cockpit.

GFC has had white Stamoid much longer than me and seems to still look like new.

 

[ZZ13]

I live in the coastal south. Year round boating. My dockmate and I have the exact same boat. Mine has a black bimini/canvas on the bridge and his has the tan bimini/canvas on the bridge. Right now its full almost directly overhead sun and exactly 100 degrees in the shade at my house. Probably around a 7mph breeze going. Both boats sitting in their slips pointed in the same direction. Both boats have had all 5 canvas panels rolled up all day for maximum cooling. So I took an IR gun to both our bridges. His tan canvas gave readings of 106 degrees at both the captains and passenger seat and also 106 at the center of the top of the cockpit table. The underside of his bimini read 130 degrees. My black canvas gave readings of 111 degrees at all three passenger stations and a reading of 152 degrees at the underside of the bimini. Frankly, I didn't notice the 5 degree difference when sitting at all three stations on both boats. I did not run temps with all the canvas closed up because I would never run that way in this heat.

 

[CliffA]

I live in the coastal south. Year round boating. My dockmate and I have the exact same boat. Mine has a black bimini/canvas on the bridge and his has the tan bimini/canvas on the bridge. Right now its full almost directly overhead sun and exactly 100 degrees in the shade at my house. Probably around a 7mph breeze going. Both boats sitting in their slips pointed in the same direction. Both boats have had all 5 canvas panels rolled up all day for maximum cooling. So I took an IR gun to both our bridges. His tan canvas gave readings of 106 degrees at both the captains and passenger seat and also 106 at the center of the top of the cockpit table. The underside of his bimini read 130 degrees. My black canvas gave readings of 111 degrees at all three passenger stations and a reading of 152 degrees at the underside of the bimini. Frankly, I didn't notice the 5 degree difference when sitting at all three stations on both boats. I did not run temps with all the canvas closed up because I would never run that way in this heat.

finally some actual test data instead of just opinions....thanks for taking the time....

cliff

 

[TIDALWAVE]

Thanks for the thumbs up fella's.

I must confess the setup was actually the "brainchild" of the guy I used to do the work - which he has done this type of setup on high end Yachts such as Princess etc. I did have a view in the shape, height and size of the bimini and he made it a reality adding his own touches.

Imar makes a Stamoid cleaner and so far so good with the white. The translucency was an added bonus since I didn't want any clears in the Sumbrella side/rear curtains because I couldn't be bothered with water leaking in like the originals used to. Plus with no clears in the Sunbrella I can just roll it up and velcro into place or remove completely for a cleaner look as they just slide in through sail tracks. On a rainy day I can also keep the side curtains down and doesn't feel like a cave inside. Having the white also feels like an extension of the hard top whereas the original black bimini felt like an addition - if that makes sense. The heat rejection from the white Stamoid is incredible - it's generally cool to touch in all but the very hottest days whereas you can feel the heat radiating off the black Sunbrella side curtains like a heater. With the new setup combined with the mesh screens on the front clears/windscreen the temperature drop would have to be a "seat of the pants" 10-20C degree reduction in the cockpit.

GFC has had white Stamoid much longer than me and seems to still look like new.

Thanks for the thumbs up fella's.

I must confess the setup was actually the "brainchild" of the guy I used to do the work - which he has done this type of setup on high end Yachts such as Princess etc. I did have a view in the shape, height and size of the bimini and he made it a reality adding his own touches.

Imar makes a Stamoid cleaner and so far so good with the white. The translucency was an added bonus since I didn't want any clears in the Sumbrella side/rear curtains because I couldn't be bothered with water leaking in like the originals used to. Plus with no clears in the Sunbrella I can just roll it up and velcro into place or remove completely for a cleaner look as they just slide in through sail tracks. On a rainy day I can also keep the side curtains down and doesn't feel like a cave inside. Having the white also feels like an extension of the hard top whereas the original black bimini felt like an addition - if that makes sense. The heat rejection from the white Stamoid is incredible - it's generally cool to touch in all but the very hottest days whereas you can feel the heat radiating off the black Sunbrella side curtains like a heater. With the new setup combined with the mesh screens on the front clears/windscreen the temperature drop would have to be a "seat of the pants" 10-20C degree reduction in the cockpit.

GFC has had white Stamoid much longer than me and seems to still look like new.

Darn, I wish I had seen your post a month ago. This looks great. My canvas job was just completed last week in all black. I would have been a copycat for sure. Nice job.

 

[330DA]

The one thing I noticed when we went to black canvas was spiders. We had a lot more spiders crawling in between the canvas parts that overlapped, for example, where the Velcro was.

 

[Strecker25]

The heat difference is real, but up north where we are it was a no brainer because of how much better it looked it our opinion

 

[hottoddie]

I just replaced my white enclosure with black Sunbrella. Love the look and once the rear curtain is opened up the cockpit temp is about the same as the old white Sunbrella. I had a "smliy" added to the center windshield curtain for ventilation. Since my boat faces South in the slip the sun beats down thru the windshield and makes the large flat dash very hot so I throw a couple of white beach towels on the dash to cut down on the heat. It makes a difference down below as well.

 

[bbwhitejr]

I responed to this thread almost 2-years ago and guess what....we own another boat with black biminis and curtains. Here in the south, there is a definite difference with the black. Always had 0 fading, but the temp is a different thing. I am 6'3" so my head was close the bimini on the 260DA and the heat coming off of the underside in August was beyond description. With air stirring underneath, it was liveable. Current 44DB with all of the curtains up top...they are a real pain to take down and put up. There are 4-huge smileys and we will have to see how she is in the summer.

Bennett

 

[ZZ13]

Bennett, I also responded to this thread. I have had full black Bimini and panels on the bridge for the 4.5 years I have owned the boat. Year round coastal boating in South Carolina and Florida. I never once think about the canvas color and wish it were a lighter color. It's just not on my concern list. I think you will be just fine.