[C320-list] Bimini

[Warren Updike]

Dave, we don't have a bimini, per se, but an awning.  There is no frame attached to the hull, and no frame to complicate entrance and exit to/from the cockpit.  

The awning is a single piece of Sunbrella with wrap-around flaps fwd and aft.  The fwd flaps are zippered and the aft flaps are sewn.  There is wide velcro tape sewn along both port and stbd sides and along the aft edge.  To this velcro can be attached a Sunbrella piece that is tied out to the lifelines to provide shade when the Sun is low and we are at anchor.  Light weight screening can also be used to close off a side while providing some air flow.

We mount it with a ss bar that is secured to the split back stays after threading through the end of the awning.  The fwd end is attached to the dodger by sharing some of the twist-locks on the dodger as well as two zippered flaps that wrap around the ss hand-holds on the frame of the dodger.  There are no other supports.  It rides well in a blow, and provides the necessary cover.  One drawback compared to a framed bimini is that it doesn't extend aft beyond the stays.  This has not been a problem for me as long as I'm pointing into the wind.  With the wind aft it doesn't matter as the bimini doesn't protect that aspect either.  To strike it, we unhitch it from the dodger and roll it to the bar on the backstays where we secure it with ties.  Once struck, it's no less obvious than a furled bimini.

I put it on at launching and leave it on all season rolling up when not needed.  The bar is secured to the backstays with 4 wire ties on each stay.  Two go around the stay and the other two go around the bar and under the two on the stays.  I pull them very tight.  To prevent it lifting in a blow (enough pressure and the wire ties will slide on the stays,) I wrap some small braided cord around the stay and the bar using sequential half-hitches above and below the bar.  The cord then runs down along the stay and is secured to the turnbuckle.  Never had  a problem with this.  

When we replace our aging dodger next season, we will also continue with the awning design.

Warren & Pattie Updike
C320, #62, 1994, "Warr De Mar"
Frog Mortar Creek, Middle River
Chesapeake Bay