Value of a Hardtop Bimini and Rubrail

[Cadence]

I bought a tri with a hard top bimini, if you will, and curtains. I thought it was great. A surface for solar panels. Curtains down in shitty weather and up for ventilation. I was in the process of a hatch to open and monitor the main. JMHO on a hard top.
They are less likely to leave you in a blow.

[Chris Whitney]

Great post. I have a 40' Gulfstar Center Cockpit. When I bought her i looked at the fabric bimini and thought thats the first thing to go off this boat. Living in Florida, I didn't understand the intensity of the florida sun on a cruiser, I have only taken it down to scrub it! Being out of the heat of the summer sun plus the dodger like protection when i put the eisenglass on makes it a no brainer.

Recently I have got a few quotes for building a permanent bimini (big bucks) such that i can walk on it, mount solar panels or anything else i can think of if needed. Not only do i want sun protection I want a rigid frame for hand holds walking around the center cockpit. The current fabric, on wimpy stainless bows, are asking for trouble for the first person that rely's on the bimini frame to keep them on board.

As to the rub rail. That too i didn't appreciate. As a new captain to this big of a boat, I find my self relying on that protection backing my boat into my slip. Rare I don't touch one of the outer pilings guiding this beast back to a finger dock.

So big "hell yes" on both a rub rail and rigid top!

[Cheechako]

Are you saying the other other boats have no Bimini?
Probably $2000 for good soft Bimini...? More for a hard one for sure depending.... I kinda like the ability to fold it up.... but if you re going to have oar panels up there, might as well go for the hard.

[Snore]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Are you saying the other other boats have no Bimini?
Probably $2000 for good soft Bimini...? More for a hard one for sure depending.... I kinda like the ability to fold it up.... but if you re going to have oar panels up there, might as well go for the hard.

The $2k is a lower good number. Im getting quotes of $1,300 to build an art Bimini and put new fabric on the forward Bimini. If I replaced the SS forward frame and added windows to the forward section would be over $2k.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Are you saying the other other boats have no Bimini?
Probably $2000 for good soft Bimini...? More for a hard one for sure depending.... I kinda like the ability to fold it up.... but if you re going to have solar panels up there, might as well go for the hard.

I forgot the rubrails. This is a very nice thing and very difficult to do on most boats after the fact.

[gulfstar37]

New dodger 1" OD .083 wall 304L with welded back grab rail, outside side rails with sunbreala and reinforcement. Sturdy as a rock you can double and some change that price.

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[Sevi]

Thank you for your reply. Just of of curiosity, how much were you quoted for a hard top build. Several of the boats that I'm looking at don't have one, so I might need to go in that direction.

[nhschneider]

The builder of our boat, Conyplex Yachts, cleverly installed a very heavy teak rub rail (with a thick stainless steel strake on the outside edge) to hide the hull/deck seam, which is about 20 centimeters below the deck surface. It blends in nicely with the boat's lines and I would imagine would protect the boat if we came up against an object that was unwilling or reluctant to move.

Our boat has a permanent hard dodger but a Sunbrella bimini, which mostly keeps us dry in wet conditions and shaded during the day. We have both a full eisenglass enclosure, which we've used a lot and a screen enclosure, which we've never used.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[Tampabayfireman]

We had a hard frame installed on our boat two yrs after buying it. All it took was one trip in bad weather with the old flexible frame to convince me the need for a stable secure grab point. Since then many trips both good and bad weather I am still sold on it. I had it installed with a sunbrella cover instead of a hard top orig due to my believe if the threat was there I could take the cover off. After having some severe squalls rip thru the marina I am planning on putting a hard surface on.


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[FSMike]

Friend of mine had a rub rail installed about 2 feet down from the deck on a 35' yawl. Great for pivoting off pilings as previously mentioned, but there was an unexpected side benefit: the rub rail deflected some of the spray in a chop, resulting in a dryer ride.

If you're going to build a hard top use the opportunity to make a rain catcher out of it. Put a lip around the top and install a couple of hose barbs at the lowest corners. Let the rain wash it off for 5 minutes, attach some lengths of clean hose and run to the water fill(s). I used clear hose so any cleaning needed was visible.

[zeehag]

after four years of sunbaking in my own cockpit sailing this big boat, i long for hard dodger and hard bimini, the soft ones rot fast, whether stitching fail in 2 yrs here or fabric fail in constant sun, even folded up ones fail.
hard dodger and hard bimini are excellent for tropical sailing--no sunburn, solar panel positioning, windmill placement, and protectiopn from sun and rain,. these happen out here..duh. and best yet--no having to match sunbrella fading in sun. canes donot shred wood as they do cloth.....
wood here is sooo cheap for excellent hardwood, and fabric and stainless is such a daysailing thing, get in the way and are not sturdy enough for open ocean winds and weather. furycames happen and the winds are fun to watch tear apart the soft ones.
not to mention the price of soft dodger and soft bimini even here in cheapoville would put the hardiest wallet into intensive care. but wood is CHEAP here for excellent hardwood varieties. try ipe at 3 usd per board foot
it would be a shame for me to waste this opportunity to create some kind of shelter over my cockpit for storms and sun.
skin cancer happens a lot out here--have seen on many sailing souls.
i have been experimenting with home depot screening to see how it would work-- omy-- full on gonna do this , and soon.
i have watched others make the hard top kinda protection for boats once they arrive here in tropics.
if i had a choice, i would get the hard bimini one. is one thing out of way so it doesnt need to be done later.

oh yes cost. here i am expecting to have to put out a whopping coupla hundred bux us for the two of em. beat that. and they are gonna be beautiful, not shopclass reject *****. framed in beautiful hard wood tbd at purchase time.
at 2000usd for each bimini and dodger, makes 4k usd..i like the coupla hundred bux option a lot more, especially as i would need to purchase 2 rolls of sunbrella and a sailrite machine for repairing in many locales without canvas workers.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Jon Eisberg

I'm of a different opinion, I absolutely detest running boats without rubrails, or those with tumblehome... Especially for those doing any singlehanded sailing, the absence of a decent rubrail can sometimes seriously limit your options. It's not always possible to have fenders or fender boards positioned precisely where they might be needed in advance, or when having to perform some weird maneuver, such as pivoting off a corner piling when pinned on a face dock in a breeze, or whatever...

Not a lot of commercial boats without fat rub rails. Bet you couldn't sell one.

I've had boats without them. Stupid design deficiency in my opinion. Yes, I know about fender boars and use them (rub rails do NOT replace fenders). Each serves a completely different purpose and the discussion doesn't really fit together.

As for hard tops, I have one and love it in the sun. Skin cancer is very real. Without a top you might just as well start smoking. Also nice in the cold and rain; we barely ever need rain gear underway.

[exMaggieDrum]

This would not be for the faint of heart but an amateur friend of mine built his own hard top for his dodger. He did a bang up job, nicely faired and sturdy. He has good tool skills but knew nothing about fiberglass.

He basically used thin baltic plywood that he massively scored on one side to make it flexible. He laid that on his existing dodger tubing framework and figured out how he was going to mount it, where lights were going to go, etc. He built it in the electronics shop we worked at but it didn't take any special tools other than your standard fiberglass rollers, squeegees, etc. He learned as he went and took his time. It would have cost him $2000 if someone had built it for him.

It came out great.

[zeehag]

i have the fg skills and knowledge, but cannot do anything with wood. seems as i grew up, wood shop was reserved for boys and we girls were forced into home ec, despite requesting wood shop.
oh well..
mine will have minimal fg involvement, as i want to good pretty wood to show.
it will use epoxy and decent weatherproof glues and epoxy paint with a covering of solar panelry

my boat came with fg rubrails.... kind of a formosa thing....

[Lojanica]

I had a soft top bimini 3/4 full enclosure and took it down. Love the protection from the elements but hate the lack of visibilty. I think the soft biminis are better especially if you can fold and roll the fabric. Takes 30 minutes to "furl or unfurl" but that should be enough time to get ready for most situations. Anchored in extreme weather the enclosures are great. Sailing not so much. IMHO of course.