White Trash Bimini redux.

As you may have seen from previous pictures of our boat, we have an interesting way of keeping the rain off of Ramble On.  $25 tarps from Lowe’s, a couple of 10′ lengths of PVC pipe, a shit-load of bungee cords, and a handful of zip-ties.  Hey man, we live in the Delta and it blows 30 knots here from time to time.  On a scale of 1-10 from what I’ve seen floating around the area, we rank about a high 6, maybe low 7 in the “tarp” category.  That is, until yesterday…

A couple weeks ago Jeni sent me a link to a company that makes “custom” boat shade canvas.    I’ve seen their ad before in magazines, and that’s actually where I stole the idea of using PVC pipe to support my own little home-brewed boat cover.  Hey, don’t laugh. It’s served us well over the past year, and it’s survived winds in excess of 50 knots.  But it’s time for something better, and with all the topside projects coming up this summer we could use some head room.  I’m getting sick of hunching over, ducking and dodging pipe & bungee cords, and generally not being able to stand up straight in my cockpit.  After checking out a few pictures on the website Jeni linked me, and taking some measurements of the boat I was on the phone with credit card in hand.

The whole shebang showed up yesterday.  One forward panel, and one for aft of the mast.  It’s a brilliant package, really, and it all stows in a roll smaller than your storm jib.  Sectioned fiberglass “tent poles” slide into pockets that fasten over the lifelines.  Velcro slits in the top of the arch allow for adjustments around furlers, back stays, topping lifts, etc.  They also include a bunch of cool grippy clamps and bungee cords for further “custom adjustment”.  A nice little storm blew through just now so I thought I’d do some video of the new canvas compared to the old tarp  under the typical 20+ knot North winds that always follow in our area. So far I’m fairly impressed, and it takes quite a bit to make an impression on me.  We’ll let you know how it goes.