Bimini Cover height question
 

I'm giving in and adding a Bimini cover to my Baja. I'm undecided on which height to go with, 48" or 54" above the side walls. I'm am getting a 4 bar Bimini where it will stay standing and wrapped tight while underway when not in use. I don't want it to be a head banger, or something I have to duck under when it's closed up, so I'm leaning towards 54".

Have any of you put a Bimini top on a 25 to 27' Baja? If so what height did you go with, and how do you like it's functionality?

I have one on my 235. It's damned nice to be able to pop it up quickly when the sun is beating down or rain threatens. I don't know the measurements of mine offhand, but it is tall enough that I can stand and still have about 8 inches of headroom, and I am six feet tall. That being said, I would go with the larger diameter supports and the best fittings you can afford, because the extra length on the bows puts more leverage on the whole fixture when you have it in the boot but in the raised position with the two rear supports holding it up in the back - the way most people cruise around with them not deployed. I have a problem with mine rocking back and forth quite a bit when it gets rough and there are a lot of wakes - to the point where I will sometimes take it down and let it lay across the sun pad to lessen the chance of breaking something.

Thanks for the info. Never considered the larger diameter supports. Good suggestion.

Any suggestions on the best place to buy a bimini? I found one for just 349, that seemed cheap, probably spindly little support poles with that.

Buy the stainless steel poles and hardware. The aluminum/plastic stuff will fall apart in no time.

Actually, I think the diameter of the tubing for the frame has more to do with strength rather than whether it's stainless or not. Most of the aluminum tubing is anodized and will hold up pretty well in a freshwater environment. Good idea to buy good connectors and hardware though - agree 100% that the nylon stuff is junk! Friend of mine has the 1 inch aluminum and beefier fittings, and his is much sturdier than the 3/4 inch stuff mine is made of. As I said before, his top bows are also shorter (same boat as mine), and swings around a lot less in the wakes.

If cost is not a factor at all, I agree that large diameter stainless tubing and hardware is the way to go. But if you are adding one to a 30+ year old boat, harder to justify dropping $2K into one.

Yep, probably a case of "get what you paid for". Sounds like the generic "one size fits most" covers that Overton's sells.

Thanks again guys. Sure nuff cost is a factor. The boat is 25 years old and in primo shape. I want to get a quality bimini, or simply do without.
Here is one I found with stainless hardware. Sounds like a good one to me. If you have a minute please take a look and point out what I might be missing.
$900 bucks for a Carver Round Tube Stainless Steel 54"H, 6'L, 91"-96"W w 9.25 oz. Sunbrella Acrylic top.
Would you put this one on your boat?
http://www.boatcoversdirect.com/prod...ainless-steel/

Before you pull the trigger, have a look at the bimini's at Marine Connection Liquidators in Ft. Pierce (www.themarineconnection.net). They used to have really good prices on stainless bimini's. I got a 4-bow stainless unit from there about a year ago and as I recall, it was around $600 with a sunbrella cover and it included the boot. No idea what shipping to Ohio would be, but they do massive business via UPS so I'm sure they could tell you off the top of their heads. You might email them for current pricing.

Also, be certain that the height is measured in the same way you would anticipate, regardless of who you buy from. When we went to pick up ours (we had called ahead and they had tagged it for us), turned out it was MUCH bigger than anticipated. I had measured the height based what I calculated the length of the legs should be. They measured based on the deployed height. Of course, they swapped it out for a shorter-legged version.

That sounds like a pretty good one. I wish I was in a position to measure mine - I might be able to tonight when I get home. It's not on the boat right now, but I should be able to get a rough measurement by just deploying it on the ground. The height on yours sounds kind of tall when you factor in the freeboard measurement on those boats (I have the exact same hull), but I could be wrong.

I remember paying around that much for my bimini top plus a full set of curtains for it from a guy who custom made it for me, but that was way back in 1999, and I'm sure prices for labor and materials have gone up since then. I have to say it sure is nice having those curtains if a rain storm comes up or we want to overnight in a cove and not worry about what Mother Nature wants to throw at us.

[SUP][/SUP]Remember, the higher the bimini the less the sun will be blocked when the sunis ar an angle.

Padraig