We wanted a bit more protection from rain and sun. In the past, when it rained, we just tucked behind our fiberglass dodger.
But we didn't want to build a full greenhouse one sees so often. Most of these are never taken down, and we do like sailing with wind in the hair. It is a bit like driving a motorcycle vs in a car. Sometimes the ocean smells differently, or touch of cold air comes by warning of a wind shift, etc,
We now have options. First we made that combiner piece between dodger and bimini. Both ends have an awning track, on the Bimini side a small canvas strip with grommets is used to match the grommets of the larger piece. Using grommets and line gives us a chance to keep tightening it when it stretches. The sides are supported by ratchet straps, to be completely removable for sailing in decent conditions. Any other idea we had to support the canvas with stainless tubing would result in head-banging when getting in or out of the cockpit. The side pieces have an awning track at the forward edge and get zippered to the combiner piece at the top, here is an early version:
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Our fiberglass Bimini has awning tracks on all sides, we just never got to add some netting material to protect us from the sun. While shopping the local sailmaker for the grey Docril canvas material, we also saw some matching gray mesh material (Suntex90) which would work out well. With a few more $100s spent in material we produced some simple sun protection that can be hung, folded or rolled up in various ways.
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As with many projects, there are some finishing touches needed... Time for a beer though.
