Can you fold a bimini top when traveling.

[Darnew]

I have a 22 ft Blue Wave and it is a 3.5 hour drive down to the gulf. I would like to put a Bimini top on it to get out of the Texas summer sun while out on the bay waters, but I am afraid the 3.5 hour drive down to the coast is really going to wear on the top, not to mention the reduction of gas mileage. Can I fold it down and then put it back up when I get ready to fish?

 

[Scott Danforth]

that is how they are supposed to be used.

if you tried to drive 3.5 hours at highway speeds with the bimini up, it wouldnt survive the trip, the canvas would have long-ago torn itself up to pieces.

 

[tpenfield]

Sure. . .

You just need to be sure to get a top that is easy to collapse & deploy.

If you did run down the highway with the top up, chances are the top would not last even that one trip

:welcome: to iBoats.

 

[JimS123]

After you roll it up, put the boot on it. When driving keep the top folded down on the deck. Don't have it in the deployed (up) position even if its rolled and booted.

 

[ahicks]

It's MUCH easier to roll up when stopped! ;^)

And I agree with the boot plan. That's a must. That or have rope or something wrapped around it in several places to avoid billowing.

Make sure it's going to be tall enough to allow you to walk around under it, but not so tall where you are loosing too much shade.

They come in different lengths and various hardware qualities as well. The sturdier the hardware the better. I like the square tubing myself. Fabric choice a factor as well. Sunbrella is tough to beat.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Seems like many biminis come with a boot. We actually lower ours so it rides flat and folded (in its boot), resting on the sunpad. That also helps make sure it doesn't get ripped off the boat when I put it in the garage!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Seems like many biminis come with a boot. We actually lower ours so it rides flat and folded (in its boot), resting on the sunpad. That also helps make sure it doesn't get ripped off the boat when I put it in the garage!

BTDT.....Have the tee shirt

Bimini frame 0, garage 1

 

[JimS123]

Bimini frame 0, garage 1

Now that's funny.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Now that's funny.

Jim, came home and washed the boat, then when I went to back the boat in the garage..... folded the bimini frame on the sea ray like a pretzel.....never slowed the truck down one bit, didnt make a sound either..... factory SeaRay bimini frames are pricey.

 

[JimS123]

Jim, came home and washed the boat, then when I went to back the boat in the garage..... folded the bimini frame on the sea ray like a pretzel.....never slowed the truck down one bit, didnt make a sound either..... factory SeaRay bimini frames are pricey.

I just started college and got my first car. Had it in Dad's garage to wax and detail it and put on a set of baby moons. Went to back it out before Dad got home and forgot that the trunk lid was up. It ended up backwards on the roof.

Oh, it DID make a heluva good noise.....LOL. Never damaged the paint but the brackets were bent. One of our neighbors who owned a collision shop was a friend of my Grandpa. He straightened it out for nothing.

 

[harringtondav]

Whenever I get around to buying that new boat it will have a "sunshade tower". I assume it's dealer installed. I'll have to remove it and store it at our river place. It will have to come off before I get the boat into the home garage for annual service. ...may as well leave it and not fight the road wind.

 

[JimS123]

Make sure it's going to be tall enough to allow you to walk around under it, but not so tall where you are loosing too much shade.

They come in different lengths and various hardware qualities as well. The sturdier the hardware the better. I like the square tubing myself. Fabric choice a factor as well. Sunbrella is tough to beat.

No matter how tall it is there is always a time when the sun will be at a position to hit you right in the face.

I bought a few yards of sunbrella to match the bimini. Cut it to size and the wife hemmed it nicely. I added a few grommets as necessary, got some matching parachute cable and a set of rail clips and viola....I got a vertical shade.

It uses the existing SS bimini rails on the top, and the deck cleats off the bottom. Put it across the bow at the windshield, or across the stern at the sun pad, or on either the port or stbd side. Folded up it fits in the glove compartment.

We can now eat dinner in the shade.