Bimini Me Not

 I'm running out of things to build, but an amount of work remains in a large list of small and important things.

 Above is the gaff spar.  This is a spar at the top of the sail that increases the sail area while reducing the sail height.  The reduced sail height lowers the sail's center of force thereby reducing the capsizing forces.  This is an old school type of a sail rig.  The banana shaped piece will be held between the forks by a pin and slide against the mast as the gaff/sail is raised or lowered.  It is shown here after fiber glassing and primer painting.  I await the sails to install additional hardware and the paint top coat.

Each gaff leg is a lamination of three thickness of mahogany, it is just too stiff to bend in a single thickness.  The legs were individually laminated while clamped to blocks screwed into the work table to form the desired shape.  Above, the legs are epoxied together to complete the gaff.  This is followed by rounding over the edges to fit comfortably into the sail sleeve.   

I've always thought that a bimini would be necessary to provide refuge from the intense sun.  My thinking was that this would come as a later addition.  I happened to come across a bimini at a price and color that I could not pass up.  It is far easier to make provisions for this now rather than later.

Initially the bimini frame was too large to be accommodated in the available space and it made access into the cabins more difficult.  After much consideration and frame cutting it was made to fit, but the supplied bimini fabric top may be scraped.  The top will be a future project to develop sewing skills for other projects to come.  The bimini will provide coverage for over 50% of the cockpit area.  One down side is that the mast will need to be extended so the sail will pass over the bimini.  This has been done on other Tiki 26s.  I'll just need to reef the sail at lower wind speeds than in the standard mast configuration.

The bimini stows away in the forward position leaving the cockpit and mast operations unobstructed.  Reasonable access to the forward trampoline, lockers and head are possible by this arrangement.  The burgundy bimini cover still fits in spite of my modifications.

No, these are not tasty treats.  The ingredients are mahogany, fiber glass, epoxy and fairing compound.  These are the raw bimini mounting blocks before they are sanded and adhered to the cabin sides.   In the background is part of a full scale bimini frame drawing and its' hinge points.  This drawing was very useful in determining the frame cut lengths.

It was not possible to hold the floppy bimini assembly in the installed position without mounts.  Interference with other necessities were not apparent until the bimini was in position.  The sheets control the jib sail position and the bimini frame limited the paths the sheets could take to control the sail.  Crippling the boat's sailing ability is not a viable option.  Much time and effort went into the bimini, but this arrangement will be abandoned.  All is not lost as the bimini may reappear, but be more like setting up a tent at some future time.

Notice anything new and different here?  That's right, 140 watts of solar power installed on the locker lids!  Each solar panel has a dedicated solar charge controller to keep the battery charged.  If one panel is shaded by the sail, the other panel can still provide charge current.  A third charge controller is installed that may service a future panel on the aft trampoline.

One difficulty that had to be overcome was the very stiff solar panel lead wires.  These wires are meant to endure constant sun exposure and do not allow tight bend radiuses.  Above are the holes the wires pass through in the locker lid.  Initially a straight hole was drilled through the lid and then a small rasp was worked through the holes at an angle so the wires could be installed in a more horizontal position.  

The solar panels and lead penetration covers are held on by Very High Bond (VHB) doubled sided tape.  It is said that VHB tape is used to install windows in skyscrapers.  It is a one shot installation with no post installation adjustments.  To insure good alinement wooden locating guides are taped to the lid before installation.

Here the panel is installed with the lead penetration covers.  The covers are installed at a distance from the panel that gives the tightest lead radius that I feel comfortable with.  This image may better illustrate the need for the nearly horizontal lid penetration holes previously discussed.

It seemed wise to do some heavy boat material shopping as tariff stupidity is bandied about.  The following items should be in my hands in the next month or so:

- Main sail with burgundy gaff sleeve, sail cover, sail number 449 and inverted Wharram logo (for those two readers who know the boat's name)

- Jib sail with burgundy furling strips on the foot and leech

- Roller furling jib foil

- 100 Ah 12V lithium battery

- Locker latches

- Primer and paint