When do you take down your canvas?

[Undadar]

I am wondering what causes other boat owners to remove your bimini and dodger.

I like to leave mine up as it protects my lines, wood, etc... However; I do not like storms tearing up the canvas. The question is just to help me understand how others are "doing it".

Thanks!

JdFinley.com | Sailing, development, and life with JD

[DRFerron]

We leave the dodger on because it's a PITA to remove and taking it off and on makes the windows more vulnerable to breaking. The bimini we fold up into its cover when we leave the boat to come home. Last year when a tropical storm was expected, I took the dodger off. Otherwise, it stays on. Everyone else in our marina does the same.

[josrulz]

We leave our dodger and bimini on for the season. If a tropical storm or serious nor'easter were to come through--in other words, the kind of storm you "prep" for--we'd remove them (along with sails and a lot of other prep work).

[bear.dreaming]

Our dodger normally stays on, but we removed it this afternoon so we can have new edging sewn on. The canvas is great, but the white edging material has disintegrated. If we can find the right stuff, we'll probably have a go at doing it ourselves.

[olson34]

Originally Posted by Undadar

I am wondering what causes other boat owners to remove your bimini and dodger.

I like to leave mine up as it protects my lines, wood, etc... However; I do not like storms tearing up the canvas. The question is just to help me understand how others are "doing it".

It really depends...Where's the boat moored? Weather/Storms?

we have a couple months of strong winds and freezing temps every winter, so lots of us remove all sails and canvas in the late fall and put our boats back together in March. I have seen a couple of shredded RF genoas and sail covers torn/abraided badly, by folks that were oblivious to the weather.
(This concerns me only to the extent that their negligence drives up insurance rates for the rest of us...)

I do leave on the flat covers that protect hand rails and hatch lenses.

L

[josrulz]

Yes, I should clarify my own post... When I wrote "for the season", I meant for spring, summer, and fall. In the winter, we haul our boat and remove all canvas, sails, etc. We also cover the boat entirely with a framed cover.

[Undadar]

Originally Posted by olson34

It really depends...Where's the boat moored? Weather/Storms?

Boat is at a slip in Fort Myers Beach, FL but I am not (yet). She is semi-protected from the wind. I have a "boat sitter" but have not had the results with them that I was hoping for.

I elected to take the bimini and dodger down last week as I won't be back for at least a month and figure the chance of a serious blow is pretty good this time of year. Of course, the sun is the also the harshest this time year.

JdFinley.com | Sailing, development, and life with JD

[Minnewaska]

We leave our bimini and dodger up with the connector installed, while away. We will zip in the sideanels in cool weather, but the greenhouse effect in the summer is prohibitive.

I've sailed her in 30 plus knot winds, so I doubt a regular old thunderstorm is going to do anything. If a huge storm is due, they come down.

[CaptainForce]

During two class I hurricanes where I anchored in a well protected basin and stayed with my boat I left my bimini with windscreen in position. At anchor I was continually facing into the wind and the presence of my bimini allowed me to observe my status during the storm and present an aerodynamic profile to the wind. During one class II huricane and several tropical storms where I remained secure at a protected dock I removed my bimini. On these ocassions my vessel was not facing into the wind and the bimini, as a scoop, would greatly increase my windage. Take care and joy, Aythya crew

[canadianseamonkey]

My full enclosure only comes down when I haul my boat out for winter. We get extremely hard winds on Lake Huron and have never had a problem with rips or tears.