Bimini top options

[h2onhk]

A little background. My dad has a 1988 Ski Nautique that he has had since new. Boat has 1950hrs and has been kept flawless with the only issue being the original interior is starting to crack. Due to some recent skin cancer scares he wants to put a Bimini on it for added sun protection. He's searched a lot of sites and has seen a lot of different styles. The boat is kept on a lift so being able to collapse below the windshield line is a must. He's not opposed to paying a little more for custom made if it has a nice clean look. Does anyone have some suggestions or pics for reference? Much appreciated!

[rodecon]

Tower Bimini does a great job

[mopowpow]

We put a Westland from skidim.com on our 2003 Ski Nautique, it looks pretty good and comes in a good selection of colors. We did some digging around for pictures to find the best looking mounting position. We let ours sit on the engine cover when down, it could also sit in front of the windshield, our cover fits better this way.

[h2onhk]

@rodecon we were looking at tower bimini. lot of great designs and color options. @mopowpow looked at those as well. Both sites had nice stuff.

 

Any thoughts on whether the 6 pole design is better than the single pole with straps? Strap system looks to collapse easier.

[bradenb12]

Here is a custom Bimini on my '89 SN that snaps to the windshield and provides plenty of shade. Gives it a nice clean low profile look IMO.

 

[rodecon]

@"h2o.nhk" I have the Tower Bimini with all aluminum struts which is very high quality , quiet and stable, but would agree that if u are looking for a lighter more collapsible Bimini the units with the straps may be better for u

[rodecon]

 

Here is a pic of mine (sorry, not a very good one)

[mopowpow]

@h2o.nhk, the straps are easy, we leave the back ones attached, pull up the bimini, and hook the front ones. It will vibrate some if the wind hits it just right. I couldn't find a picture of ours, I'll take one next time we are at the lake.

[h2onhk]

Great stuff guys. I will pass this info along. Pics really help! Thanks!

[TallSkinnyGuy]

Both the pics shown so far in this thread have the bimini much lower than I personally like it. I tend to like biminis at about 12" above the top of windshield and positioned so that the driver's head is in the middle of the bimini fore and aft. But everyone can be a little different with bimini preferences, so I recommend spending some time with friends who have biminis and figure out what you like best so that your first mount is a keeper.

[m_pags]

I used Covertex for my bimini on an 03' Malibu. They have different height and length options as well as fabrics. I went with a 36'' H x 60" L. I'm 6'3" and it gives us headroom but still good sun protection.