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On Sat, 26 Nov 2005 03:57:45 GMT, (Mic) wrote:

Sometime ago I made a usenet posting regarding building a Dodger from
ABS and not PVC.

Granted that such a system my not be for serious long blue water
cruising.

Maybe, maybe not. Does ABS shatter into sharp flying pieces when
stressed? Steel tubing doesn't...

I like the idea and the design, and I see no issue for at-dock or fair
weather sailing usage.

There might be a question of how good lifeline mounts would be, as
wind movement of the bimini might conceivably lead to unusual chafe in
the lifelines.

But when you *want* the bimini for foul weather outside work, or just
to avoid sealing up the boat in fair weather/windy conditions (green
water splashing back to the cockpit, spray, etc.) is it sturdy enough?

I don't know enough about the strength of tubular ABS to comment. I
will point out though that here in Toronto, a number of boats have
moved from aluminum tube and clamp frame and/or wooden frames for boat
covers to ABS pipe frames in what looks a 2" O.D. size. They then use
a standard canvas, weighted "blue" tarp or the shrink-wrap to cover
the boat.

Given the 40-50 knot winter gales and the occasionally heavy snows we
can get (and we've seen several instances even in November), I suspect
if it was a flawed concept, the ABS would have failed. I haven't
noticed that, but the pipe diameters are a lot larger when used as
tarp framing.

R.