On Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:35:11 -0700, Frogwatch wrote:

Daughter who had melanoma at 17 (reddish hair and white skin) wants to
borrow my sailboat to sail to Bahamas with her bf. Both are good
sailors but my boat had no bimini and I thought before she borrowed it
I'd put one on it.

When is she planning this sail? At this time of year, wouldn't
hurricanes be of concern?

I never had one before because I thought it would
interfere with my looking at the sails and wind indicator and because I
thought there was no good wind in summer and its just too dang hot to
sail in summer anyway. In winter, I dont need a bimini. Well, I
installed it today. Dang, immediate relief from the heat even in the
canal. Took her out by myself to see how well it worked. 8 kts wind so
with big jib I sailed and not bad vis, it does require I poke head out
from under but it sure makes sailing nicer in summer. I suppose I was
just too stubborn all those years.

Nah, stubborn is for children. We're just set in our ways. ;-)