"Doug Dotson" wrote:

Sorry Rosie. I stand by my emperical experience. I have been in
raftups during very hot summer days. Moving between a boat
with black canvas, burgundy (ours), boat blue, and cadet gray
(pretty light). I could not tell any difference. Not to say that there
was not any, but I couldn;t feel any.

I think it depends a bit on how much wind there is (you seem to
indicate that there was some). If there is a breeze the heat doesn't
accumulate. You would have to be able to measure the heat with no
ventilation in order to be able to feel the difference. Or you may
just not be very sensitive.

Anything that keeps the sun off will be cooler underneath. But I know
that having A/C in a building with a dark roof will be more expensive
to run to the same temp than a similar building with a light roof and
if you really want to bring the energy use down, run water over the
light colored roof. Also a building with a dark roof heats up in the
summer more than a building with a light colored roof. I do not see
how a bimini would be any different, absent lack of thru ventilation.

Doug
s/v Callista

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
.. .
x-no-archive:yes


"Doug Dotson" wrote:

It is somewhat counterintuative but I have never been able
to notice any difference in temperature under a dark bimini
vs a light color one.

Well I know that a light roof on a building makes it easier to air
condition. That's an accepted and proven engineering principle and
one of the ways the people who don't have A/C make their houses
cooler. (It also makes it significantly cooler if you run water over
the roof which is a possibility for a deck, but probably not for a
bimini)

I know the deck that is darker color is hotter on bare feet and
indeed, I know to walk through an asphalt parking lot barefoot on a
hot day by walking on the white lines that delineate the parking
spaces.

I know that where the stripe is on the side of the boat, we can feel
the difference in temperature of the hull inside of the boat
underneath of the stripe vs the light colored hull lower down. People
have told me that a dark colored hull is hotter inside than a light
colored hull.

So while I don't know that you'd be able to tell the difference
without some kind of actual thermometer reading, I'm pretty sure that
there is a difference. How much it is would have to be determined by
some kind of controlled experiment which 'noticing' isn't.

The transference of principles of cooling from land to boats is also
seen when people have a sun shade over top of the deck and bimini-
similar to the cooling effect where people have a whole attic fan
which brings cooler air in on the top of the living space.

A charter captain told me that she had a light bimini because the
folks that chartered the boat wanted to see all the light they could,
especially in the winter. But that if she had her preference she'd
like to make the cockpit a cool dark hole, shaded from the sun. I
want to be shaded from the sun, I just don't need it to be dark.



"Rosalie B." wrote in message
.. .
x-no-archive:yes

"Doug Dotson" wrote:

Hey, hey! Our whole boat is done in Burgundy. Pacific Blue is falling
out of favor around here (know popularly as Boat Blue). Captain
Navy has been most popular color around here for the last few years,
with burgundy, tan, and green close behind.

Doug
s/v Callista

Our boat is in the color known as Black Cherry in the catalogs, which
is maroon or burgundy. That's because we have a maroon stripe. I
don't care for the tan. I like the aqua and that would be my choice
maybe if we didn't have a boat with a red type stripe. I totally hate
black because it becomes a rusty brown, and I don't like brown either.

We used regular damask (double woven) upholstery fabric which we got
from a place that was going out of business to do the cushions inside
the boat. This is not a shiny satiny fabric - it's a very tough
fabric with a double woven design in it. I see no reason to pay for
Sunbrella for that - indoor or outdoor. We used plastic like fabric
on the backsides because it was significantly cheaper, and that's the
way the original cushions were done. (The original cushions were IMHO
a horrible tweed)

We also bought Sunbrella at this place which was bolt ends and
seconds, and have used it for things like hatch covers, winch covers,
dinghy motor covers etc where the fact that the waterproofing isn't as
reliable doesn't matter as much.

When we had the bimini made, it was made of Stamoid and we like it
very much although all the needle holes tend to leak, so you can't
make mistakes sewing it up. I asked whether I could have a light
colored bimini to reflect the sun and was told that I should not do
that because it would get dirty and the dark colors were cooler
anyway. I totally don't believe that dark colors are cooler, and the
Stamoid is easy to wash off.

I think the Sunbrella people tell folks that the dark colors are
better for biminis, but I read somewhere that dark colors protect
better against UV for the sail covers and the edges of the furling
headsails etc, so maybe that's what they are talking about.

"Steve" wrote in message
...
Yah! I been watching for Pacific Blue #4601 or #6001 on eBay, but I
must
have missed out on that one.. Most of the colors I have seen are
those
odd
colors, like Burgundy, etc.

I'm kinda committed to the Pacific Blue because I had several yards
of
it
already and I made the sleeve for the furled head sail already..

So far this price is the best I have found for what I need and the
fact
that
their minimum order is low and free shipping..

For the other poster concerned about the type; this site advertises
using
the Sunbrella logo and lists all that product by the the standard
color
numbers that I find on the actual Sunbrella site.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions




grandma Rosalie


grandma Rosalie


grandma Rosalie