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Bimini is made out of PVC
On Sat, 26 Nov 2005 15:25:17 -0500, rhys wrote:
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... My guess is that if ABS tubing should it break it is likely the ends would be spear like. If you were to have say a 14 gauge wire run through the tubing filled with foam or epoxy it would probably mitigate both breakage and spear tips if it does break. I did read an article about an ABS wisker pole and the the issues that could exist in that instances which is a totally different set of factors and circumstance. If ABS where to be used in this instance filling the tub with foam and wire would be a minimum if advisable to use ABS in this instance at all. I like the idea and the design, and I see no issue for at-dock or fair weather sailing usage. I like the idea although I think the design could be improved. I think that the builders intention is for it to be used during actual sailing as at the dock a boom tent would work well. 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. Yep... 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? The weak spots would be the fittings and by the size of the pvc I would think it is fairly flexible. 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. Good point. It seems like there are some possiblities. The other point the builder made regarding this material is the cost factor. It is probably likely that if they were unable to build this cost effective alternative that they would not have a bimini at all. R. Mic |
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