Boating/T-Top question
 

I have a five year old Sea Pro 17 ft. center console and want to install
a t-top. My main concern is the added weight and higher center of
gravity. The boat is mainly used in St. Johns River at Mayport, FL, and
occasionally a few miles offshore when the ocean is flat.

Any of you experts have comparable experiences and advice?

Boating/T-Top question
 

On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 09:53:17 -0500, "Lu Powell"
wrote:

I have a five year old Sea Pro 17 ft. center console and want to install
a t-top. My main concern is the added weight and higher center of
gravity. The boat is mainly used in St. Johns River at Mayport, FL, and
occasionally a few miles offshore when the ocean is flat.

Any of you experts have comparable experiences and advice?



I just bought an 18'er and had the same question. I went with a bimini. I
plan to trailer a lot, and thought the t-top may suffer somewhat. I also
plan to do a lot of family boating, where the bimini will be very useful.

Yes, it gets in the way of fishing, unless one sticks to the stern. But, I
figure I'll wear the Tilley hat someone here talked me into buying for a
ridiculous amount of money. (Which was still a lot cheaper than the t-top.)
--
John H

Boating/T-Top question
 

Thanks. I have a bimini and hate it.

"John H." wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 09:53:17 -0500, "Lu Powell"
wrote:

I have a five year old Sea Pro 17 ft. center console and want to
install
a t-top. My main concern is the added weight and higher center of
gravity. The boat is mainly used in St. Johns River at Mayport, FL,
and
occasionally a few miles offshore when the ocean is flat.

Any of you experts have comparable experiences and advice?



I just bought an 18'er and had the same question. I went with a
bimini. I
plan to trailer a lot, and thought the t-top may suffer somewhat. I
also
plan to do a lot of family boating, where the bimini will be very
useful.

Yes, it gets in the way of fishing, unless one sticks to the stern.
But, I
figure I'll wear the Tilley hat someone here talked me into buying for
a
ridiculous amount of money. (Which was still a lot cheaper than the
t-top.)
--
John H

Boating/T-Top question
 

On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 09:53:17 -0500, "Lu Powell"
wrote:

I have a five year old Sea Pro 17 ft. center console and want to install
a t-top. My main concern is the added weight and higher center of
gravity. The boat is mainly used in St. Johns River at Mayport, FL, and
occasionally a few miles offshore when the ocean is flat.

Any of you experts have comparable experiences and advice?


I had an 18' SeaPro CC when I lived in the Jax area, and had a shop out
on Atlantic almost next door to the ICW bridge do a nice tee-top for me.
The tee-top worked out just fine, but I missed the bimini top I had on a
previous small center console boat, because it simply did not provide
enough shade on those hot Jax days when you want more shade.

Who is the SeaPro dealer in that area these days? It used to be Mayport
Marine after the Orange Park Ranger & SeaPro dealership changed hands.

You must eat at Singleton's...one of the few restaurants down there I miss.

I used to live fishing right off the north jetty there. You could never
even guess what you might catch.

Boating/T-Top question
 

On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:46:15 -0500, "Lu Powell"
wrote:

Thanks. I have a bimini and hate it.

"John H." wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 09:53:17 -0500, "Lu Powell"
wrote:

I have a five year old Sea Pro 17 ft. center console and want to
install
a t-top. My main concern is the added weight and higher center of
gravity. The boat is mainly used in St. Johns River at Mayport, FL,
and
occasionally a few miles offshore when the ocean is flat.

Any of you experts have comparable experiences and advice?



I just bought an 18'er and had the same question. I went with a
bimini. I
plan to trailer a lot, and thought the t-top may suffer somewhat. I
also
plan to do a lot of family boating, where the bimini will be very
useful.

Yes, it gets in the way of fishing, unless one sticks to the stern.
But, I
figure I'll wear the Tilley hat someone here talked me into buying for
a
ridiculous amount of money. (Which was still a lot cheaper than the
t-top.)
--
John H


I may end up feeling the same way.
--
John H

Boating/T-Top question
 

[snipped]

"HK" wrote in message
. ..


I had an 18' SeaPro CC when I lived in the Jax area, and had a shop
out on Atlantic almost next door to the ICW bridge do a nice tee-top
for me.
The tee-top worked out just fine, but I missed the bimini top I had on
a previous small center console boat, because it simply did not
provide enough shade on those hot Jax days when you want more shade.

Who is the SeaPro dealer in that area these days? It used to be
Mayport Marine after the Orange Park Ranger & SeaPro dealership
changed hands.

You must eat at Singleton's...one of the few restaurants down there I
miss.

I used to live fishing right off the north jetty there. You could
never even guess what you might catch.

I'm thinking I might use the same shop for the T-top work. It's about 2
miles from my house. Singleton's WAS a great place to eat. Last time we
were there, the flies and the heightened prices caused me to change my
opinion of the place.

Fishing off the north and south jetties is always "like a box of
chocolates, you never know...."

Boating/T-Top question
 

On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 23:20:02 -0500, "Lu Powell"
wrote:

[snipped]

"HK" wrote in message
...


I had an 18' SeaPro CC when I lived in the Jax area, and had a shop
out on Atlantic almost next door to the ICW bridge do a nice tee-top
for me.
The tee-top worked out just fine, but I missed the bimini top I had on
a previous small center console boat, because it simply did not
provide enough shade on those hot Jax days when you want more shade.

Who is the SeaPro dealer in that area these days? It used to be
Mayport Marine after the Orange Park Ranger & SeaPro dealership
changed hands.

You must eat at Singleton's...one of the few restaurants down there I
miss.

I used to live fishing right off the north jetty there. You could
never even guess what you might catch.

I'm thinking I might use the same shop for the T-top work. It's about 2
miles from my house. Singleton's WAS a great place to eat. Last time we
were there, the flies and the heightened prices caused me to change my
opinion of the place.

Fishing off the north and south jetties is always "like a box of
chocolates, you never know...."

I havea T-top on my 20 foot Ranger and wouldn't trade it. Bimini's
are fine, but if you are serious about fishing, a T-top is the way to
go. Plus you can eek out some extra storage under the T-top for
PFD's, ditch kit and the like.

Here's a picture.

http://www.swsports.org/images/Ranger.JPG

The only consideration I would suggest is that you stay away from the
cheapie T-tops you see around, on Bass Pro and on the Web - they are
basically made out of Schedule 40 tubing, only a little better grade
metal - they aren't very sturdy at all.

With respect to vertical movement and changing the COG, forget about
it- ain't gonna change it enough for you to notice.

Boating/T-Top question
 

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 23:20:02 -0500, "Lu Powell"
wrote:

[snipped]

"HK" wrote in message
. ..


I had an 18' SeaPro CC when I lived in the Jax area, and had a shop
out on Atlantic almost next door to the ICW bridge do a nice tee-top
for me.
The tee-top worked out just fine, but I missed the bimini top I had on
a previous small center console boat, because it simply did not
provide enough shade on those hot Jax days when you want more shade.

Who is the SeaPro dealer in that area these days? It used to be
Mayport Marine after the Orange Park Ranger & SeaPro dealership
changed hands.

You must eat at Singleton's...one of the few restaurants down there I
miss.

I used to live fishing right off the north jetty there. You could
never even guess what you might catch.
I'm thinking I might use the same shop for the T-top work. It's about 2
miles from my house. Singleton's WAS a great place to eat. Last time we
were there, the flies and the heightened prices caused me to change my
opinion of the place.

Fishing off the north and south jetties is always "like a box of
chocolates, you never know...."

I havea T-top on my 20 foot Ranger and wouldn't trade it. Bimini's
are fine, but if you are serious about fishing, a T-top is the way to
go. Plus you can eek out some extra storage under the T-top for
PFD's, ditch kit and the like.

Here's a picture.

http://www.swsports.org/images/Ranger.JPG

The only consideration I would suggest is that you stay away from the
cheapie T-tops you see around, on Bass Pro and on the Web - they are
basically made out of Schedule 40 tubing, only a little better grade
metal - they aren't very sturdy at all.

With respect to vertical movement and changing the COG, forget about
it- ain't gonna change it enough for you to notice.

What is the width of the T-Top in comparison to the width of the boat?
I had a T-Top almost as wide as the boat, and for anyone at the helm or
passenger side, they had as much shade as would be provided by a bimini.
My first runabout has a Bimini that was longer front to back, but
would take much more abuse, shaking about while underway. It was a pain
to put up and down, so we didn't use it as much. It was a pain to
store, or was in the way while folded up, when it was up, the straps
always got in the way. Since the kids all wore sunscreen, and really
wanted to sit or lay out in the sun, I never missed the additional
length a bimini could have provided. JohnH is getting the bimini,
because the boat will be also be used a family runabout, but I can't
imagine any serious fisherman using a bimini.

Boating/T-Top question
 

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 08:00:43 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
[email protected] wrote:

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 23:20:02 -0500, "Lu Powell"
wrote:

[snipped]

"HK" wrote in message
. ..


I had an 18' SeaPro CC when I lived in the Jax area, and had a shop
out on Atlantic almost next door to the ICW bridge do a nice tee-top
for me.
The tee-top worked out just fine, but I missed the bimini top I had on
a previous small center console boat, because it simply did not
provide enough shade on those hot Jax days when you want more shade.

Who is the SeaPro dealer in that area these days? It used to be
Mayport Marine after the Orange Park Ranger & SeaPro dealership
changed hands.

You must eat at Singleton's...one of the few restaurants down there I
miss.

I used to live fishing right off the north jetty there. You could
never even guess what you might catch.
I'm thinking I might use the same shop for the T-top work. It's about 2
miles from my house. Singleton's WAS a great place to eat. Last time we
were there, the flies and the heightened prices caused me to change my
opinion of the place.

Fishing off the north and south jetties is always "like a box of
chocolates, you never know...."

I havea T-top on my 20 foot Ranger and wouldn't trade it. Bimini's
are fine, but if you are serious about fishing, a T-top is the way to
go. Plus you can eek out some extra storage under the T-top for
PFD's, ditch kit and the like.

Here's a picture.

http://www.swsports.org/images/Ranger.JPG

The only consideration I would suggest is that you stay away from the
cheapie T-tops you see around, on Bass Pro and on the Web - they are
basically made out of Schedule 40 tubing, only a little better grade
metal - they aren't very sturdy at all.

With respect to vertical movement and changing the COG, forget about
it- ain't gonna change it enough for you to notice.

What is the width of the T-Top in comparison to the width of the boat?
I had a T-Top almost as wide as the boat, and for anyone at the helm or
passenger side, they had as much shade as would be provided by a bimini.
My first runabout has a Bimini that was longer front to back, but
would take much more abuse, shaking about while underway. It was a pain
to put up and down, so we didn't use it as much. It was a pain to
store, or was in the way while folded up, when it was up, the straps
always got in the way. Since the kids all wore sunscreen, and really
wanted to sit or lay out in the sun, I never missed the additional
length a bimini could have provided. JohnH is getting the bimini,
because the boat will be also be used a family runabout, but I can't
imagine any serious fisherman using a bimini.

And JohnH may change his mind and get a t-top later. I hadn't thought about
a wider t-top.
--
John H

Boating/T-Top question
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 23:20:02 -0500, "Lu Powell"
wrote:

[snipped]

"HK" wrote in message
m...


I had an 18' SeaPro CC when I lived in the Jax area, and had a shop
out on Atlantic almost next door to the ICW bridge do a nice tee-top
for me.
The tee-top worked out just fine, but I missed the bimini top I had
on
a previous small center console boat, because it simply did not
provide enough shade on those hot Jax days when you want more shade.

Who is the SeaPro dealer in that area these days? It used to be
Mayport Marine after the Orange Park Ranger & SeaPro dealership
changed hands.

You must eat at Singleton's...one of the few restaurants down there
I
miss.

I used to live fishing right off the north jetty there. You could
never even guess what you might catch.

I'm thinking I might use the same shop for the T-top work. It's about
2
miles from my house. Singleton's WAS a great place to eat. Last time
we
were there, the flies and the heightened prices caused me to change my
opinion of the place.

Fishing off the north and south jetties is always "like a box of
chocolates, you never know...."

I havea T-top on my 20 foot Ranger and wouldn't trade it. Bimini's
are fine, but if you are serious about fishing, a T-top is the way to
go. Plus you can eek out some extra storage under the T-top for
PFD's, ditch kit and the like.

Here's a picture.

http://www.swsports.org/images/Ranger.JPG

The only consideration I would suggest is that you stay away from the
cheapie T-tops you see around, on Bass Pro and on the Web - they are
basically made out of Schedule 40 tubing, only a little better grade
metal - they aren't very sturdy at all.

With respect to vertical movement and changing the COG, forget about
it- ain't gonna change it enough for you to notice.

Great looking setup. What would the weight be of a t-top similar to
that?