Catalina 30 TRBS #2889 "Northern Light"

The photos that follow reveal how the frame was designed and constructed. Much of my time in this project was spent researching and photographing frames on other boats.

• We used stainless parts obtained online from MarinePartDepot. (Their website claims that their "sale" ends the very date you look at their website, but that's just automated verbiage. Their prices are always fairly low.)
• For prototyping I bent up the general frame shape from 1/2" electrical conduit just to get an idea of how it would look and feel on the boat. Because I used easily bendable 1/2" electrical conduit with the 1" stainless fittings, I removed the setscrews from the fittings and temporarily installed hex bolts as setscrews. To get an idea of the shade the bimini would provide I covered the frame with discarded white shrink material retained from the previous winter.
• Once the prototype design was acceptable I documented the width and height dimensions of the three hoops and gave it to the local canvas outfitter. He had a good idea of what radius and crown dimensions to use, and did a very nice job.
• Over the winter I assembled the finished frame on the living room floor and cut-and-fit a Sunbrella bimini awning to the frame. The bimini installs with zippers which means that the frames don't have to be removed to install it each year.
• The frame has three hoops. Two are positioned rear of the aft stay and the other forward of the stay. This means that the frame can't simply unpin and remove easily for the winter, but it does fold down in place relatively flat under the canvas cover.
• The entire frame sits on the stern rail; it doesn't extend down to the deck. It's rigidly held in place by two diagonal struts that are anchored at the stern rail over the transom. Unlike most other bimini installations there are no straps from the frame to anywhere on the deck. Removing the two diagonal struts is what allows the frame to be folded down during the winter.
• The solar panels (and Raytheon radome installed between them) are installed on an upper frame that straddles the underlying bimini frame. The solar panels are attached with white hinged fasteners that each have one screw that makes it easy to lift the panels off for the winter storage. The frame has to be unpinned at it's four corners and lifted off the bimini frame before the bimini frame can be folded down.
• The solar panels and TriStar MPPT controller were obtained from eMarine Systems in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The controller has it's own web server that communicates with the Ethernet network on the boat (but that will be the subject of a different link on my Catalina 30 page.)
• We've never missed having a completely open cockpit...we're not turning back. The bimini and solar panels are a real asset.

This is the prototype frame constructed out of 1/2" electrical conduit and temporarily stuck into the 1" stainless fittings.

Side view of the real frame.

Underside of the solar panel(s) on the upper frame.

Upper frame attachment points.

Another view showing struts down to the stern rail over the transom.

Finished photo showing the installed bimini cover. The radome fits between the panels and, being low profile, doesn't significantly shield the panels from sunlight.