[jonseim]

I have a bimini I bought used and love it. My buddy wants one and I'm debating selling him mine if I can find a taller one. I'm 6'4" tall and have a floor welded into my 14' NRS raft. If I stand up, I have to squat, I can stand up slightly behind it and see over it, would love to have one I can stand under. I called Riversombrero/Riverboat Works in Salida and they said they were all 58" tall.
Are there others that are taller, I'd love one in an 8 foot shade.
I may buy a pipe bender and build one myself, but would love to see if there's one readily available.
Thanks,
Jon

 

[elkhaven]

I'm not tall, but since no one else has chimed in I'll offer my limited knowledge. Most power boat biminis are made in a variety of heights, I've seen 36, 47 and 54 most commonly. I have a 54" tall 8 foot long and I have plenty of head room when walking around, but I'm only 5'10". I assume that Sobrero's 58" tall variety would leave me with more head room but there is a point to the effectiveness. The taller they get the less effective they get when not directly under the sun. And for rain, it's even more noticeable. My first bimini was a home made version off of some power boat, it was around 40" tall and was really effective shedding rain. The drawback to shorter is it's harder to take in the scenery - they block more looking up and out of the boat and of course the head room issue.

When I was looking into my new one, I noticed companies making them for pontoon boats - you know the big party barges. They were taller and usually made out of 1" rectangular tubing - heavier duty in general. They were also more expensive but I suspect you could find one to fit your needs. In most cases if they are too tall it is fairly simple to cut them down a little. Oh yeah, another issue with taller biminis, they take more space to lay down - i.e. they reach farther back to where they lay flat. That might also be a consideration. I had to add tracks to allow mine to slide forward when I laid it down so that it sat where I wanted it.

Good luck.

 

[caverdan]

I've seen them at 60" tall. https://www.boatcoversdirect.com/products/bimini_tops/pontoon/round_tube.php

 

[richp]

Hi,

I am fairly tall also. When this issue presented itself, I extended the mounting points for the bimini tubes by about six inches vertically, so as to raise the bimini itself by that much. Regrettably, I have no available pictures to provide.

Hope this helps.

Rich Phillips

 

[jonseim]

Well, it looks like it's time to pull the trigger on a new bimini and sell my shorter one. The one I have is 6' long, fits 67-72 I believe and the longest pipe is 54" long laying down. The ones I have seen are 54" tall from mount to top. Those pipes are ~67" long giving me the added length.
Do guys love their river sombreros, DRE, buy one from a power boat place or someone else that I don't know about.
What's your favorite bimini, probably going 8' and looking to spend as little as possible, but believe in buy once, cry once philosophy. I'm guessing it's going to cost $500

Thanks in advance,
Jon

 

[tmacc]

We have a River 8' Sombrero. I'm 6'1'' and it works for me height wise. On advice from someone, we got the SS tube/SS hardware and it's heavy a crap. If I was to do again, I'd go with the alum. tubes and SS hardware.

Comments about height visa-vie sun and rain are spot on. I got a 13'6'' x 4'6'' sun screen that I can clip to the bimini for sun shade at camp. It can also be used for privacy screen if you want to use the solar shower hung from the bimini on the raft. Not the most comfortable, crammed in the foot well to use the SS, but it works

 

[ColoradoDave]

Maybe talk to Paul's Custom Canvas in Commerce City.

I've had that sort of stuff done there in the past for a power boat and they do a great job and had reasonable prices.

They can make exactly the height and Width / Length that you want and have all the fittings to attach to your boat as well.

 

[jonseim]

Thanks, hadn't heard of Paul's, will look him up.

 

[bcpnick]

I'm 6'4" and this one from Leader has worked great for me: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L7NROE4/

I got the 8'L × 54''H × 67''-72''W version in light grey and I couldn't be happier, especially considering it's basically the same as all the crap out there for hundreds more. For perspective, I also own a pontoon boat with a very expensive 1.25" square rail 10' bimini. Some pics of the Leader in action on an Aire 156R:

 

[bcpnick]

I should have mentioned that I did change out the deck hinges for these stainless ones: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000N9Q23W/. I just didn't like the idea of the plastic ones that came with the bimini. The stainless ones have worked great and the pin is spring loaded in place so it's super easy to take the whole thing off without unscrewing anything.

 

[Critter70]

So bcpnick I will say, I have been looking at your rig and using a lot about it to make my own. So how long is your frame? Love the small 5th bay. You have a nice neat set up.

 

[bcpnick]

So bcpnick I will say, I have been looking at your rig and using a lot about it to make my own. So how long is your frame? Love the small 5th bay. You have a nice neat set up.

Thank you. I really like that 5th bay too. I bought 96" NRS side rails and had them cut them down to 92" so that they would fill out the chafing strip area on my boat.

 

[4CRS]

We make ours with 66" tall frame bows. I'm 6'2 and have plenty of room to stand underneath in my 14' AIRE.

https://www.riversports.com/rs/prod...ft-Bimini-Shade-Canopy-Umbrella-Boat-Cataraft

 

[xxfullsailxx]

bcpnick-

are you able to fold the canopy both forward and aft?

i see you have it set up to go forward, just wondering if the geometry of these Bimini's allows them to fold backwards as well?

i'm looking to set one up similar to yours on a 16' boat and am wondering how much space it will occupy when down in the front of the boat...

thanks! you have a sweet set up... sorry for the high-jack!

 

[bcpnick]

bcpnick-

are you able to fold the canopy both forward and aft?

i see you have it set up to go forward, just wondering if the geometry of these Bimini's allows them to fold backwards as well?

i'm looking to set one up similar to yours on a 16' boat and am wondering how much space it will occupy when down in the front of the boat...

thanks! you have a sweet set up... sorry for the high-jack!

Yes, I can fold it both directions. If I have a big gear pile in the back, it doesn't go down very flat so usually I fold it to the front. Here's a pic of it down in the front of the boat but not strapped down or in the boot:

 

[xxfullsailxx]

Cool, thanks... how does it clear that Engel on the port side?

i am trying to decide whether to mount the same Bimini to the side rails, forward of the oar towers, where i wouldn't be able fold it backwards. one advantage would be it would help keep the kiddo's corralled in the front. but i don't want it to take up too much space and looks like it will make entry and exit of the boat a little more cumbersome...

VS.

attaching it to the decking so it could go forward or aft... though i had intended to strap water jugs to the rear decking, which would get in the way of laying flat too.

 

[bcpnick]

We fold it forward only when we are underway when the wind picks up or if we're going into a rapid or something. When we're in camp or beaching for some reason, we always fold it to the back, even if we have a gear pile so that it doesn't interfere with getting on and off. And the gear pile gets unloaded anyway.

The Engel drybox is just inside where the railing is so it doesn't interfere. Pic:

 

[bcpnick]

Here's a pic that my friend took of it folded back in camp. If you got Cascade's recent catalog in the mail, you might recognize this photo.

https://500px.com/photo/164004861/downriver-by-dave-cawley?ctx_page=1&from=user&user_id=13518843

 

[bcpnick]

Oh, and one with it down while we were floating:

 

[xxfullsailxx]

that is a glorious picture... what river?

thanks for the all the info.