Bye bye Bimini!

[Woodsong]

Not the island- but my bimini up on the bridge!!! Major storms are tearing through Chattanooga today/tonight. *A dock neighbor called me this morning to let me know that my bimini had met it's demise. *It seems the winds were so high it tore the bimini loose and bent the stainless steel frame all up! *Replacing the bimini top was on my "to do" list but not at the top- it has suddenly thrust itself to the top of the list now! *

To make matters more fun, a huge oak tree fell across the gangway to the dock and crushed all the power meters for the dock so the dock has no power today. *I'll have to get my neighbors to crank my generator for me for a while tomorrow to charge everything up since I don't have a remote switch here in the office. *

 

[Pineapple Girl]

YIKES!* I am glad nobody was hurt!

 

[Per]

wait a second, you dont have a remote for your generator??
c'mon now get with the technology.


j/k of-course..

will insurance now cover new bimini and frame?

 

[Moonstruck]

Woodsong wrote:
Not the island- but my bimini up on the bridge!!! Major storms are tearing through Chattanooga today/tonight. *A dock neighbor called me this morning to let me know that my bimini had met it's demise. *It seems the winds were so high it tore the bimini loose and bent the stainless steel frame all up! *Replacing the bimini top was on my "to do" list but not at the top- it has suddenly thrust itself to the top of the list now! *

To make matters more fun, a huge oak tree fell across the gangway to the dock and crushed all the power meters for the dock so the dock has no power today. *I'll have to get my neighbors to crank my generator for me for a while tomorrow to charge everything up since I don't have a remote switch here in the office. *

*Tony, I hope it didn't hurt that beautiful paint job.* I can attest to the strength of the storm.* My neighbos 4 blocks down the street (the county jail) got their front door blown in.* I guess all the prisoners ran out.* We are not out of the woods on this yet.* It looks like it's coming your way in Woodstock later tonight.* Take care.

*

 

[Woodsong]

We'll see what insurance says- my deductable is probably too high.
Don- Alred marina got hammered today as well- looks really bad there:
http://guntersville.waff.com/news/business/marina-damage/53391

My dock neighbors secured the bimini frame and put my flybridge seat cushions in the cabin. Glad I have my boat tied down with 3/4" lines! Neighbor next to me just moved a 38 aft cabin carver that he has tied down I swear with what look like 3/8" lines- hope she holds.

I just hope our new teak table and chairs on the bridge don't fly away tonight in the storms!!!

 

[Moonstruck]

Boy, did Alred's get hammered.* They probably had a hundred boats in there.* That's the worst windstorm damage I've seen in a marina.* What a mess!

 

[markpierce]

Batten the hatches, boys.

Thank goodness*for helpful dock neighbors.

 

[Pineapple Girl]

uh oh can you get someone to put away your table and chairs?* we lost a cover off a chair and had chairs moved around in one of our storms here.* Best to put everything away!* When I lived in NC I had a patio umbrella take flight and get into a fight with one of those wrought iron garden structures.* They both lost that one.* Better that than a patio umbrella through a window though.*

 

[Moonstruck]

If you guys are watching the* Weather Channel, the reporter from Chattanooga is about a block from my home. He is almost under the Walnut St. pedestrian bridge that I walk most every day.*

 

[Max Simmons]

Same thing happened to me last year. The cheap aluminum frame broke and spent the night gouging the side of the bridge. I have since replaced it with stainless and now never leave it up when I leave the boat, just use the bridge cover for protection. Buffing out the f-glass and re-painting the bridge stripe are still on my to do list. One benefit of a 26 year old boat is the battle scars don't show up that bad.

 

[scarletbison]

between the Winds and the predicted river flooding I was getting worried about you guys in that neck of the woods.

 

[ARoss]

I'm fortunate to have our marina so close -- even so, I will almost never leave the bimini "unfurled -- a simple enough task, and if really bad weather threatens, lowering the whole frame to the flybridge rails only requires pulling a couple of pins...

 

[JohnP]

Old Stone wrote:*I like a slightly lower bimini rather than high, like many. I think it streamlines the boat, and is much more effective in the rain. Just my opinion.

**********Ditto, Better shading also IMHO.** JohnP

*

 

[Pineapple Girl]

I was reading about all the death and destruction in the SE from these storms.* I hope all our TF friends are ok!

 

[Moonstruck]

Pineapple Girl wrote:
I was reading about all the death and destruction in the SE from these storms.* I hope all our TF friends are ok!

*thanks, Jennifer.* I don;t think Tony has checked in.* It was a hell of a night.* There were tornados all around.* I had my sister get into her pantry in the middle of the house.* She had two very large trees down in her back yard that*ripped the electric service entrance off her house.* I am moving her in my place until she can go back.* Lou was in Cartersville, GA with Troy.* I had her get down in the basement under the stairway.* Then it was watching the weather closely (I never lost power), and checking to see if they and my kids were OK.* Thankfully, we are fine.

Still planning to pick up the rental car today at 4:00 pm to drive down tomorrow for the trip.* I think everyone is settled now.

*

 

[Tidahapah]

Boy watching all those tornadoes on TV , must of been hell for a lot of people.
So many deaths, it looks like one disaster after another all round the world.

Couldn't believe the destruction path of some of those tornadoes.
Gotta feel for all those people.
Benn

 

[blacksheep]

Hi Guys: That was the worst bunch of storms in a long while!Many dead and hurt from the storms.The storms were all around us here in Winchester and we lost power for 24 hours but that was about it other than hail and wind lots of rain. I was very afraid that my boat would be gone as it is sitting on Blocks just outside on my lot next door.Guess the weight held it down.

 

[FF]

Instead of a Bimini , our choice is for 9ft yard umbrellas.

At $50. each its not a big deal if one goes away.

The height of summer sun is done with a 10x10 yard canopy that is not struck at night.

At $65 its amazing how long one will last , even tho its crap Chinese steel with no marine paint.

 

[Woodsong]

ALl, i've been at the marina since Thursday with no wifi! The storms knocked out power there for about 24 hours but the phones are still down so no wifi. I had to make do with just my email and internet connection via my iPhone!!! It was tough.
The bimini is toast. I've got a guy coming out tomorrow to get me a quote for either repair existing frame and new bimini top, as well as quote me to extend the bimini to cover all of the bridge (right now it only covers helm area which is about 50% of the bridge deck), and possibly add 3 sides of eisenglass to block weather at upper helm. I suspect I will just go with new bimini and leave it at that- I don't really need eisenglass at all since we've got the lower helm.

Storms thankfully went north of our house but boy did they do a lot of damage north of us and south of the boat. Very sad.

 

[FlyWright]

Tony, if you go with the full bimini with zippers, you could add the isenglass at a later date if and when you want. Just a thought...

 

[JohnP]

Tony,* Beware of overcanvasing, remember the Cheoy Lee!

Glad you guys came thru with minor stuff.* JohnP

 

[Woodsong]

Long live the Cheoy Lee!! If I owned that boat I would have had to name her simply "Canvas"!

I think we're just going to repair the bimini to her original size as it is nice to have the table on our aft bridge deck open. I may add some eisenglass on 3 sides for wind/weather protection but not sure I need that even.