New Canvas Question

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

My new boat has 20-year canvas on it and has done well for the California environment. The bridge bimini is Sunbrella supreme (it has a rubber backing). This is expensive stuff, but we think we found a flaw in it.

My Sea Ray only has regular Sunbrella. We have noticed that there is no condensation on the bottom side, meaning it is breathing in the wet weather. On the other hand on our trawler, we have noticed that we have water drops on the supreme stuff and are now questioning whether we want to replace it with the same stuff if it really doesn't breath all that much.

I know long explanation. So what do you think? For the PNW what is the best? Is it worth it spending the extra money for the supreme stuff if all it is going to do is become a breeding ground for mold and mildew?

 

[Bob Cofer]

We have had great success with regular Sunbrella on Siren. Around here wind usually accompanies rain and helps to dry it out. Not familiar the supreme product but if it does have a rubber backing then the wind drying seems like it would be less effective.

 

[SomeSailor]

You want Sunbrella Plus (Supreme is nice too) on the bimini and then regular Sunbrella for the side curtains. The Plus is waterproof (as is the Supreme... only flocked), which in my opinion is worth it for the bimini.

One other important design consideration is the direction of the seam(s) in your bimini. For areas with rain, you want to have the seam(s) running fore/aft and the crown of the bimini set so the water beads each cross the seam perpendicular rather than water running down the seam. It's less prone to leaking that way, but your seam is more visible. A trade off for wetter climates. Often in climates like California, they'll hide the seams right on top of each bow and run them athwartship.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

You want Sunbrella Plus (Supreme is nice too) on the bimini and then regular Sunbrella for the side curtains. The Plus is waterproof (as is the Supreme... only flocked), which in my opinion is worth it for the bimini.

One other important design consideration is the direction of the seam(s) in your bimini. For areas with rain, you want to have the seam(s) running fore/aft and the crown of the bimini set so the water beads each cross the seam perpendicular rather than water running down the seam. It's less prone to leaking that way, but your seam is more visible. A trade off for wetter climates. Often in climates like California, they'll hide the seams right on top of each bow and run them athwartship.

Well the Plus is what we are looking at, but don't you have issues with condensation build up?

 

[SomeSailor]

Not at all. I built my own flybridge enclosure and used Plus for the bimini and regular everywhere else. I did the same on our aft cockpit enclosure on our 2859.

There's enough airflow and breathing for it not to mold the bimini. It's "water proof" compared to "water resistant" you find in regular Sunbrella.