Maineiac wrote:
sailingsoulianis wrote:
We just bought the sailrite kit and are starting work on it this week. Hoping it's a semi easy job...
How has that worked out thus far? Did you get the zig zag or straight stitch? Making a full enclosure for the cockpit? I've had enough mini mosquitos and no-seeums eat me to know I want a full enclosure, weather curtains and no-seeum netting. Dengue, zika and chikungunya ain't no fun. Didn't get any of them living here for 15 years, and would rather not. I know people that have had all of them. We're slowing moving back down home to 18N. Zika and chikungunya won't kill you, but they can make you miserable as hell. Chikungunya was rampant a few years ago, and it's a knockdown for over 2 weeks. Heavy DEET applications and good screening.
We borrowed a straight stitch machine from a friend. It took quite a while, but then again we made it more difficult on ourselves by attaching 4 flexible solar panels to the top with velcro & tapered the aft end of the bimini to follow the pinched stern lines - which made it much more challenging to measure and fit a taught canvas than your standard square/rectangular frame.
The sailrite kit is not the most sexy looking, but we borrowed a pipe bender to add a bit more crown to ours, and did full stainless supports all the way around with some grab handles at the front which are really nice when coming back into the cockpit.
All-in-all we're extremely happy with the results, and we learned quite a bit along the way.
Here's a not-so-good photo of the end result:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxDoPSMB19y/