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I am the proud new owner of a gorgeous 1986 15' Super Sport. The first bit of business is to get a bimini top installed. I spoke with the friendly folks at Carver Ind. (Endura Cover) to help ensure that I was measuring correctly. My biggest question is about placement of wood inserts. I have found a lot of information from Boston Whaler that all shows the inserts located at the profile edge midway between the deck and the upper ledge of the gunnel. Every bimini top that I see out on the water is installed on the highest horizontal (the gunnel's upper ledge). I am in favor of this location, but I am concerned because I am not finding any information that shows a wood insert in that area. This probably seems like overkill on bimini top installation, I just want to do it right. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Semper Paratus,

Jesse

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I am sure others will weigh in here but this is what I have. I mounted a bimini on my 15 on the top of the gunnel. I used a little 3M 4200 under all the fittings and have not had any problems. I think as long as you do not tow the boat down the highway with the top up you will be fine. When you mount it be sure you know where it will stow when not up. If it lays to the back be sure the motor does not hit it when trimmed up.

There is wood on the lip down behind the side rails. It would be possible to order it longer and mount it down there. You would have to be sure it would lay down in the stern before you mount it and the fittings would probably rub on the sides quite a bit when laid back.

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thru bolt it through the top cap w stainless bolts, nylock nuts and backing plates if at all poss.


huge wind load, esp. if traveling on a trailer

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Bake,

Thanks for that, I completely agree with you about the bimini frame rubbing against the side rail if it were mounted in the same area and not on top of the gunnel. I am excited to start this project.

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Mills Canvass has an installation diagram showing the eyes mounted on the vertical inside of the gunnels and the base on top (5/8" from the inside edge for the 15' ) . The site is http://www.millscanvas.com/frame_inde..._index.htm . Click in the link in the "Document" line.

There are locations shown for both 13' and 15' Whalers on the same drawing. I have not cross checked the locations with thsi site's wood location drawings, but it appears the instructions utilize the appropriate wood locations.

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I mounted mine to the top of the rap-around railing. It's stainless, secure and gives me an extra few inches of standing room.

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Just noticed that the link does not go to the correct page. To see the diagrams, click on the link; select "Whaler Canvass" on the left side; Select "Products" from the top menu; Select the model from the pull down menu "15' Sport" for example; select "Suntop W/ Boot"; then and finally select the link beside "Document". This will take you to a parts list and installation drawings for the 13' and 15' classic.

The strap eyes appear to be screwed into plywood located in the gunnels. The top base says to use "well nuts" so this may not be screwed into wood.

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The main upright frame rails do not hold the top down or stop it from swaying or blowing off in the wind....

It is the 4 straps that hold the top down and in place.
The eyes for the 4 straps should be in wood...

i think you will find in any of the drawings, that the eyes are mounted where there is wood.

If you mount the main frame rails on top of the gunwale, it isn't necessary to have wood there although it would be better....
Again, the straps hold the top down and keep it from blowing up and off, not the main frame rails...

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I mounted my Bimini top on top of the gunnel for two reasons, one its mounted in a track so when not in use the Bimini top can slide forward and rolled , tight down to the front norman pin. Putting it in a track also allows for a lot more screws to hold it in place (I used 5200 on the back of the track as well) second its now tall enough to stand under while the top is up. I also place my eyes at 45 degree angles for more holding power for the straps.

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Thanks for the information. I was a bit surprised in the measuring process because most website's default size bimini top for my boat doesn't match up. The bottom width (mounting location) of the suggested size bimini top for a 15' super sport has a range of 67" - 72". The range is due to the frame's ability to flex and apparently is no problem. Well, my measurements give me a maximum width at the top of the gunnel of 65" give or take. The only reason I bring this up is because after discussing this with the manufacturer they suggested going with a different size, not the suggested one.

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I would check with a couple different suppliers for available widths. I bout a used one off of a wide 17 foot key west knowing I could flex it in quite a bit. The quite a bit will flex onto My EdgeWater but you can tell the way the top rocks around it is in a bind. Something else that adds to the bouncing around is that the top had poles on one end rather than snaps so I can only snug it in one direction. That said I would not get any thing more than a total of 4 inches wider than you think you need. That would be two inches of flex each side.