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220 Owners,

So I'm one that folds the bimini down inside the boat and let it lay across the back seats with a few floaty pads under it to protect the fabric. It is tightly wrapped up inside the boot. My steps to do this is that I remove the front supports and put them in their holders under the seat, and then unclip the two 'Cross Members' that go from about the mid points on the rear over head bimini bar to each side bar for lateral support, and fold them up inside the boot. At this point then I simply release the rear supports, let them swing forward and lay them nicely alongside the rest of the support poles with a piece of velcro holding all three together so they don't bounce around. This lets the bimini pivot at its mounting points and lay down across the back seat.

So last night I was fooling around with it, and I discovered that I can actually lay the bimini down WITHOUT having the disconnect those two 'Cross Member' bars. The upside of this is that its quicker, and easier as those two seem to be pretty tight so are hard to unclip. Plus this removes a few steps and thus I have a few less things to worry about while taking it down. The downside is that the rear support bars don't lay up nicely along the other supports as the the cross member bars keep them held 'in' a bit more. I still throw a piece of velcro around for support, but the two rears poles aren't nicely snugged in with the rest of the bars. I'm not sure it matters, but just trying to paint a picture.

So my question: For those that also fold the bimini down for storage/transport - Do you disconnect those two 'cross members' and fold them into the boot, or do you just lay it down with those still in place? Is there any pros/cons to one way versus the other?

FYI: I have to fold it down as my carport at home and at the lake storage is too low to leave it up, so for those saying to keep it up, I simply cannot.

Thanks!

Just laid my Bimini down to put the boat cover on. It's stored in a driveway under oak trees...It seemed to require that I remove 3 sets of braces to let it lay down without stress. Love to do it without taking all that apart. I'll check next time.

Thanks for the the response. I decided to disconnect the cross members. I was spending time in the cockpit imagining the to rear posts bouncing in a bit of a stressed manner if I kept those two cross braces attached. I just popped them off, and zipped them up in the boot. After spending some time with it, I feel like the geometry could be tweaked ever so slightly to allow it all to lay down securely. But oh well...the more I use it, the more I find ways to make it easier and easier.

Please let me know what you think after spending some times with yours!

@ Bigghauss: I've always zipped up the cross-bars too, but I'll try laying it down without doing that on my 210 this weekend.

G

Update: I have not been able to make work, so I'll still be zippering up my crossbars.

G