Bimini on long distance tow

[sailor55330]

I have the standard Bimini on my boat. For regular towing, I leave the bimini in the normal folded position. For a longer tow (1,000 mi) would you try to take it off completely? I inquired at the dealer about converting to the EZ fold system and they didn't seem to keen on it. If I did remove it, I'm honestly not sure how I would transport the bimini.

Just curious.

[bruceb58]

I would take it off and lay it in the boat if you could. I lost my bimini on a previous boat while towing. The connections can break...I unfortunately know that.

[cmattj]

Hey pal
Side to side movement takes its toll over long haul. Perhaps just lay it flat with foam wraps to protect interior.

Easier to put up with 3 people this way.

[sailor55330]

Thanks Guys-

Confirmed my thoughts/suspicions. Still have a few months to contemplate.

[Big Block Power]

I towed 10 hours with mine plus it also came from Colorado to WI. I wouldn't worry for a minute.

[Snowman8]

I have also towed 10 plus hours with no issues either. Heck I tow close to 80 miles one way to go to the place we mainly boat. I’m not saying something cant happen but I have lots of miles with my bimini up.

With that being said I added the EZ fold system to our R5 last year. I do like the system but it isn’t without problems either. Both of the slide track locking mechanisms have broken allowing the bimini to drop. My dealer replaced the tracks and I have not had any trouble with it since.

[mdadgar]

I towed from CA to Table Rock and back with the bimini up but folded. I eventually destroyed a couple of the mounts in the fiberglass such that the bimini mounting plates pulled out of the boat body. It's a real mess that I kludged to keep using but need to have repaired correctly. I ultimately would prefer to just replace the bimini with a wake tower + integrated bimini and spend my fiberglass repair $$ on removing the bimini mounts completely. Unfortunately, Samson is really backed up at the moment.

Anyway, if you are going to tow a long way, undo the front bimini rods and lay the bimini flat.

- Mark

[ajcampen]

Also you can tape the bottom on the bimini boot so it does t open up and blow off with shrink wrap tape.

[Tuscany]

The conversion to EZ Fold is well...easy. Tell your dealer to grow a pair.
IMO, I don’t know why Cobalt bothers with the permanent mount..

[Mike in SC]

Not sure if everyone's boat has the same Bimini structure. I have bimini supports that are super heavy duty, pretty sure it would withstand unlimited towing in the stowed upright position.

Another thing- I have garage envy of the pictures above!

[Tuscany]

If you think about it, a Bimini will take 4x the physical beating on the water than what it will ever see on land. If it doesn’t fold, I wouldn’t lose a second of sleep.

[rabiddawg]

Tuscany, you obviously have never driven La. roads

[mdadgar]

Not sure if everyone's boat has the same Bimini structure. I have bimini supports that are super heavy duty, pretty sure it would withstand unlimited towing in the stowed upright position.

It's not the uprights that fail - it's the hull mounts where they are bolted into the fiberglass.

Ask me how I know.

- Mark

[Mike in SC]

Not sure if everyone's boat has the same Bimini structure. I have bimini supports that are super heavy duty, pretty sure it would withstand unlimited towing in the stowed upright position.

It's not the uprights that fail - it's the hull mounts where they are bolted into the fiberglass.

Ask me how I know.

- Mark

Still wondering if we're comparing apples to apples here, but your experience certainly means something. I am trying to imagine my bimini getting damaged or the mounts being pulled out during towing, and having a hard time. No, I don't want to test it and see what happens!

[Tuscany]

Tuscany, you obviously have never driven La. roads

LOL you have a point, but trust me, live in western NY, which might as well be Siberia when it comes to State road money.
And yes, I agree with the post above that points out that the weak areas are the fiberglass mounts. Another reason to install the EZ slide mounts where the rear attachments are mounted on the top of the gunnels instead of the permanent side hull mounts. The modern Cobalt Bimini does have a unique feature that lets you torque down the whole apparatus which totally removes all of the slack, and takes the shock from loose parts out of the equation, but that feature is only good when fully deployed.

Mike, if you are concerned, just drop the Bimini, fully support/secure, and your worries are over.