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Bimini left up or booted on lift


hethj7

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For those with a  lift, do you normally put your bimini back in the boot, or leave it deployed?   I have a covered lift and normally fold the bimini up.  It would be nice to skip this step and even leave a board or two on the top, but probably my biggest concern would just be the bugs.    What does the rest of the crew do?

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I leave my Bimini up.  In fact, i dont know that i ever took it down last summer after i put it up the first time.  I did notice that the bottom of it had some mildew on it at the end of the summer, but it wiped off pretty easily.

 

 

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ahopkins22LSV

I don’t store on a lift but I never put mine down after a day of use. My launch is only 2 miles away and the roads are 25-30mph so I just leave it up. I feel like it would dry out better left up then being put in the boot. If it got wet... I plan to just treat it like the boat cover every year. 

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I have mine on a covered lift and I left my bimini up all summer.  It is good to let it dry out. 
I never leave the boards on the boat.  They cost too much and I don't want to take any chances of something happening to them being left outside.

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We leave our Bimini up. We are on a covered lift all summer. Our Bimini stays deployed nearly all summer. We don’t leave boards up there tho. Usually put them down on the floor and put the cover on overnight or through the week when we aren’t there. There are a lot of bugs here in Oklahoma but a quick wipe off and you're G2G! 

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Edited by CBray4
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My bimini only goes in the boot for trips to the dealer. Otherwise it’s always deployed in the lift. But I also have a custom over the tower cover. So bugs aren’t a big deal. 

I have a little hammock that lays on top of the bimini. I roll the cover up onto it. Then hook the corners of the hammock up to cables I have hanging from the ceiling. Then just drop the boat out from under it. 

Because an all over the tower boat cover is flipping heavy!

i recommend that kind of cover btw. It’s worth the scratch. Just unzip and step in. Makes working on the boat in the winter and/or rain a pleasure. 

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Edited by Slurpee
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I don’t ever fold up my Bimini either. I’d be a little hesitant leaving boards up in plain sight, but I do leave them on the floor underneath the cover. I’m sure a lot of people take them back and forth, but I like to make coming and going to the lake as easy as possible. 

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I’m with @Slurpee

Best of all worlds: Bimini deployed, boards in racks, bug/bird poo free, ability to circulate air, then when you forget your car keys you can just climb back in via the zipper door. 

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  • Like 2
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Like the others.  I take my bimini off for winter storage, boat stays on the lift in a covered dock.  Put the bimini on in spring, once its deployed it stays that way all summer.  

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1 hour ago, CBray4 said:

@G Spot & @Slurpee I need info on these over the tower covers... Those things are bad a**! 

I got mine (and I bet so did G Spot) through my dealer when I ordered.  I seem to recall it was Dallas Canvas they sourced it from.  They had templates for most of Malibu's boats and years, and several options for the type of cover.  There website is dallascanvas.net.

Edited by Slurpee
  • Like 2
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Wow, thank everyone.   I'll try it out and see how I like it.  It seems so simple, but I was always concerned about bugs/birds, etc. on it.  

 

An over the tower cover has been something I wanted for several years, but I just have never pulled the trigger due to the cost.   And, assuming I only own this boat a season or two, $2K or whatever for an additional cover isn't in the budget year over year.  

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22 minutes ago, hethj7 said:

Wow, thank everyone.   I'll try it out and see how I like it.  It seems so simple, but I was always concerned about bugs/birds, etc. on it.  

 

An over the tower cover has been something I wanted for several years, but I just have never pulled the trigger due to the cost.   And, assuming I only own this boat a season or two, $2K or whatever for an additional cover isn't in the budget year over year.  

Well.... stay in the same model boat and don’t sell the cover. Ronnie’s had the same cover for his LSVs since 2016. And it’s a heck of a cover. When you consider how much you just spent for incremental improvements that are hard to quantify. $2k for a definitive practical function is probably the best option box you can check. 

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Ronnie also has the source of the cover local to him and I believe it has been modified slightly through the years.  

Now you have me justifying in my head all the incremental improvements I got in the new boat Knock it off!  This is TMC - everyone is supposed to help each other justify completely unjustifiable decisions with complete disregard to budgets 🤣

Wait.....maybe you just convinced me to go order a cover like Ronnie’s instead :)

 

 

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13 hours ago, Slurpee said:

I got mine (and I bet so did G Spot) through my dealer when I ordered.  I seem to recall it was Dallas Canvas they sourced it from.  They had templates for most of Malibu's boats and years, and several options for the type of cover.  There website is dallascanvas.net.

 

1 hour ago, hethj7 said:

Ronnie also has the source of the cover local to him and I believe it has been modified slightly through the years.  

Now you have me justifying in my head all the incremental improvements I got in the new boat Knock it off!  This is TMC - everyone is supposed to help each other justify completely unjustifiable decisions with complete disregard to budgets 🤣

Wait.....maybe you just convinced me to go order a cover like Ronnie’s instead :)

 

 

There’s your source. Just had a friend get one there for a 2019 23LSV. It’s a different material. They may have options now that weren’t available when I got mine in ’16. I’ve had mine on 4 different boats. I order the factory cover for the next owner and use the over the top cover for the few months I own the boat. I actually took this one to the laundry mat last week and washed it. I hung it over the Wife’s Denali to dry.

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1 hour ago, hethj7 said:

Now you have me justifying in my head all the incremental improvements I got in the new boat Knock it off!  This is TMC - everyone is supposed to help each other justify completely unjustifiable decisions with complete disregard to budgets 🤣

 

Just keeping it real. Enjoy your new boat cover. It’s amazing. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

What about an UNcovered boat lift? Mine will be outside on an uncovered HydroHoist boat lift all summer. Would you take the Bimini down after each use, or leave it up in direct sunlight throughout the week?

 

(The boat will obviously be covered, but my cover is not one of the cool "over the tower" covers in this thread.)

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ahopkins22LSV
50 minutes ago, Fish209 said:

What about an UNcovered boat lift? Mine will be outside on an uncovered HydroHoist boat lift all summer. Would you take the Bimini down after each use, or leave it up in direct sunlight throughout the week?

 

(The boat will obviously be covered, but my cover is not one of the cool "over the tower" covers in this thread.)

I left mine up all last summer. I plan to treat it with 303 at least once a year. I think it will hold up just fine although time will tell. 

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