blindmullet Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Hi All, I bought my boat nearly 3 years ago and ive been thinking of adding some storm or more like camper covers. The pic is my idea but if any of you have done this before or have a better idea i would love to hear it. Also if you know of anyone who does this sort of work im looking for recommendations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fab1 Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 First thing I'd do is toss that Bimini as it will be useless for what you want.It depends how handy you are how you would proceed. Some ally tubing and fittings,marine grade vinyl a sewing machine,fasteners like rivets,press studs,eyelets and short bungee cords you'd be surprised what you can make.Again it depends on you. I'd make a frame up from the top of your screen back out of the tubing with bracing down to the gunnels then line the roof with the vinyl with zips sown into the sides of the roof. I'd make up matching side curtains with zips on top to zip to roof and have eyelets on the bottom of side curtains with short bungee hooks that hook to the underside of the gunnels. Then you can have the shade,protection of just the roof or zip the sides on to the roof and attach the bungee cords to gunnels. There's a million ideas I could come up with and hope this makes sense just for an idea. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 I did some boat camping in a little centre console before I had the kids, simply used roll mats and sleeping bags. Had a tarp in case of rain but picked nights with good forecasts and never had to use the tarp, watching the stars from an open boat was pretty special. What ever you end up doing just be careful you don't have your petrol breather on the inside of any enclosure, nothing worse than smelling petrol fumes all night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campr Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 I bought a 5.6 quinnie with a canopy similar to yours with clears between canopy and top of screen and had a local firm (Kirrawee) make side clears. This fully enclosed boat from front to back of bimini. I have camped overnight a few times by tying a canopy from bimini to back of boat. Copped some heavy rain on one occasion and kept dry ok. Will try to post photo but currently having probs with my pc. If you pm your phone no I could text you photo. Regards Ron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindmullet Posted July 11, 2018 Author Share Posted July 11, 2018 14 hours ago, Fab1 said: First thing I'd do is toss that Bimini as it will be useless for what you want.It depends how handy you are how you would proceed. Some ally tubing and fittings,marine grade vinyl a sewing machine,fasteners like rivets,press studs,eyelets and short bungee cords you'd be surprised what you can make.Again it depends on you. I'd make a frame up from the top of your screen back out of the tubing with bracing down to the gunnels then line the roof with the vinyl with zips sown into the sides of the roof. I'd make up matching side curtains with zips on top to zip to roof and have eyelets on the bottom of side curtains with short bungee hooks that hook to the underside of the gunnels. Then you can have the shade,protection of just the roof or zip the sides on to the roof and attach the bungee cords to gunnels. There's a million ideas I could come up with and hope this makes sense just for an idea. Cheers. Chucking the Bimini is definitely on the cards, even considering a hard top with roll up canvas sides/back, clears around the front and half way down the sides. Might even make the top fold over onto itself to open up more deck space when needed. All good ideas, just need to decide and budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindmullet Posted July 11, 2018 Author Share Posted July 11, 2018 11 hours ago, campr said: I bought a 5.6 quinnie with a canopy similar to yours with clears between canopy and top of screen and had a local firm (Kirrawee) make side clears. This fully enclosed boat from front to back of bimini. I have camped overnight a few times by tying a canopy from bimini to back of boat. Copped some heavy rain on one occasion and kept dry ok. Will try to post photo but currently having probs with my pc. If you pm your phone no I could text you photo. Regards Ron. Thats pretty much what I've been doing and it works well just looking at something a bit purpose built. There's been a lot of floating tent style pics getting around and they get me thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindmullet Posted July 12, 2018 Author Share Posted July 12, 2018 12 hours ago, JonD said: I did some boat camping in a little centre console before I had the kids, simply used roll mats and sleeping bags. Had a tarp in case of rain but picked nights with good forecasts and never had to use the tarp, watching the stars from an open boat was pretty special. What ever you end up doing just be careful you don't have your petrol breather on the inside of any enclosure, nothing worse than smelling petrol fumes all night. I've been super lucky with my boat, a double blow up mattress fits on the floor between the sides perfectly. Its almost 'glamping' I couldn't believe it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 25 minutes ago, blindmullet said: I've been super lucky with my boat, a double blow up mattress fits on the floor between the sides perfectly. Its almost 'glamping' I couldn't believe it. I had a little 3.95 quitrex explorer for a Darwin trip a few years back, a two man dome tent fitted perfectly on its floor. This was great for the kids to sleep in close to croc rivers rather than camping on the ground. I used Hennessy hammocks tied from the 4x4 roof rack to any tree we could find. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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