When we acquired Soņadora, she had a dodger. I have to say, I really liked
having a dodger. Notice that's past tense. The dodger was a flimsy affair
with plastic connectors and cheap vinyl patches. In addition, the eisenglas
was crazed and didn't hold up after one typically frigid winter. So, we had
to ditch the dodger.

I got a quote to have a new one made (using the old frames) as well as
having a bimini made. The quote came to about $2500. Ouch.

So, my frugal self went searching for an alternative. Since the bimini most
likely won't be used while sailing, I wonder if one of the more reasonably
priced biminis in the West Marine catalog would work. Anyone use one of
these on their Baba? Seems to me they offer enough sizes that I should be
able to find one to work. I understand that ideally it would be nice to have
a zippered slot for the back stay. My thinking is that someone who's good
with tools might be able to modify one of these for that purpose.

As for the dodger, we were thinking of taking the old material and making
new panels. Our canvas guy said no way, but I can't see what the problem is.
Should be able to make new panels from the old, right?

Cheers,

Rick Beddoe
s/v Soņadora, 1978 Baba 30
http://sail2live.com

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Received on Sun May 7 19:43:16 2006