Update: Installed and operational. Bimini? Solar?

[Mary Mac]

Anyone with a Cal 34 have a bimini? Solar? I'm thinking of adding a small 2-bow bimini with flexible solar panels. Would love to see some photos or hear your experience. I have the Mk3 with the shorter boom.

[Mary Mac]

The install is still in progress; I only have a little bit of time each week to go up and work on my boat these days.

So far, I have installed a 400Ah AGM house battery bank (fits perfectly in this box!!) 100/50 Victron MPPT charge controller, Victron Smart Shunt and 2 175w Renogy flexible solar panels.

Still have to boot the battery terminals, secure the batteries, connect the inverter/charger, add battery temp monitor wire to the shunt, tidy up the wiring, run the solar panel wires through glands through the deck and re-wire everything else including the new breaker panel. I'm putting a Blue Sea SI-ACR between the start and house banks.

I built a 3 bow bimini to hold the panels, and they are supported by twinwall polycarbonate so they do not flex. She sails great with the bimini, and it is a nice amount of shade. I can still see the top of the mast from the helm and stand on the cockpit seat.

The DC wiring for the Isotherm Drawer 85 fridge/freezer that I recently added is the only thing connected to the system right now, but the panels have no problem keeping the batteries at 100%. The charge only goes down to 97% overnight. I have a new ACDC breaker panel on its way and will put everything on this new house bank when I re-wire it.

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[GBR3068]

Hi Mary Mac. I just found you. I am S/V Cal 2-34 Eos. This boat was Fred Cook's, of Schaefer Marine. Brisbane, CA. https://www.dwaynenewton.com/Sailing-Vessel-EON/ If you look at the pictures, you can see we have a lot in common. I am LiPo rather than AGM though with 300Ah main and 50Ah starter.

Starting question: "I built a 3 bow bimini to hold the panels, and they are supported by twinwall polycarbonate so they do not flex." I think I may need a bit more than 2 x 175W Renogy (I have a fridge too, but a lot of electronics). I started with a small 50W test panel and then a 100W test panel; and only get 75% of the rated output from each on average. I was thinking 6 x 100W Topsolar on a 4-bow as they are convenient 20.47 x 42.12 for mounting 6 in a 2x3 array. Your Renogy are 59.2x26.5. Did you use a Sailrite kit? I was thinking of 4-bow but a bit worried it will cover too much area. Your pictures may be distorting the angles but looks like you may have bent the bimini legs to over 90 degrees which is what I was planning to do. Sailrite used to do that for you but not any more.

Mike

[Mary Mac]

Hi Mike,

Your boat is beautiful. Thank you for sharing the photos. I have been meaning to get over to Brisbane to visit a group of work friends that have their boats there.

Yes, I used a Sailrite kit. I started by buying a 7/8" 2-bow kit, but added a third bow for more support. It ended up being the perfect size. It was tricky to get the height, position and angles just right since it needed to be positioned so that the backstay runs right through the middle. Of course the backstay position relative to the bimini changes as you go higher or lower. After much tinkering, it is now just right. It adds a nice amount of shade, is the perfect height so that I can still stand on the seat (I'm 5'10") and it is still easy to see the top of the mast from the helm. You can also stand on the seat and use the BBQ.

It looked aesthetically nicer with a bit of bend past 90 degrees. It is just gently bent in and held with the hardware. The two added aft supports add to the bent look since the cockpit tapers toward the stern. I have since added a small forward support and am thinking of adding one horizontally from the front to the back near the top.

You are welcome to come take a look at the bimini in Alameda. If you like the dimensions, you could measure and copy to make it easier to build. I think if I were to do a 4-bow, I'd put the extra length aft and leave the forward part where it is for visibility and ease of moving around the cockpit.

The amount of solar I have has been plenty. I haven't yet finished rewiring the new panel, so I just have the fridge/freezer, Vulcan 9 chartplotter, bluetooth for wind instrument and recently added Raymarine wheel pilot on that house bank for now. My batteries go down to 97% overnight and are charged back up before noon. I haven't been on a long enough trip with the autopilot to know what the draw will be like yet.

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have more questions.

Mary

[GBR3068]

Wrote replies over the weekend and managed to lose them.

1. I wanted a slit in the solar panel array to avoid that 3D gymnastics problems with backstay. But you solved it, so I may re-visit that choice. Thanks for that.
2. I will copy you as closely as I can. I may start with 3 bows and see how it goes and add one by buying another separately, the way you did if I go to 4 bows.
3. I will build out backwards if I add more bows.
4. I am trying to fit a radar in with the bimini and solar and that makes it much more difficult because of shadows.
5. I have a Monitor, a Pelagic and CPT autopilots, but fridge is my highest power device.
6. I have an ultrasonic Airmar, and I was thinking of getting a B&G wireless windex, but I heard pairing was a nightmare.
7. I learned a few things about my Cal 34 that I have not seen elsewhere and I thought I'd jot them down randomly. Maybe here is not the best place but I can always copy and paste elsewhere... Some of this may be already well-known but I have not had time yet to search everywhere here and maybe something in here might be useful to you...

Windows. They always leak due to hardening and shrinking of the rubber gasket. Cant find replacement anywhere. I think these were Peko but I cant find them in any Perko catalog going back to 1970. I did find a guy in S Cal who has the original tooling but makes plastic replacements. My Cal neighbor managed to get the brass bolts out (really hard) and buttered up the gaskets and his seem to be holding. If I can get my bolts out I may just try lubricating the old rubber and see if that rejuvenation works before trying something more drastic. There is a guy in New England who will make new stainless ones but pretty expensive.

Steering. Yacht Specialities. Not much available. Occasionally you see YS stuff on eBay. Ericson used the same gear and I got most of my information on how to rebuild from Ericson owners. The Edson guys were real helpful but I didn't want to make a wholesale change. I just happened to discover my steering tube and rudder filled with freshwater. Must have been rain and been there for years. There's no cap underneath the emergency access. Taking the water out made a huge difference. This must not be obvious as both very experienced POs must have missed this,

Rail. There's a guy in Alameda who did all of the Cal-Jensen rigging who sells the hard rubber rail. I replaced one with a friend and its a nightmare but do-able. You have to get the right size.

Mast and post. Looks like you did that already and I may be asking you about the wooden trim when I come to take mine off. Did you check the steel cross beam underneath? Mine had a some rust that chipped off easily and left solid steel underneath. Its a bit frightening to chip away but rust weighs more than the steel it replaces so after weighing the rust I chipped off, it wasn't too bad a loss.

Pulpit, pushpit, cleats. I'm sure you discovered that Jensen bolted right through the lip of the hull moldings. Plus no backing plates. Some of these bolts are hard to get at. I have not found a good solution to access. My pushpit was getting wobbly and I traced that to bad welding on the feet. I think they did not use backing gas. I added cross braces between pushpit stanchions and re-welded the supports. I have backing plates underneath. I think that will hold the bimini OK.

Leaks and drains. I really didn't have too many leaks. I left all the paint original so I can see everything in the fiberglass. There's one place on both sides, in the cubby holes under the winches at the corner thats seems a bad design. Water pooled there, so I back filled the bottom of the cubby holes with glass/epoxy so water flows out through the drainage holes. There's an annoying pace on the deck where water pools, but everyone seems to have that. When it really blows and water comes over the coamings, the water pools against the cockpit wall on the leeward side. I keep an eye for crack and possible leaks but so far so good. I do wish there were better drains in the cockpit. I may convert the diesel fill, which I moved, to an extra drain.

[GBR3068]

Mary Mac: I'm just about to start my copy cat Bimini + solar project. See your photo edited below. How far back from the forward pulpit stanchion did you place your Bimini main bow?

[Mary Mac]

I am not at my boat and won't be able to get there for awhile to measure. I can see if any of my dockmates are around this weekend that can do it. I think you said you're in Brisbane.. might be worth it to go to my boat in Alameda and check it out/measure everything that you want to make similar. The geometry was a tricky pain because of the placement of the solar panels. Anytime you decide to move it forward or aft, you have to move it higher or lower to line up with the backstay.. or change the angle and width of the bars. Also, I think I made the aft bars narrower athwart-ships to look nicer with the narrowing cockpit. Since this photo I have added two more supports on each side.

[GBR3068]

Mary Mac: I might go over and measure your setup. You can email me at m.j.s.smith@gmail,com