Sanderling is going to need a new bimini top when we get back home in a
few months. Rather than replacing the entire top and enclosure with
sunbrella/clear vinyl I'm considering constructing a hard top made of
Nida-Core and aluminum/stainless framing, supported by
aluminum/stainless side supports, and adding removable sunbrella/vinyl
enclosure panels - it would be essentially a bimini with a hard-top and
standard side panels.

The current air draft to the bimini top is 15 feet 3 inches above the
waterline when the boat is loaded and I would want the new top to be no
more than 15.5 feet max air draft. After adding solar panels it would be
close to 16 feet. In order to make the air draft less than 15 feet to
clear a few fixed bridges in the northern canals, the side frames need
to be constructed in such a way as to allow the top to "drop" by
approximately a foot or a little more depending on the final plan with
solar panels added.

Has anyone aware of such a design or have any ideas about how the
"folding/dropping" mechanism could be incorporated?

<><><><><><><><><><><><>Mozilla Thunderbird<><><><><><><><><><>
Bob McLeran and Judy Young              Manatee Cove Marina
MV Sanderling                            Patrick Air Force Base
DeFever 41 Trawler                      Melbourne, Florida
Blog: http://mvsanderling.net/Blog
Web: http://cruising.mvsanderling.net/

Given the lightness of any hard panels (excluding solar panels) put up
there, I would probably want to reserve the expensive framing already up
there on my boat to support multiple panels rather than unitary structure.
I might want to make a little adjustment to ensure a level surface fore to
aft along the tops of the bows (they are already pretty flat side to side),
but It would not be mandatory with the structure I envision.

I would construct a series of panels (four in my case) and install
water-proof weather stripping between them.  They would be drawn tightly to
on another with cam-type latches at each joint.  Attachment to the bows
would be by other releasable latches.

I assume you are not intending the "lowered" position to be something you
can do willy-nilly as the mood strikes but rather as a planned event.
Letting go the latching mechanisms and removing individual panels before
easing down the bows would not be as cumbersome as trying to manhandle a
single large chunk of top as well as allowing easy maintenance.

If I was planning to mount solar panels up there, I would use the lightest
possible.  Maybe flexible panels embedded or otherwise secured to the
hard-top panels?

Rich Gano
Calypso (1972 Grand Banks 42)
Panama City, FL