About a year after getting our R27, I made a set of "sun shades" out of Phifertex that zipper to the original bimini and snap on the bottom to the same snaps we use for the regular canvas surround. I am not a seamstress by any stretch, but I sew a bit -- well enough to make simple things for the boat like sun shades, door covers, and inside window covers (for the front windows). And I have the good fortune to have a heavy duty sewing machine that can handle thick layers of canvas and similar materials.
Anyway, although my work wouldn't impress a professional canvas maker, it has been, as my dad would have said, "good enough for who it's for." 😉 I made six "sun shade" panels. Two for each side, and two for the stern (so that I can use the stern cockpit door by opening only one of the two). I typically roll them up or take them off when I'm underway. But they actually work fine underway as well. I store each set of two in simple carry bags. They are much more compact for storage than the full surround canvas with stratoglass windows that I had professionally made when I first got the boat.
It is rare that I use all six sun shades. One thing I will say about sun shade material like Phifertex is that the better it screens out the sun, the better it also screens out the air. It will really cut the air flow in a way that, in warm to hot weather, it can be stifling. So I often hang the screens only where the sun is beating in most directly, and leave the others off or rolled up to keep cutting the fresh air too much.
And they give me one other benefit here in Oregon. They are good at keeping out the rain too! On overcast and rainy summer days, I can use them to keep dry in much drier than the bimini alone keeps it.
Gini
