The all important Bimini

[EastMark]

I have a 2001 Sweetwater Pontoon and I had a weak moment today with it. I pulled into a car wash to blast her down quick and I had the bimini closed but forgot to put it down.
It broke one of the uprights and bent both of the main U pipes. Upon further inspection I see some small tears starting in the flap that wraps around the piping....the vinyl itself. If I duct tape it it will last the season but I have to replace the whole mess to make it right.
Does it 'have' to be Godfrey/Sweetwater ? Are there ever local folks that deal in replacing these things ?

First maintainance $ so far. I got it last fall and added a few things. I replaced the casette/radio with a better CD/FM/iPod plug unit. Replaced the 2 slack stock speakers with 4 Sony Marine speakers. Added a 2nd color Fishfinder/GPS up front...a low end one but not bad..595C. Best thing I did fishing wise was add a MotorGuide Wireless 55 to the bow....love it.

Anyway...been fishing,grilling, and relaxing on it alot and want to keep it nice. Any ideas on my bimini mess ?
What do these things go for roughly ? Break it to me easy guys.
Mark

[oldmn19]

You can buy pieces or the whole darn thing. Just Google Bimini Tops. Start around $400, sorry!

[lakerunner]

DON'T USE DUCT TAPE

If someone in family has good sewing machine with ziz zag and a heavy needle you can sew it up.
Or go to northern tools website and buy their clear repair tape. I works very well.
Or buy some Gorilla Tape at local home store

[EastMark]

Starting around $400. I figured. I want to do it right so I'll probably end up spending a little more.
Its really the only moving part on the boat other than the 4 stroke Honda thats pretty durable so
why not just replace the whole thing and make it nice nice. Both sides are bent and the canopy
is 8 years old.
If anyone has used a particular vendor and been happy let me know. I assume the canopies all come in green and are availible in material similar to the factory stuff. It held up pretty well until I tweaked it yesterday.

Thanks for the replies. I figured maybe there was another way to do it besides the dealer.
Mark

[Alohatoon1]

That brings back BTDT memories. Mine was up when I drove back in my driveway and forgot about the low-hanging tree limb.
Bent the &^#$ out of it, I managed to straighten most of it and used it for two more seasons. what a pain for such a dumb thing to do that was...

[tkrein]

want to talk about trees the city of bismarck needs to getb off their asses and trim some trees ets just say their are some roads that i cant drive on when pulling the toon with the bimini all the way down on the towing struts i hit them. hell even some times my tahoe hits them. it sucks and what does the city do nothin. and if i trim them i woulld go to jail or a ticket at least. three of these roads lead right to my house so i go up the one that i can do with out hitting a tree then flip a u-turn just so i can back up. thanks for letting me get that off my chest. but know i have little scratches on my boot bastards i should make them pay for a ne boot. yeah right to bad i work for the state. I know the way that would go.