Solar Arch

[Set2sea]

I have seen solar panels set up off of bimini bars on a C34, aside from that, has anyone put a true solar arch on a Mark 1 C34?

[Dave Spencer]

Recent discussion here.  https://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,10497.msg81329.html#msg81329

[Mas Tequila]

If you follow the link above you'll see the Atlantic Arch we put on our mark I. Hands down it was one of the best things we did and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

[Set2sea]

Thanks for the replies.
To be perfectly honest, I am not crazy about putting the bar mounts on the hull. I wouldn't mind so much having the aft mounts on the transom.
Where do the aft tubes land (can't see in your picture).
Did you explore trying to locate front tubes on side decks.
I think the ultimate for me would be integrating into the stern rail, obviously it's custom fabrication and not aluminum. I don't think you would get the strength out of the stern rail if you bolted to it.
Having said that, what I want and what I may be willing two spend could quickly become two different things.
I like the lower weight of aluminum. I like getting davits and solar mounts in one. Of course I like Atlantic's pricing.

[Paulus]

Have you given any thought to a light weight flexible solar panel on top of the bimini?
Paul

[Mas Tequila]

Set2sea,

I was very apprehensive about drilling holes in our hull but ultimately mounting the arch where we did turned out to be a great fit for us. I wanted the arch mounted outside of the pushpit because the cockpit area is a little tight already on the 34 MKI. I also wanted to make sure it would be clear of the fuel fill and stern cleats.  Working with Atlantic they pointed out the mounting the arch on the hull as we did would put the bolts in shear which is much stronger. We mounted the arch ourselves in a day and I'm sure that now that I've installed one I could do it in a couple of hours. Honestly, the hardest part was working up the courage to drill a bunch of holes in our boat. I really like that it holds our dinghy high out of the water and we always keep the dinghy on the davits when sailing no matter the weather and it is very secure. Our solar panel is a 300 watt as memory serves and that has proven to be plenty for our needs but I could very easily put two full-size panels on the arch. I really like our ridged solar panel and you can get very powerful panels at a fraction of the cost of flexible ones. Another thing I really like is my batteries are always fully charged even while on the hard during the winter. I have some close-up pictures of how we mounted the arch somewhere on one of my computers and I'll see what I can find and post them here.

We are in the process of buying another boat and the very first thing we plan on doing is installing an Atlantic Arch on it. I can't begin to tell you how happy we have been with with this upgrade.

[Set2sea]

Thanks very much Mas Tequila

[mregan]

I put 2-100w flexible panels that rest on top of the bimini.  Sewed in some tabs on the bimini to hold in the panels. We are seldom away from our slip for more than 3-4 days but when at anchor for that time, the batteries are always fully charged. 

[britinusa]

I've been looking at Arches for quite a while.

The back end of Eximius is already crowded. We have 350w of solar on top of our Bimini, so wires are running down the Bimini supports, we have a Radar mounted on a 2" pole with several stabilizing supports and, of course, there is the Pushpit and Swim ladder. We also have 2 Propane tank tubes and regulator hanging off of the Stbd Pushpit.

I saw a cruising video where they were considering adding an arch and making the decision between an integrated (with the pushpit) arch or stand alone arch. They went with the Integrated Arch.

That involved removing the pushpit and incorporating it into the Frame of the Arch. The result was a much cleaner layout, several of the holes from the Pushpit were utilized for the Arch, and in our case, it would really clean up the back end.

So, I'm leaning towards an Integrated Arch, it would have to be custom made. Saving boat bucks.

Paul