Tilting T Top

[tgilchrist01]

I’ve been reading posts on this forum for several months now and finally have gotten to the point where I have something to add. I’ve benefitted from reading a broad range of helpful information and I’m looking forward learning more as I recondition my boat and turn it into the perfect boat for my use. It’s not a classic but the information I get from this site is the right fit.

I searched the threads for something to cover tilting a tee top and did not find anything.

I have a mooring in a salt pond in Rhode Island that has access to Point Judith Pond via a cut that runs under a bridge with a 5’ minimum clearance at mean high tide. 4’ is more like it. In November we picked up our 1988 23’ CC. My original plan was to get a boat with out a Tee Top. I ended up with a boat that came with a Tee Top and the previous owner encouraged me to figure out how to retain the Tee Top since it provided good cover from the sun, rain and cold weather as fall comes.

I laid out the Tee Top and console to figure out how best to arrange its hinges to fold it down to get under the bridge. My goal was to reach a 52” above the water line. After testing several different concepts I think I got it to around 54”.





I used 1.5” sanitary flanges and clamps to make the quick disconnects on the Tee Top uprights. It takes less than a couple of minutes to put the top down and put it back up again. The fiberglass top is a bit heavy but it’s workable for now.

[JOEKEN]

Very cool! Does the top still seem stout in rough seas? Looks like a beautiful area in the background.

[tgilchrist01]

JoeKen,
Yes it still seems stout in rough water. I don't hammer it but I've made a few trips to Block and Newport so far and it stays tight and doesn't wiggle. The pond I have the mooring in is nice even if it's a tad shallow.

[castalot]

damn i was hoping you were going to buy one of those folding t tops and i could have scored yours

GREAT JOB looks great