Sketchup Sail

I decided to see what the sail might look like using the power of Google Sketchup. First, this is a fantastic tool; you can setup your model so that it is aware of the location, direction, date and time to show you what shadows would look like at different times. These were all done with shadows in my backyard on August 12th at 1pm. You can even shift date/time to see how the shade will change throughout the year!

I did some research on these sails, and I will definitely need to put in a very solid pole (they recommend a ~4" steel pole sunk 3-4' into a big concrete footing for a 6-8' height). These sails are pulled very tight, with about 100lb of tension in the wires. The fence will definitely not handle that! I struggled with that for a while but then I realized that adding the pole in the right place would also solve my issue of how to mount a TV and heater! (Accidental brilliance is still brilliance)

I didn't draw the heater yet, but I'll probably add an electric infrared radiant heatlamp above the TV. I don't want too much, just enough to keep the first couple seats warm in those cool California evenings.

This next one shows the view from person level. You can see that the shade will be pretty good in the seated area, which is what I am looking for.

This is the aerial view, showing what the birds will be aiming for when they do their flyovers....

I think this looks pretty good and it is going to be easier than putting up a big wobbly trellis, also looks cooler than a boring wooden trellis. Not sure on color yet, I did red just to give it some contrast in the pictures.