DaySailer.org Forum

What size fenders do you use? And where do you hang them from?

Some docks I launch from offer nice smooth walls where I can just rely on the DSs rub-rail, but some docks are too low for that, and esp. with wave action / wakes I've found it challenging to fender.

Me too! Very challenging. I have ones that are about 18" long and 8 or so inches wide. I hang one from the cleat on the aft corner of the boat and I used to hang one with a longer line from the anchor cleat on the fore deck. Recently someone told me it was OK to hang it from a shroud since it's considered a very strong part of the boat. I don't like the idea of hanging from the shroud - but it does work better and places the fender in a better location due to the curvature of the boat. Hanging from the shroud and aft cleat seems to give two nice purchase points against the dock - I'd rather never have my rub rail come in contact with anything because it's old, brittle and somewhat crumbling I think.

The rubrail is fine (at least mine seems to be able to take all sorts of abuse), except when the dock's too low, so the rail can rise above the edge of the dock on a wave, or the reverse, when there's a projection on the dock that can catch the rail from above.

The first case needs wider fenders (I had only 3.5"). Going to 8" just seems like overkill to me on a "small" boat, so I'm trying 4.5" next.

I think the shrouds are fine, actually, as a point to fix the fenders - my problem is that none of my lines wants to stay attached to a shroud - I've tried different knots and they all come undone. I may have to go to thinner lines...

Now, the case where the rubrail can catch underneath some feature of the dock is nearly impossible to deal with. One would have to have a fender that rests on the rail - works short term to board, but not to tie up for any length of time.

Fender position is more important than the size of the fender.

18 X 8 inch fenders ? That’s probably overkill but looking on the bright side, it would be a bit harder to sink a boat with fenders that large attached to it.


My fenders are about 4 inches in diameter and when additional padding is needed I have been known to tie a floatation seat cushion on the side.
BTW - I have added additional cleats just to put the fenders in a more optimal location along the hull. Brad

Now I just have to ask where did you put your cleats?

One thing I did, that I thought would work out great, but that didn't work out as planned (perhaps due to fender size) is this: I tied the fender line around the thwarts, so that the fender hangs just below the rub-rail.

Not a bad location, as it turns out, but the problem I ran into is that the boat would "jump" under the smallish fenders if there's a lot of wave action, with the result that the fender is inboard, where it does no good.

When I was in the store today, I looked longingly at the big ball fenders (about 4 ft diameter). I felt hanging one of those from each of the cleats on my boat (before the mast, cuddy top and aft quarter) would do the trick, and probably provide security for any number of unforeseen cirumstances. If that turned out not to be enough, I'd still have the shrouds to add a spare one.

However, I quickly realized that I was getting into a price range where I could by a new boat

But, perhaps, I should simply conceive of them as extra flotation. Tying one to the mast top would absolutely prevent turtling, I think - that's something that I should factor in when I make my final purchase decision...

A 4.5" fender seems to be a good size. Just got one and hang it from the shrouds. A second, 3.5" fender is tied to the thwarts. Together they seem to work well for tying up to a dock (lower than rubrail).

Two things to try that I use on my sirocco15 is to rap the upper shroud about 2' off the deck with 3"wide wrap of cotton string two layers then coat with epoxy to penetrate into the wire strands, this will stop the tine from the fender from slining down when tied above the wrapped section.
Secound is get a propper sized Kerney nut and put that on the shroud, you must cover witn padding so not to snag anything else.
POP

A few weeks after my previous post, I had another encounter with an "impossible" dock, this time due to low water level on the lake. The bottom of the dock was about level with the cuddy top.

I ended up borrowing a largish fender, tied it to the dock (normally not the approved style) and half wedged the boat under it. Then I used two lines to keep the boat parallel to the dock. That worked for the few hours I was there (luckily not much wave action that day).

I've since purchased another fender (5.5" this time) hoping my arsenal is nearing completion.

About the idea with expoxying a stop onto the shrouds: I'd be hesitant to try this. The problem is that I also do quite a bit of saltwater sailing, and any situation that creates hairline cracks in which saltwater could collect is a potential source of corrosion for the shroud. Stainless steel needs oxygen to maintain the oxide layer that makes it stainless (it's the chromium in the alloy that forms the oxide layer). Once that layer is gone, SS corrodes as easily as regular steel.

Perhaps a variation of the idea might work, like using a piece of narrow PVC conduit, slit lengthwise to slide it over the shroud, and a cross-wise slot at the bottom to anchor it on the chainplate.

@poprivit: what is a Kerney nut?

but I have a few larger fenders semi permanantly attached to my slip. it makes rough approaches a lot more forgiving. The two on board are 4 x 14 or thereabouts, and are hung from the aft quarter cleat and the other using a snap shackle on the shroud. I later added a midship cleat about a foot back from the bulkhead for added security with dock lines and that was a good spot to attach a fender as well. These two were small enought to carry on board and could also be used for rafting up or at guest docks down the lake.

a kerney nut is an electrical copper wire connector, looks like a short fat bolt with a slot cut in from the threaded end to almost the head, then a nut is threaded on to the threaded end. As it is tightened down toward the head the slot decreases till gone.
Two electrical wires are fastened together by this clamping action, they come in a lot of sizes.
I have used this to "stop" the spreader from moving up or down, the copper is soft and does not hurt the ss wire.
POP

Yes, a device like this would work, if one could get the nut over the terminals. My shrouds end in fork-like terminals that look like they would require a nut of nearly 3/4" interior diameter to clear.

I've wrapped my spreader heads in rigging tape, that seems to provide enough friction to keep them in place.

Besides using the stern cleats for attaching fenders, I just added a couple of 1" brass harness (horse harness) staples just below the the Daysailer emblem on the cuddy cabin for the purpose of attaching fenders near the stays. The stay position looked like the best place to place a fender. I plan to use 1" nylon straps with quick attach/detach buckles to secure the fenders. As a backing plate for the harness staple I used a second staple so that I can secure things inside the cuddy cabin if needed.

John

i like one big fender. i have a collection of fenders because i find them often in the marsh while paddling my kayak. a 12" orange mooring ball makes a great fender. i'm using an 8" sausage now, i gave my balls away ; ) i tie the fender to the shroud until i arrive at the dock. while tying off i transfer the fender to a cleat on the dock next to the shroud and then arrange bow and stern lines, plus spring lines if i'm going to be at the dock through a tide change.

FYI, our Costco (Victoria BC) has fenders in stock again at a great price, 3 R-20 (they are about 20" x 6") for $22 CAN. Don't know if they have them at other stores, but they're a seasonal item so look now!

Here's another dock that proved tricky. It's high above the water and the DS can swing underneath it. That's when the wakes would come in from the lake, pounding the boat viciously into the dock from underneath. Not a good thing. Normally, I would have tried a large fender from a center position (behind the mast) and front and stern lines to "pivot" the boat around them, but because of the strong wave action not even a 5.5 X 16" fender wouldn't stay put.

Luckily there were some pilings, so a third line (from a cleat at the cuddy top) worked fine. In the front, I used the painter from the bow eye - if this had been for overnight, or if I hadn't remained in sight of the boat, I would have switched that to the cleat on the foredeck, because I'm don't trust the bow eye for sideways or sudden loads. I've had one of them snap on me once.


[click on image get larger view]

The wave action, from wakes, was violent, but intermittent, so it doesn't show up in the picture. It was strong enough that I had trouble balancing on the boat.