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Don on Moonstruck
Sabre 42 Hardtop Express
When cruising life is simpler, but on a grander scale (author unknown) https://moonstruckblog.wordpress.com/
WE never run with fenders deployed. Not because we think it looks bad--- if we wanted a good looking boat we'd never have bought a GB in the first place--- but because the water going by the hull makes them bang against the boat and besides the annoying thumping we don't want to risk losing one if the constant movement worked a knot loose.
On shorter weekend trips we just pull them up onto the side decks when underway. When we get to where we're going we put them back over the side simply to get them out of the way. We do this regardless of if we're at a dock, on a mooring buoy, or at anchor.
On longer cruises during periods that we're going to be anchoring out a lot we will stow the fenders in bags my wife made that velcro around the aft handrails. Each bag holds two fenders.
We see boats running with fenders deployed fairly often up here, and of course the commercial fishboats usually leave them over, particulalry if they're just day-fishing. It's no big deal to us. It's whatever the boater wants to do and that makes sense to him/her/them. We don't think they look good, bad, or indifferent.
Fairly high up on our to-do list is a set of those under-rail fender hangers we saw on a GB42 last September in BC. We really like that arrangement. If and when we do that, if we don't actually need to use the fenders we'll just leave them in the hangers underway and at rest.
WE never run with fenders deployed. Not because we think it looks bad--- if we wanted a good looking boat we'd never have bought a GB in the first place--- ...
GBs look good/handsome to me. What's your idea of a good-looking boat?
GBs look good to me. What's your idea of a good looking boat?
There are a relatively small number of them and with only two or three exceptions none of them are production boats. I think--- and my wife agrees--- that GBs are quite awkward looking and out of proportion. We did not buy one because it's a boat we like aesthetically but because they are very well made, the high quality of their construction is consistent across the line and the decades, they are very well suited for the kind of cruising we do and hope to do in the future, and the old ones are damn near free.
Never Never. While Tom is piloting us out of the marina, I am stowing fenders, dock lines, and anything else that needs stowing. My deck is always neat and tidy with no tripping hazards. My fenders are tied horizontally under the railing via a rolling hitch.
Never, ever when underway...except when we forget them. We call 'em California Racing Stripes!!
__________________ My boat is my ark. It's my mobile treehouse and my floating fishing cabin. It's my retreat and my respite. Everyday I thank God I have a boat! -Al FJB
City: Ex-Brisbane, (Australia), now Bribie Island, Qld
Vessel Name: Now boatless - sold 6/2018
Vessel Model: Had a Clipper (CHB) 34
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 10,101
Ok, well you purist hacks can think of me as a slob if you like, but to precisely avoid the potentially dangerous deck clutter Eric's pic demonstrates, which is how our side decks would also look if we brought them in, we don't. Also I don't feel the urge to clutter the rails with expensive fender baskets for much the same reason. We therefore don't run with them deployed, but hitch them up, (which is achieved by merely flipping them in under the rail, out and over the top in mere seconds), and like Marin said. The boat's no oil painting anyway, and it looks like they are "at the ready", (call it business-like), but up out of harms, and the water's, way.
The fender socks protect the hull, and improve the looks somewhat, and it works for us. If you think it's unseamanlike, look at most fishing boats. You might even say it looks more trawlerish....?
PS, this was before the hull repaint and new canvas up top, but that's how we travel with our fenders.
Never Never. While Tom is piloting us out of the marina, I am stowing fenders, dock lines, and anything else that needs stowing. My deck is always neat and tidy with no tripping hazards. My fenders are tied horizontally under the railing via a rolling hitch.
**Hello, my name is Bess and I suffer from OCD"
No, no, no! It should be CDO. Please get the letters in the right order!!!
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"Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis." - Jack Handey