The dock in Squalicum Marina in Bellingham that's been our permanent slip for the last eleven years is being removed, the area dredged, and new concrete pilings and dock and finger floats are being installed.* So all the boats on this dock and one other are being reassigned temporary moorage for the winter throughout the marina.* We were assigned to the guest dock in our basin along with two other boats.* (So don't go to Bellngham this winter and spring expecting to finde space at the guest docks-- they'll be full of resident boats although the harbor staff can almost always find an empty slip somwhere for a short-term visitor.)
Where our own slip aligns us fairly closely with the prevailing southwest wind and the wind holds us off the dock, the guest dock is pretty much broadside to the wind and boats are pushed onto it.* While there is some protection from the boathouses and the Grand Banks charter fleet across the fairway, it can still blow hard.* Bellingham bay can get winter gusts of up to 80 mph.
In talking to the owner of the Grand Banks charter fleet about the best place to be on the guest dock with regards to wind and waves, he asked me what kind of fenders we had, cylinders or balls.* I said we had the typical cylinders.* His advice was to get a couple of ball fenders because, he said, the cylinder fenders will fold in against the dock when the boat is pushed hard against it and you end up with only a couple of inches of cushioning.* Where with a ball fender you always have the whole width of the ball between the hull and the dock.
So we got a couple and added them to our lineup.* Just in time because that weekend it blew 45 mph in the marina.* So while ball fenders are not as easy to stow as the more common cylinder fenders, if you're going to be in a situation where your boat is going to pushed onto a dock you might consider acquiring a couple of ball fenders.* I'm told they are also better for a rafting situation than a cylinder fender.
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Where our own slip aligns us fairly closely with the prevailing southwest wind and the wind holds us off the dock, the guest dock is pretty much broadside to the wind and boats are pushed onto it.* While there is some protection from the boathouses and the Grand Banks charter fleet across the fairway, it can still blow hard.* Bellingham bay can get winter gusts of up to 80 mph.
In talking to the owner of the Grand Banks charter fleet about the best place to be on the guest dock with regards to wind and waves, he asked me what kind of fenders we had, cylinders or balls.* I said we had the typical cylinders.* His advice was to get a couple of ball fenders because, he said, the cylinder fenders will fold in against the dock when the boat is pushed hard against it and you end up with only a couple of inches of cushioning.* Where with a ball fender you always have the whole width of the ball between the hull and the dock.
So we got a couple and added them to our lineup.* Just in time because that weekend it blew 45 mph in the marina.* So while ball fenders are not as easy to stow as the more common cylinder fenders, if you're going to be in a situation where your boat is going to pushed onto a dock you might consider acquiring a couple of ball fenders.* I'm told they are also better for a rafting situation than a cylinder fender.
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