Best way I've seen yet to stow fenders

Rambler said:

What kills me is the posters who want to have the fenders "at the ready", as if you're shocked to find yourself in port and nearing the dock. Rush, rush, rush.

Pull them in and put them away, where ever "away" happens to be. You should have plenty of time to set them out prior to entering the marina.

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I couldn't agree more, if I see fenders dragging in the water on a boat I see a lazy boater that doesn't mind looking like a chuck wagon. We put every thing away, fenders, mooring lines and power chord. I don't like tripping hazards. When we are still well away from the dock I give the wheel to my wife and go put out every thing we need to dock with no rush. If the weather is bad , put on a coat.

Not too elegant, but it works for me:

I mounted two sets of taylor fender holders to the front of the flybridge. Works great, uses an area that is seldom utilized, easy access and they dont block your vision as when they are mounted on the bow rails

I thought about making up a set of hooks as seen in Marin's original pictures. Then I thought about hanging the fenders from hooks under the teak handrail, using a loop of light line permanently tied through the fender eye. I can forsee lots of rocking while out on the water but don't know how much of a problem that would be. Anyway I cobbled up a prototype in my shed, using a couple of cup hangers and a 2x4 , photos below. What do you all think, any suggestions?
Steve W

Steve said:

I thought about making up a set of hooks as seen in Marin's original pictures. Then I thought about hanging the fenders from hooks under the teak handrail, using a loop of light line permanently tied through the fender eye. I can forsee lots of rocking while out on the water but don't know how much of a problem that would be. Anyway I cobbled up a prototype in my shed, using a couple of cup hangers and a 2x4 , photos below. What do you all think, any suggestions?
Steve W

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I like it. Simple and that is good. Of course SS or brass hooks, and sturdy.

Marin said:

... the less time one has to spend on deck getting fenders ready the better.

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And I love my Europa in the rain. Don't even get damp setting fenders out.

Rambler said:

What kills me is the posters who want to have the fenders "at the ready", as if you're shocked to find yourself in port and nearing the dock. Rush, rush, rush.

Pull them in and put them away, where ever "away" happens to be. You should have plenty of time to set them out prior to entering the marina.

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I'm sure you would find it convenient if you had the fenders "at the ready" if you were alone. It's got nothing to do with being "shocked" rather than being organised and prepared for most situations IMO.

iPad Forum Runner

I think it's best to have fenders (and lines, BTW) stored in a convenient place, ready to deploy as necessary. The exact place and method will vary with the boat and the typical use. My photo in post #32 shows two fenders on deck ready to be kicked into position. The rear fender is in the cockpit ready to be flipped over the side. The other side of the boat is set up the same way. Lines are coiled and hung on hooks in the cockpit, ready at a moment's notice.

I don't have to stop and drift for ten minutes outside a marina, I can slow to idle speed, give the helm to my wife, and prepare for docking in a minute or two. Or she can do it.

It works for me, but it may not suit others. That's fine.

We have permanently mounted fenders on the sides of the slip so we don't need our fenders when we're in our home marina. We keep our fenders in the lazarette until we need them, and most of the time when we need them we're going through one of the locks on the Snake or Columbia.

My Galley Wench (GW) is the one who handles the lines and fenders in the locks. To make it easy for her I usually set everything up before we pull out of the slip so all she has to do is flip them over the bow rail. When we're in the locks we have five fenders on the side we're moored to.

I'm one who doesn't use fender hangers; I prefer a hitch because it's so fast to adjust if need be.

GFC said:

When we're in the locks we have five fenders on the side we're moored to.

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Mate what's a lock?

iPad Forum Runner

It's what keeps ya missus in the galley.

Hendo78 said:

Mate what's a lock?

iPad Forum Runner

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Read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock_(water_transport)

GFC said:

I'm one who doesn't use fender hangers; I prefer a hitch because it's so fast to adjust if need be.

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I agree. I always use a clove hitch.

Hendo78 said:

Mate what's a lock?

iPad Forum Runner

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They look like these Hendo, but this is a narrowboat canal lock in the UK - river locks are usually wider, but similar in principle. it is a way of raising or lowering a boat to a different level.

Peter B said:

They look like these Hendo, but this is a narrowboat canal lock in the UK - river locks are usually wider, but similar in principle. it is a way of raising or lowering a boat to a different level.

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Thanks Pete! Still confused as to the purpose but will do some looking into it. Quite odd IMO. How's the weather in Brissy today? You been out lately?

iPad Forum Runner

Greetings,
Mr. Hendo. Probably too much information but...
Quite common on "internal" river systems
Lock (water transport) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mate for a real explanation look up Panama Canal.
This will explain how one gets a vessel from one side of a place to another by raising the boat up and over the different water levels of the lakes in the water system using locks and pumps.

I am over in Port Hedland at the moment but just spoke to my Missus and looks like some hell storms are causing real havoc over there at the moment
Cheers

Benn

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. Hendo. Probably too much information but...
Quite common on "internal" river systems
Lock (water transport) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Cheers Mate. I've not seen these before. Thanks for taking the time to provide the link.

Sorry to everyone else for being off topic.

iPad Forum Runner

Tidahapah said:

Mate for a real explanation look up Panama Canal.
This will explain how one gets a vessel from one side of a place to another by raising the boat up and over the different water levels of the lakes in the water system using locks and pumps.
Cheers
Benn

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Cheers Beno! None of these are over here hey mate?

iPad Forum Runner

Yep, we are having a mother of a thunderstorm even as I type this Hendo & Benn. The darned cat can't decide where to go to hide, so when he saw we weren't running up to hide under a bed - his usual trick - he sort of shrugged his wee cat shoulders and laid down at my son's feet, as if to say, "well, if you game, I game...sort of..." but he looks nervous.
We've got all our electrics unplugged...

Took a friend who helped me hack a hole in the side of the cabin to repair a rotted section, (he's a cabinet maker) out with his wife and kids as a thank you last Sunday, Hendo. We had a great time. The wind was about 35 kn, so tying up needed timing, but we took them down to an Irish Tavern next to the Calypso Bay Marina and shouted them a lunch. They were having a special Celtic festival on that day, with bouncy castle and all, which came in handy entertaining the nippers..very nice all round.
Marina | Harrigan's Drift Inn Calypso Bay | Calypso Bay Pub

http://publocation.com.au/pubs/qld/jacobs-well/harrigans-drift-inn

Ok, sorry about the thread drift, but I think we were over fenders eh..?

Peter B said:

Yep, we are having a mother of a thunderstorm even as I type this Hendo & Benn. The darned cat can't decide where to go to hide, so when he saw we weren't running up to hide under a bed - his usual trick - he sort of shrugged his wee cat shoulders and laid down at my son's feet, as if to say, "well, if you game, I game...sort of..." but he looks nervous.
We've got all our electrics unplugged...

Took a friend who helped me hack a hole in the side of the cabin to repair a rotted section, (he's a cabinet maker) out with his wife and kids as a thank you last Sunday, Hendo. We had a great time. The wind was about 35 kn, so tying up needed timing, but we took them down to an Irish Tavern next to the Calypso Bay Marina and shouted them a lunch. They were having a special Celtic festival on that day, with bouncy castle and all, which came in handy entertaining the nippers..very nice all round.
Marina | Harrigan's Drift Inn Calypso Bay | Calypso Bay Pub

http://publocation.com.au/pubs/qld/jacobs-well/harrigans-drift-inn

Ok, sorry about the thread drift, but I think we were over fenders eh..?

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Ok cool. Spoke to the folks and they said the storm was pretty bad atm. Yeah ill have a few love job trips to do when mines done lol. Oh yeah sure the jumping castle was for the kids! Lol it's ok we're all friends here! No need to blame the kids hahahahahahahaha

Yeah this thread is a cack lol. Some people over think and get too excited about the small things lol. Anywhoooo let's discuss where the best place and location is to store our mobile phones or ciggy packet is ay!?! Lol

iPad Forum Runner

Tidahapah said:

It's what keeps ya missus in the galley.

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Hahaha just saw this lol. Tho I'd fear for my life should I say that to the admiral lol

iPad Forum Runner

Naw, them pictures above are 'mini-locks'. Here are a few pics of what REAL locks look like....

This is the downstream guillotine gate entrance to Ice Harbor Lock on the Snake River. That gate weighs 140 tons, to give you an idea of how big it is...


The lock itself is 86' across, about 675' long and has a maximum lift of 105' which makes it one of the tallest locks in the world.

Here's what it looks like when we're pulling into it. Each of the lines in the concrete walls is 5' apart, and the ride up or down takes about 20 minutes. The river isn't always that muddy, this was during a heavy spring runoff...



When you get into the lock you have to tie up to a "Bollard". It's like a giant steel can that rides up and down in a track as the water level changes...


This is a shot looking backwards at the guillotine gate as it is closing...



and here's a shot of the cantilever gate at the upstream end of the lock.. It rotates down and boats pass over it as they leave.

Took a trip up the Columbia and Snake a few years back on one of those Lindblad expedition excursion ships. The locks were, indeed, quite impressive. Also interesting was taking jet boats from Lewiston (?) further up the Snake through the rapids.

GFC, thanks for posting the pictures of the lock at Ice Harbor dam. During my father's career at the Walla Walla District Corps of Engineers he did design work on Ice Harbor dam. I went through that lock in an 18 foot Jolly Roger. Talk about make you feel small!

Low cost fender solution?

Actually, I think I've seen this boat pushing work barges up & down the creek.

Steve said:

I thought about making up a set of hooks as seen in Marin's original pictures. Then I thought about hanging the fenders from hooks under the teak handrail, using a loop of light line permanently tied through the fender eye. I can forsee lots of rocking while out on the water but don't know how much of a problem that would be. Anyway I cobbled up a prototype in my shed, using a couple of cup hangers and a 2x4 , photos below. What do you all think, any suggestions?
Steve W

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I think fenders suspended in this way will sway constantly. That is one reason the fellow with the GB in my photos went with the hangars. The fenders, he said, barely move even during a rough crossing of Georgia Strait.

Peter B said:

They look like these Hendo, but this is a narrowboat canal lock in the UK

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Actually, this is a wide lock on the UK canal system, a "double-wide" as it's called. They were built later in the canal building period and could accommodate two narrowboats side by side. Narrowboats often worked in pairs with the powered one (horse or later engine) towing the unpowered one).

The more typical UK lock is 7' wide and 74' long. The boats are about 6'-8" wide and up to 70' long although most today are 60' or under. The manually operated locks hold one boat at a time.

First shot I took as we were going down a typical narrowboat lock.

Second shot is looking down a "flight" of 17 narrowboat locks. The "pool" between each lock is for boats going in opposite directions to pass.

Third shot is the famous Bingley Five-Rise staircase lock on the Leeds & Liverpool canal. A staircase lock uses the upper doors of the lower chamber as the lower doors of the next chamber up. They have to be operated in a very specific manner to avoid overflowing a chamber or stranding the boat.

Last shot is our 60' boat in one of the chambers of the Bingley Five Rise. The Leeds & Liverpool is one of the few canals in the UK that uses double-wide locks for its entire length.

Peter B said:

if someone miscalculated ... they are at the right height to provide some boat to boat protection,

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Heyyy - I like this set-up. As a newbie boater I want to put out as much cushion/protection as I can get when I'm trying to dock the beast. And I think it looks plenty "neat". Thanks for posting.