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Old 08-19-2022, 06:45 PM   #61
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Horses for courses.
I am fortunate that Aquabelle came with 4 or 5 of those leather fender hooks--looks like they were made by the Seattle mob. I can tie a clove hitch fast, but not nearly as fast as I can do so while managing the fender, trying to get the right length, adjusting it so the fender isn't touching the water and getting oily and algae laden once at dock, and moving it to the precise position needed, all of which I can do in seconds with the "fancy" leather hooks. They also allow me to deploy and adjust easily the two massive ginormous F11 fenders we have aboard for gnarly situations like tying up to a tug last December at Harwoods when they couldn't lift us, or during the flood when we risked being hammered by another boat. You can see the difference between tying them off over the handrail and using the leather hooks in the after section here lying alongside the tug.
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I likely wouldn't have had the $ to buy them but they surely are a joy to use.
But all that isn't the most important time-cost related reason to use them or a similar home-made system. The leather hooks don't work the varnish over time, requiring redoing expensive multi-layered varnish; and they don't chafe the lines, which is almost inevitable when using a clove hitch tied to either a stanchion post and draped over the toerail. They get a fairlead outboard down to the fender. They also distribute the load which is important upon arrival, less so at dock (or not at all if the boat is sprung off the dock). The avoided cost is significant.
Like Twisted Tree, I reckon the track system is also good. On Pegasus, our 51 foot Alden ketch in San Francisco, we used the midships genoa track to mount a sliding car-cleat from Harken or Lewmar, I can't remember which.
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but Garhauer make a less elegant and likely much cheaper version in stainless https://www.garhauer.com.au/Garhauer...-midship-cleat
We did this not only to make it easy and fast to deploy the fender (and safer), but also to reduce loads on lifelines or stanchion bases (leak risk over time) when the fenders hit the dock on arrival or drag along the dock on departure). And, the genoa track was already there...it also works well for heavy midship loads in raft-ups.
The cost of track, installation, and cleats is not insignificant, and a cleat on a trawler toe-rail might be a bit unsightly. That said, a cleat on a sliding car is likely much easier to use than a car with an eye designed for a sheet block. BUT...you still have the wear on varnish and chafe on the toe-rail and rub-rail to deal with.
No free fender lunches.
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Old 08-19-2022, 06:57 PM   #62
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Originally Posted by Flatswing View Post
Boat leather make very nice custom hangars for the profile of rails that don’t work with off the shelf hangars. They have top quality cam cleats and solid hardware. They protect my brightwork perfectly.

Contrary to some of the options above, not all boats have circumferential rails/ stanchions to tie to. Most of my lower rails have no place to easily tie a fender. My admiral gets flustered tying clove hitches or better - rolling hitches quickly as we approach other docks, especially if the height is unknown or last minute Port-STBD switches are needed. The boat leathers are very pricey but: my admiral can easily set the fenders, move them side to side in seconds and can height adjust them quickly & safely. A small price to pay if she’s happy and we can keep cruising with minimal stress.



I know several other DeFevers that have installed the tracks. They work well also, but for us, fender hangars have been a really good solution. Happy wife…..


Same reasoning for us with our sail track approach.
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Old 08-19-2022, 10:52 PM   #63
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Longship marine consignment in Polsbo, WA. Has some used ones for sale.
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Old 08-24-2022, 06:25 AM   #64
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That's partly why we use a cow hitch instead... with an additional half hitch to lock it after the adjusting gets over and done with.

https://www.animatedknots.com/cow-hitch-knot-end-method

(Our fender whips are much longer than the line illustrated there.)

It occurs to me to add:

Three-strand fender whips do tend to defeat the "how quickly can you adjust a cow hitch?" question.

Double-braid is much faster, doesn't bind on itself so much.

-Chris
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Old 08-26-2022, 11:33 PM   #65
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Fenders grab between the boat and the dock and naturally tension and de-tension the whip over time.

Clove hitch is simply not the best knot (hitch) for long term use. It may work for a while, but there are better hitches that are just slightly more difficult to tie. Even a rolling hitch is an improvement.

Peter


I’m returning from boating purgatory to agree with my Canadian friend Keith. I’ve used the clove hitch just as he describes for my fenders for years. As he mentioned, when the hitch is around the stanchion at the base, it locks it down really well.

I also use a Fender Step around two stanchions. Tied with the same clove hitch. I put my full weight on those (all 230 lbs of me) every time I get on and off the boat using that step.

Dave
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