Fender locks - user friendly?
 

Bear with me, I'm new to boating and brand new at overnight docking...

Recently docked for a week at a Lake Michigan marina, tied my three
fenders to the starboard side. I tied one to rail for the bow, one
each at midships and aft cleats. With the particular pier, fender at
rub strip level was correct. The chore was untying them and stowing
them when underway, and then pausing at a safe distance from the pier
to get them reattached at the correct height. It seems it would be
easier to use fender locks - set the height one time, then snap them
off and on.

But my questions a

1) How variable, with different piers, is the required fender height?
In other words, can you tie the height one time and almost always just
snap them on, or do you have to scramble when approaching the pier to
get the height right?

2) Has anyone ever put the female side inside of the boat and have the
fender line go up and over the gunwale? It would provide better
accessibility for sanpping and tying.

3)Is it necessary to apply anything to the screw holes to seal against
water (above the water line of course)?

Mitch Gossman

Fender locks - user friendly?
 

I tie up at piers of varying design. While they all float, they are not the
same.
I had to adjust the lines so that the fenders were as high up as I could get
them. The lower portion of the fender makes contact at some piers; the mid
to upper portion makes contact at other piers.
I never thought of putting the clips inside - sounds like a good idea.
I did use a label maker and have FENDER posted atop the gunwale each clip,
to make it easier for people to find them.

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On 3 Jul 2004 11:36:15 -0700, (Mitchell Gossman) wrote:


1) How variable, with different piers, is the required fender height?
In other words, can you tie the height one time and almost always just
snap them on, or do you have to scramble when approaching the pier to
get the height right?


Hmmmm.... trouble answering this that I don't know *your* area exactly.
Let's
turn things upside down at look at it that way. You can figure your pier
heights above the water... assuming they float, this is a constant.

Ditto the boat... with a given fender-lanyard-lock configuration, we know
the
amount of fender/protection from waterline up to the top of the fender.

Size your fenders to cover this range and you should be fine... I went
with one
size larger than recommended for my boat and it seems to work fine.


2) Has anyone ever put the female side inside of the boat and have the
fender line go up and over the gunwale? It would provide better
accessibility for sanpping and tying.


No... I haven't, but it might have some small redeeming value... if for no
other
reason than "thinking outside the box."

3)Is it necessary to apply anything to the screw holes to seal against
water (above the water line of course)?


IMHO, *YES*...... I used 5200..... I *always* coat fasteners penetrating
any
gel coat with at *least* 4200....




--
23' Grady White, out of Southport, NC.

http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/cavern/
Homepage
http://www.southharbourvillageinn.com/directions.asp Where Southport,NC
is located.
http://southharbourvillageinn.linksysnet.com Real Time
Pictures at My Marina
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats Rec.boats
at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide

Fender locks - user friendly?
 

"Mitchell Gossman" wrote in message
om...



1) How variable, with different piers, is the required fender height?

A "pier" usually describes a fixed object, which generally means that the
height of the pier changes with water level. This can make for interesting
problems when trying to tie up to them.

A "dock" is usually used to refer to a floating platform that you would tie
a boat to. It is common for a dock to have its top surface about 16 inches
above the water line, but this can vary a lot.


When I tie up to something I generally have to adjust the fender height for
the situation. If I am tying up to a dock I need to have the fenders close
to the water line so that the center of the fender is approximately in the
center of the dock.

If I tie up to another large boat then I usually have to put the fenders at
rub rail height. Sometimes I need to put them at the rub rail height of the
other boat.

When I bring the ski boat along side I need to put the fenders at its rub
rail height.

Exactly where the fenders go will vary depending on the size and style of
boat I am tied up to. If you tie up to a boat bigger than you then you may
need fenders farther forward. A smaller boat will need fenders farther
back. If you tie up to a sail boat you need all the fenders right in the
middle.

The bottom line is that it would probably be a mistake to tailor a fender
line to a specific situation. I have used "fender adjusters", which snapped
around a railing and allowed for easy adjustment of the fender length. They
were okay, but I prefer to just use a simple knot to tie the fender to the
rail.

The biggest issue is having anchor points to tie fenders in all the right
spots!


Rod

Fender locks - user friendly?
 

Amen.
That's why I use Perko Fender Clips - I don't have a rail to hang fenders
on.

"Rod McInnis" wrote in message
...

"Mitchell Gossman" wrote in message
om...



1) How variable, with different piers, is the required fender height?

A "pier" usually describes a fixed object, which generally means that the
height of the pier changes with water level. This can make for
interesting
problems when trying to tie up to them.

A "dock" is usually used to refer to a floating platform that you would
tie
a boat to. It is common for a dock to have its top surface about 16
inches
above the water line, but this can vary a lot.


When I tie up to something I generally have to adjust the fender height
for
the situation. If I am tying up to a dock I need to have the fenders
close
to the water line so that the center of the fender is approximately in the
center of the dock.

If I tie up to another large boat then I usually have to put the fenders
at
rub rail height. Sometimes I need to put them at the rub rail height of
the
other boat.

When I bring the ski boat along side I need to put the fenders at its rub
rail height.

Exactly where the fenders go will vary depending on the size and style of
boat I am tied up to. If you tie up to a boat bigger than you then you
may
need fenders farther forward. A smaller boat will need fenders farther
back. If you tie up to a sail boat you need all the fenders right in the
middle.

The bottom line is that it would probably be a mistake to tailor a fender
line to a specific situation. I have used "fender adjusters", which
snapped
around a railing and allowed for easy adjustment of the fender length.
They
were okay, but I prefer to just use a simple knot to tie the fender to the
rail.

The biggest issue is having anchor points to tie fenders in all the right
spots!


Rod

Fender locks - user friendly?
 

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 15:38:05 -0700, "Rod McInnis"
wrote:

A "dock" is usually used to refer to a floating platform that you would tie
a boat to.

Strictly speaking, "dock" refers to the water beside it.
I know it is another word like "decimate" that has been
abused until it has no useful meaning any more, but still...

Fender locks - user friendly?
 

On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 07:45:39 -0400, Peter W. Meek
wrote:

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 15:38:05 -0700, "Rod McInnis"
wrote:

A "dock" is usually used to refer to a floating platform that you would tie
a boat to.

Strictly speaking, "dock" refers to the water beside it.
I know it is another word like "decimate" that has been
abused until it has no useful meaning any more, but still...


Or the words "Magazine" and "Clip" which have been butchered untill
people think they are the same thing.
Mark E. Williams
(One of my pet peeves! :o))

Fender locks - user friendly?
 

I'm peeved by the confusion between cartridges and bullets, too.

Maynard G. Krebbs wrote in message . ..
On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 07:45:39 -0400, Peter W. Meek
wrote:

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 15:38:05 -0700, "Rod McInnis"
wrote:

A "dock" is usually used to refer to a floating platform that you would tie
a boat to.

Strictly speaking, "dock" refers to the water beside it.
I know it is another word like "decimate" that has been
abused until it has no useful meaning any more, but still...


Or the words "Magazine" and "Clip" which have been butchered untill
people think they are the same thing.
Mark E. Williams
(One of my pet peeves! :o))