Brilliant tender / Jet Ski chock system

[henryf]

We bought a new tender for the back of the boat at the Southampton boat show and one of the things which was worrying me a bit was sorting out a chock system to fix it to the bathing platform.

I assumed I was going to have to get a couple of bits of hardwood planed to the size of the stainless deck fittings then cut them to the hull profile of the tender depending where it sat on the boat. We did it last time and it was hassle. When buying the tender I saw a system from Rapid Marine on the stand. I’ve used their straps for nearly 10 years to crane the tender on and off the old boat and they still look like the day we got them 10 years later.

In the end we decided to fit the rapid Marine universal chock system and I’ve also got a set of low profile tie down pads with associated ratchet straps which I’ll fit once the tender arrives.

Fitting of the tender chocks was literally a 5 minute job and I’ve just done it now. Princess supply stainless steel pads which lock into holes in the bathing platform. Knurled screws lock them in place although I do have to correct them a bit to thread lock the knurled handle to the threaded bar.

There’s a recess in the back of the Rapid Marine tender chocks which takes the stainless pads and ensures the teak is protected from any slightly raised screw heads.

They look a lot neater than cut bits of wood and will take different craft without having to cut new wood. We have a jet ski which sometimes comes out in lieu of the tender. The pads are slightly compliant and rubbery and they also swivel to match the hull profile.

You know when you fit something and it just feels right - really happy.

I’m sure it makes me sadder than a sad thing that some new tender chocks pleases me but I’m just glad I didn’t have to go to the hassle of sourcing and cutting hardwood.

I will report back on the tie down straps when we take delivery of the tender.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Think this is the favoured system now Henry. Great to hear you’re pleased with it. What tender did you go for?

 

[henryf]

This system wasn’t around when we last changed tenders and I can easily see why it’s the go to solution. Fitting was literally 10 minutes.

We’ve gone for a little Highfield 310 with their FCT side console to keep the deck free. Double skinned floor is supposed to stop your bags getting wet.

Honda 20hp engine with electric start & power tilt. I fancied a carbon open deck rigid tender but Sharon fancied electric start and power tilt. The carbon tender was quite a bit more expensive with long lead times. I suspect the hull is also a bit more fragile than aluminium.

Ultimately with these chocks if we do change for something different it doesn’t matter.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Sounds good

 

[rafiki_]

Looks a proper job H.

 

[stelican]

They deserve good sales with those.
Brilliant design.
Shaping teaK blocks was a real pain
Also they were quite narrow causing hard-spots

 

[henryf]

I’ll post up some more photos when we put the tender on and then talk about the tie down straps which are an interesting design. The Princess stainless plates have provision for tie down straps but talking to Rapid Marine they recommended additional tie downs.

They have an ultra low profile system which I can fit myself with the boat in the water and you don’t need to do any routing. Have 4 straps and deck fittings ready.

 

[Portofino]

Does the teak need refreshing ? It looks very silver , old like in the pics . Considering it’s a new boat .

 

[Parabolica]

I saw this chock system when i was at Dusseldorf and spoke with the guy on the stand. It is a very simple and impressive design which just mould themself the hull form of anything put upon them which is great when swapping between Tender to jet-ski, especially whilst at anchor.

I must invest in a pair for next season.

 

[jfm]

Sorry to call a spade a spade and rain on lots of parades and strawberries but with a hilo platform those things are work of the devil imho. I have used them plenty.

When recovering the tender in a swell you need the solid lumps of teak with a vee shaped cut out, so that tender can be misaligned and yet will always fall/slide perfectly into the Vee, self-aligning itself by gravity. Those things pictured will happily accept a misaligned tender and keep it misaligned, and that's their problem. Sorry to be a PITA, but I have recovered a heaving heavy tender onto a hi-lo in messy weather literally hundreds of times over 12 seasons, and I have used those exact things pictured 20 times, and I would never have them. If you bought them mail order and you're within the time limit, imho send them back Henry imho and get classic lumps of 50 x 180 x 600 teak, and cut a vee.

 

[henryf]

They’re fitted and I’m committed !

A couple of points. Why could you not just manually rearrange the tender when its back on board. I’ve gone for one of the lightest tenders of its type specifically to comply with Princess’ recommendations when gyro stabilisation is fitted.

We pretty much always launch and recover in calmer waters. Its usually when we are in an estuary or if its a bay we don’t anchor if it isn’t calm enough to easily swim.

All that said I am nervous - ok nervous is too strong a word but conscious the hi low platform will be different to the crane and fixed platform I’m used to. I’ve seen the benefits of the platform for swimming this season with guests so on that score I’m a convert and I took your advice to get a remote control fitted in readiness for tender launch and recovery. I’ve got a 2 person, 2 pole, 2 rope plan which is presumably destined to fail

I hope we can make these work because it will allow me to use our little 3D jetski from time to time.

 

[Hurricane]

Sorry to call a spade a spade and rain on lots of parades and strawberries but with a hilo platform those things are work of the devil imho. I have used them plenty.

When recovering the tender in a swell you need the solid lumps of teak with a vee shaped cut out, so that tender can be misaligned and yet will always fall/slide perfectly into the Vee, self-aligning itself by gravity. Those things pictured will happily accept a misaligned tender and keep it misaligned, and that's their problem. Sorry to be a PITA, but I have recovered a heaving heavy tender onto a hi-lo in messy weather literally hundreds of times over 12 seasons, and I have used those exact things pictured 20 times, and I would never have them. If you bought them mail order and you're within the time limit, imho send them back Henry imho and get classic lumps of 50 x 180 x 600 teak, and cut a vee.

Like this but I think these ones are a little thicker than you suggest.
I got the correct profile from the tender manufacturer so this approach only works for a specific tender.



And when making your own chocks, you can do extra stuff.
Do you remember that you suggested that I made extra Vs
My application is different in that the tender is "craned on" so the extra Vs allow a stopping point.

 

[jfm]

They’re fitted and I’m committed !

A couple of points. Why could you not just manually rearrange the tender when its back on board. I’ve gone for one of the lightest tenders of its type specifically to comply with Princess’ recommendations when gyro stabilisation is fitted.

We pretty much always launch and recover in calmer waters. Its usually when we are in an estuary or if its a bay we don’t anchor if it isn’t calm enough to easily swim.

All that said I am nervous - ok nervous is too strong a word but conscious the hi low platform will be different to the crane and fixed platform I’m used to. I’ve seen the benefits of the platform for swimming this season with guests so on that score I’m a convert and I took your advice to get a remote control fitted in readiness for tender launch and recovery. I’ve got a 2 person, 2 pole, 2 rope plan which is presumably destined to fail

I hope we can make these work because it will allow me to use our little 3D jetski from time to time.

OK no problem - you know me I say it how I see it . If your tender is ultra light you will of course be able to centre it manually after lifting it - I speak more from using 300-400kg tenders - but manually centring the thing is an extra chore I'd rather not have. The calmer the weather the easier things will be.

I just find the whole design of these things a bit insane. The turned up ends at the forward end of your chocks have a slotted hole, inviting a tie down strap, but the deck fittings are held on by little woodscrews, so that's REALLY dumb. At the aft end, why is there a mushroom on the chock base and a keyhole slot in the deck plate, when there is ALSO a bolt 25mm away? That's just making hassle for the crew. Then why is there a heavy welded boss on the top side of the chock baseplate at the aft end? - it's doing precisely nothing.

When I say "little woodscrews" above, we're talking about things that belong inside a watch. You absolutely cant tie your tender down to these, so those turned up ends of the stainless steel chock base strips just shouldn't be there imho.

 

[henryf]

Absolutely no need for an apology I value your input and every day’s a school day. Rapid marine we’re very much of the school that extra tie downs are required and I’ve got a pack of 4 really interesting aftermarket ultra low profile pad / strap combos which I’ll fit when the tender arrives and of course cover on here. They use bolted fittings which go though the entire swim platform but which can be fitted with the boat in the water.

Total weight of my tender and engine will be under 150kg.

The bit on the aft end of the stainless plates from Princess is designed to take a chunky knurled handle and threaded M14 bar which secured the whole lot in place. Sadly Princess hadn’t secured the threaded bar onto the knurled handle properly so I’ve brought them back to the workshop to thread lock in place. A simple enough rectification.

 

[Parabolica]

The ones i want are the ‘universal chocks, no deck fittings” which just slot in like my current chocks. I see these as a win win swapping between Williams 325 and jet ski as my jet ski doesn’t sit properly on the current chocks which are dedicated for the Williams. Of course i have separate tie down eyes outboard on the platform. These were ridiculous as just screwed down from above with short woodscrews. I now have them through bolted to tapping plates underneath the platform.

 

[Portofino]

The other thing to consider is the next owner ,I inherited this .
Top pic shows the tie down hoops screwed down 4 of them .Not quite “ watch dims size screws “ but I got JFM s point .
The chocks just slot via pegs into the holes , you can just see .
Beauty of this when the boats busy we launch the tender and the BP is un cluttered the passerelle goes right up so one can walk from one end to the other or 6/8 pax sit unencumbered feet in the water .

Middle pic my DIY chocks .I made a cardboard template quite easy , but to stop the potential tender hull scratches i chamfered the edges .You can see a D fitting for the tender fixation strap .There are 4 .

Third pic - note the white ratchet strap that goes to the D rings ( arguably JFM s watch screw s ?? ) ….But and it’s a big but note the substantial pink strap attached to the swim ladder and go back to pic 1 top RHS the abseil tape ( white ) which is tied around the BP metal frame , not the teak plank .

So all in all a bit belt n braces .

Finally it’s the “ Teak wonder “ system = honey glow and yes it’s gets doused in salty Med sea water+ Med UV , second pic is 12/12 m old since last application btw .It lasts .

D speed coming off the plane and the BP gets drenched .Hence my earlier quip on Henry’s silver aged teak look .

 

[jfm]

Absolutely no need for an apology I value your input and every day’s a school day. Rapid marine we’re very much of the school that extra tie downs are required and I’ve got a pack of 4 really interesting aftermarket ultra low profile pad / strap combos which I’ll fit when the tender arrives and of course cover on here. They use bolted fittings which go though the entire swim platform but which can be fitted with the boat in the water.

Total weight of my tender and engine will be under 150kg.

The bit on the aft end of the stainless plates from Princess is designed to take a chunky knurled handle and threaded M14 bar which secured the whole lot in place. Sadly Princess hadn’t secured the threaded bar onto the knurled handle properly so I’ve brought them back to the workshop to thread lock in place. A simple enough rectification.

First paragraph = excellent, but those turned up ends and slots at the forward end should therefore not exist.

Last para= the aft end: maybe that’s how they are designed but it is awful design. You simply do not need a welded boss there. And if you have an m14 fastening you don’t need a mushroom and a key slot at all. Basically I hate this rapid/princess colaboration product though I know it has been fitted 100s of times. It looks ugly and it offends an engineer .

I have used it personally (on a chartered 78 footer this summer, brand new 2023 boat with hi-lo, with Williams 435) and can say first hand that it doesn’t work well and the captain and crew also hated it and plan to bin it this winter.

 

[Hooligan]

Sorry to call a spade a spade and rain on lots of parades and strawberries but with a hilo platform those things are work of the devil imho. I have used them plenty.

When recovering the tender in a swell you need the solid lumps of teak with a vee shaped cut out, so that tender can be misaligned and yet will always fall/slide perfectly into the Vee, self-aligning itself by gravity. Those things pictured will happily accept a misaligned tender and keep it misaligned, and that's their problem. Sorry to be a PITA, but I have recovered a heaving heavy tender onto a hi-lo in messy weather literally hundreds of times over 12 seasons, and I have used those exact things pictured 20 times, and I would never have them. If you bought them mail order and you're within the time limit, imho send them back Henry imho and get classic lumps of 50 x 180 x 600 teak, and cut a vee.

We use these chocks and I agree with the point being made above. I have though found a method that seems to work for us in messy seas. I find that if I tilt the chocks into their uppermost position - not a great explanation but hope some get it, sorry - and then as the hi lo starts to come up I lean on the bow so this aligns first onto the chock at front then the back aligns ok. Of course this does involve getting wet which perhaps in the U.K. is a little less appealing but it does seem to work. Totally get your point though. One of the things I noticed when moving from the 58 to the 65 was a lot more water passing through the tender so as to speak which is blindingly obvious I guess. But it does mean that alignment is quite important.

 

[Chris H]

My pet hate, seeing tenders strapped to the back of a boat as an afterthought .

 

[Portofino]

What have these two got in common ?
Tender .