Classic looking fenders?

[JesseLoynes]

Hoping someone here might have a useful suggestion:

My Dad has a rather pretty 30ft motor launch, dating from the 1930's. After a few new planks, new decks, lots of varnishing and an awful lot of hard work on his part, she now looks very good indeed. The problem is that she is ringed with plastic fenders. She's moored on the Norfolk Broads, so the fenders stay in place permanently, and look pretty awful compared to the rest of her.

Now I've played the Google game, and found lots of fenders woven from rope, but they tend to come out at about 3.5 or 4" diameter. Up against corrogated or timber pilings this isn't big enough. I know bigger than this takes an awful lot of rope.
The other alternative I've seen is to take a normal plastic fender and tie rope around it. Looks nice, comes in the right size, but it's going to cost us a bomb. (We're looking to club together to buy these for Dad's birthday!) As I figure it, we'd need 14 fenders and about 300ft of rope. Probably not in our budget!

Just wondered if anyone had any good, traditional looking, reasonably priced solutions?

Ideally we're after 14 fenders, 6 or 7" in diameter and 18 - 24
2 long. Ideal budget would be £100!

Any chance?

 

[Forbsie]

Have a look at Toplicht's offerings. Quite expensive though.

Look under Shackles, equipment & supplies.

 

[Poignard]

You could try Des Pawson of footrope Knots, Ipswich [ web page ]

 

[ianc1200]

Boats of this type would have had canvas fenders, filled with cork and suchlike. Peter Freebody has had some boats kitted out with these, but more recently used plastic as they as so useful.
Later post war boats used canvas filled with a type of foam, and I've got a couple somewhere, but they got very dirty from the lock sides on the Thames.

About 10 years ago I noticed Jeckalls had some canvas fenders at an EC Boatshow, so perhaps they may still produce them.

IanC

 

[Romeo]

[ QUOTE ]
. Up against corrogated or timber pilings this isn't big enough. I know bigger than this takes an awful lot of rope.



[/ QUOTE ]

Would you not be better using a samrtly turned out fender board against the piling, with a couple of fenders between it and Dad's boat. You might be able to get away with fewer fenders, and stretch your budget out a bit more.

R

 

[cliffordpope]

Leaving your fenders down, on the Broads? Tut tut! Standards have slipped a bit since I last sailed there. That's the sort of thing hire boats do!

 

[miket]

Would you consider some nice dark blue fender socks as a reasonably priced compromise?

 

[pyrojames]

Fender boards are definitely the way to go on piles. You can keep the boards with a "boat side" and a "pile side" so that your fenders never pick up muck from the walls, and you topsides stay clean. I used to have a couple of 2x6 inch pine planks about 4 feet long. Very useful.

 

[cliffordpope]

I second that. If you have the space to store it, a single longer board doubling as a gangplank is useful. In the kind of marshy riverbank moorings where a gangplank is useful, you don't need a fender board, and vice versa.

 

[oldfrank]

'Proper' coir fenders get mud and grit into them and ruin the paint. Real plastic, with or without fender boards or fender socks seem pretty good for the Broads. You might also need a couple of planks if the waterlevel occasionally gets too high and the top of the quayheading starts to damage the hull around the waterline.

For personal preference, I don't like seeing a moving boat with the fenders down. If all else fails why not string the top and bottom of some fenders onto a fore & aft line so they can all be flicked on deck at once from the cockpit. OF

 

[JesseLoynes]

Thanks to all for your help and suggestions.

We are indeed looking at setting up fenderboards for use when she's moored in her berth alongside a pontoon. There's quite a good tidal range there, but we think we've sorted out a good way to do it.

As to leaving the fenders down whilst moving, CliffordPope, the main standard that has dropped is the skill of people hiring boats. The ratio of hire boats has however gone up a great deal. As the River Chet is quite often less than 2 boatwidths wide, permanent fenders are a very good idea.
I agree at sea they cause drag through the waves, and on a sailing boat when it heels over. However, on a motorboat, on the Broads doing a little one hour trip before tying up for lunch, it's barely worth while. And as I mentioned above, there are some very good reasons for keeping them in place.

We've looked at taking plastic fenders and tying rope over them, which would work quite well, and a couple of ither alternatives, but also found a chap who can make them to order, ther right size, and for a reasonable price, so will probably go with that.

Thanks again for the help, Jess.

 

[cliffordpope]

I know, only joking!. When we first kept a motor cruiser at Banhams in Cambridge in about 1960 we met a group of boaters who used to meet at the Fish & Duck or the Cutter in Ely. The leading light seemed to be a chap called "Mack" whose little boat Gypsy Queen was always immaculate. I always remembered his disparaging remarks about the kind of people who left their fenders (sorry, "fend-offs") down on the move, or even worse, had them touching the water. So ever since I have gone through this ritual of hauling them up on cast-off, and kickng them overboard just before mooring.
Such are the habits ingrained in childhood, liking leaving one's knife and fork set at 6 o'clock not 5, or putting a pat of butter on the plate first, not spreading straight straight from the dish.

 

[JesseLoynes]

No worries.

I'm exactly the same about fenders on our Hillyard, and also cannot possibly leave a plate at the end of a meal without straightening the cutlery. It's these little ingrained habits that make us what we are. Unfortunately my Dad is getting on a little to be running up and down the coachroof each time they cast off or come in to moor.

I have to admit to being utterly anal about it myself. That and always having sails and sheets properly tidied before reaching our berth at the end of the day! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Seagreen]

Thinking sideways, you could try the narrowboat chandlers. Narrowboaters are big into rope fenders for everything and there are a few suppliers. Here's one for starters. If they are still too pricey and you want to look trad, why not try either:

Canvas covers for stock plastic fenders - easy to make on a home sewing machine. or if you want something kind to the paintwork and disposable;

Natural coloured knitted fender socks out of poly/wool mix. I'm sure some local grannies could do with the pocket money! These will work well with a fender and plank arrangement. From a distance, with "beige" wool, they may even pass for rope!