Fender Bender Q?

[TwoStroke]

Fingers crossed, my boat will be arriving this weekend - at long last. But before she goes in the water I need to kit her out with fenders and mooring lines etc...

She's a Four Winns 195 Freedom. The questions are - what size fenders do I need, how many, what diameter of mooring rope? Do I need fender sox? She'll be moored down in Brighton Marina.

Looking through the catalogues - the choice is bewildering!!! Please advise.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=red>... too late now, I've bought a boat!

 

[DavidJ]

Fenders take up a lot of space, nevertheless I would go for reasonable size ones, say 15cm dia x 60cm long and 4 of them. Fender sox look good when new are expensive but get shabby quickly...don't bother.
David

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[hlb]

You need sausage shaped ones. Size and quantity is a compromise between usefullness and storage space. Three minimum. But some for the other side might come in handy. Especialy if learning. 12mm rope will be plenty big enough. Not nylon cos it goes stiff. Two lengths of one and a half boat lengths. Plus another long one for whatever. Much depends on where you intend to go and the conditions there. Harbour walls for instance. Socks are for the woosies..../forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

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Haydn

 

[Guest]

1 small tip. You can never have too many fenders. I have 7 down the mooring side and people laugh at mine. and 4 down the off side,with plenty of spares the times I have arrived at the marina after a gales etc and seen other boats after the aftermath,and thenI have a chuckle about my ugly rubber things having done their job .As for lines Haydn `s advice I would certainly take on board as seems about right.

YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY FENDERS.

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[Alistairr]

Is your boat new??? If it is i would expect the dealer to kit the boat out with fenders x4, warps x2 and an anchor chain and line. These should be part of the delivery package. I took delivery of my new boat a fortnight ago, i was told these would be supplied with the boat so i thought they would be cheap small and nasty, how wrong was i, the fenders were better than the ones i had for last year, the warps and fender lines were in a nice blue colour to match the boat and the anchor was bigger than i'd expected with plenty of chain and line.
I moved from a 19' cuddy up to a 25' cuddy this year, if your boat is being moored in a marina then i recon 6 fenders would be enough, 3 down each side, Fender socks will always cause an arguement, but i say they are a must!! They protect the side of the boat from the fender rubs, i have seen boats that don't use socks and you can see where the fenders have rubbed the colour of the decals. Yes i have seen a lot shabby looking fender socks after only 1 season, but the ones i've got are fairly old, washed several times, have not faded (yet) and still look as good as the day i'd bought them. I went shopping for more for the new fenders could not find the same make, a lot of other cheaper elastic ones, managed to order them through other chandlery, They are branded FENDA SOX and have a tie at the end instead of elastic.. Size 2 is good for you i think it is 9"x26" i can check if you wish?
If your boat is 19-20' then 12mm rope is perfect. I agree with hlb regarding lenghts, but they can never be too long!!!! The best thing that most people do is have lines made up permanantly on the pontoon that you leave behind and keep some extra on the boat in case you tie up elsewhere, this way it is easier to tie up when you get back and the boat is always in the same postion.

Hope this helps

cheers..

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[TwoStroke]

Thanks for the tips. Boat is used (new one stretching me too much).

Thought I would go for 4x 530mmx140mm and 4x 630x200mm for fenders.
Ropes would be 3x 15mx12mm (polyester).

Previous owner has left the anchor for me - how thoughtful. Now for the flares / first aid kit / life jackets etc...

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=red>... too late now, I've bought a boat!

 

[duncan]

proper anchor gear or ...........

if you are aiming to anchor much I would suggest you check out what you have - a 5 kilo bruce or M (copy) with 5 meters of 3/8ths (8mm) chain to a nice multiplait in 12 or 14 mm will make anchoring a dream and let you leave it for lunch in confidence tha tit might be there when you get back!
Where are you going to be based?

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[TwoStroke]

Thanks. Had forgotten about the anchor. Will have to check that - and make sure it is secure to the boat. No point dropping anchor and then finding out it's not attached!!! Just the thing I would do.

Will be based in Brighton Marina. Was hoping this weekend but now looking more like the following weekend!

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=red>... too late now, I've bought a boat!

 

[longjohnsilver]

3 x 15m ropes probably will seem too long, suggest to be more user friendly you cut one in half otherwise you'll have large amounts of spare rope to deal with after you've tied up.

As for fenders, you can't have too many.

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[Bejasus]

On my 25ft I have 4 x 12mm x 10m warps and 1 x 12mm x 15m with snubber for spring. Fenders have the same stuff in 8mm x 1m. I leave 2 x 14mm x 5m pemanently at mooring for stern on and a 12mm x 15m with snubber & an 8in stainless ring on a pile for snubber hung on a hook on pile when not in use. These save a lot of farting around when returning to berth. Just have to take the loops on to the cleats. Job done.

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[jfm]

sox

Yes, definitely get fenda sox imho

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[Alistairr]

Re: sox

Hear Hear!



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