Fender covers - pros and cons?

[dom]

Urban myth. It just doesn't happen. I have seen horrendous hull marking with naked fenders but in 30 years of using fender socks in a variety of marina and locations I have never once had marking by grit or dirt embedded in the socks, despite often berthing against concrete and being in Greece, which tends to be very dusty.

The best indication of the benefits of fender socks can be seen by looking at superyachts. The crew's only duty is to keep the yacht looking good. You will never see one without fender socks.

Like this for example. Fender sock free

Agreed, I‘ve tried both system and fender socks are IMHO the runaway winners although I do keep a few old naked ones for rough locks etc. Super yachts and classic yachts alike, wIth expensive sometimes painted finishes follow a similar practice. I‘m not sure why this grit retention argument still holds water, but it does. Is there any hard evidence for it or is it just passed down hearsay?

As for price, there are some very good, very reasonably priced ones on EBay. Not a difficult commodity to replicate at less than chandlers’ standard 60% GM for such products.

 

[Lightwave395]

I have fender skirts, made after a ludicrously expensive hull respray and used since. They're ok but not a 'silver bullet', I'm thinking of trying socks... As an aside I would not recommend Awlgrip 2000, it was applied by a 'proper' authorised paint shop but I've found it chips easily (they wanted £1K to respray a few chips) it scuffs easily and any marks are very difficult to polish out, disappointing mindful of the cost and I know the prep was all done well

 

[vyv_cox]

I have fender skirts, made after a ludicrously expensive hull respray and used since. They're ok but not a 'silver bullet', I'm thinking of trying socks... As an aside I would not recommend Awlgrip 2000, it was applied by a 'proper' authorised paint shop but I've found it chips easily (they wanted £1K to respray a few chips) it scuffs easily and any marks are very difficult to polish out, disappointing mindful of the cost and I know the prep was all done well

That is disappointing. I have seen wonderful work done with Awlgrip. Is it possible that the coating thickness was too much? I find that paints applied too thickly will tend to chip whereas thinner ones do not.

 

[Easticks28]

Agreed, I‘ve tried both system and fender socks are IMHO the runaway winners although I do keep a few old naked ones for rough locks etc. Super yachts and classic yachts alike, wIth expensive sometimes painted finishes follow a similar practice. I‘m not sure why this grit retention argument still holds water, but it does. Is there any hard evidence for it or is it just passed down hearsay?

As for price, there are some very good, very reasonably priced ones on EBay. Not a difficult commodity to replicate at less than chandlers’ standard 60% GM for such products.

Personal experience.

 

[TernVI]

....

I reckon another tip is to be a fender sock manufacturer! ?

It's not hard!
Fleece material is cheap in high street shop.
It's stretchy, so you don't need to work to sailmaking precision.
You can have wacky colours, leopard spots.

 

[TernVI]

A good fender pad will offer a lot of protection to the hull. If made of non squeaky material it will quieter too. Canvas is effective. I once made one out a a large dark blue bath towel. It worked really well and lasted longer than I expected. Not as long as canvas one though. Mine are currently 2 layers of canvas with 6mm foam sandwiched between them.

Foam is a good idea.
Would also double up for longing on the deck.

 

[duncan99210]

It's not hard!
Fleece material is cheap in high street shop.
It's stretchy, so you don't need to work to sailmaking precision.
You can have wacky colours, leopard spots.

That’s just what we do, although the Admiral insists on a blue to match the other canvas work.... As I said in my post above, we use cheap fleece off eBay, make a set every 2 years. Year one see the covers faded and beginning to wear, year two, we turn them inside out and repeat. Year three, new covers.
Costs about £10 for fleece and an afternoon at the sewing machine.
Fleece also retains far less in the way of dirt than the weird stockinette material that chandlery bought covers are made of. If we’ve been in a dirty berth, then the fenders get towed for the first few miles to clean them off.

 

[Lightwave395]

That is disappointing. I have seen wonderful work done with Awlgrip. Is it possible that the coating thickness was too much? I find that paints applied too thickly will tend to chip whereas thinner ones do not.

The painting was done by an Awlgrip 'specialist', the prep, which I saw taking place and looked painstaking was done by a raceboat co so don't know quite honestly

 

[sailaboutvic]

Chandlers like fender covers. They rub through quickly and need replacing. You can see that by wandering around any marina and seeing fender covers with holes. Plus my wife spent a while once working in a Chandlers and had to handle complaints from people who's fender covers had worn through.

If you want, old t shirts work for a while. Plus on a noisy night, a little bit of washing up liquid reduces squeaky and a rub down in the morning helps clean the fenders. ?

Yea old T shirts and once they worn they used for cleaning and when they no longer good for that , oil rags so far not found a use for them after oil rags other then bin them.
Any ideas welcome

 

[PhillM]

Thanks everyone. I think the answer is to get a couple of fender balls for the winter (good tip that, thanks) and a couple of covers for occasional use when SWIMBO is on board. Instead of rolling out the red carpet ... I shall install the white covers for her inspection

 

[rotrax]

As I write this First Mate is pinning the hems of the new roll of Navy Blue fender sock material we have just recieved from ebay.

We have always purchased in the past at the SIBS and made them ourselves. This time I looked at ebay and we got two rolls of large size for little more than the price of a single roll from SIBS.

We - the Royal we - hem each end and I then fit by passing 5mm black shockcord through the hem using a home made stiff wire fid. Shockcord pulled tight and tied off then cut and tucked for a neat finish.

Works for us!

 

[KREW2]

As for price, there are some very good, very reasonably priced ones on EBay. Not a difficult commodity to replicate at less than chandlers’ standard 60% GM for such products.

That's all very well for the idle rich, but, in times like this a little more make do and mend may be needed. This is #9, in "Krew2 tips for Austere Times"
If you are one of those with extra time on your hands at the at the moment, dig out your old Fairisle sweaters, unravel, and get knitting.
Voilà