Fender knots

[vyv_cox]

I use a round turn and two half hitches to attach to the boat.
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Pleased to hear that I am not the only one. Dating from the days when we first owned a boat that needed fenders I looked at the definitions of various knots that might be used for the purpose. Clove hitch says 'where loads are steady' whereas round turn and two hitches is 'where loads vary'. Based on that we have used the latter ever since. Having seen lots of fenders floating about marinas it would seem to have been a good choice.

 

[Babylon]

Pleased to hear that I am not the only one. Dating from the days when we first owned a boat that needed fenders I looked at the definitions of various knots that might be used for the purpose. Clove hitch says 'where loads are steady' whereas round turn and two hitches is 'where loads vary'. Based on that we have used the latter ever since. Having seen lots of fenders floating about marinas it would seem to have been a good choice.

Most sensible for a 'leave-and-forget' knot.

But the advantage of the clove hitch is that it allows quick adjustment to the height of your fenders. One might have misjudged the height of a pontoon before coming in, or the relative toerail heights of a boat you intend rafting onto.

If you then want to make your clove hitch more secure, surely an extra hitch is adequate?

 

[Captain Coochie]

Smaller boats ( 18' ) on the Thames can be a real headache for the owner as most river banks / locks etc are made for larger 25'+ boats . I know this because my fist boat was 18' . My problem was the walls hit your rubbing strake rather than the hull so it leaves your fenders useless.
My solution was to attach a line to the bottom of all the fenders and a small cleat near the transom . Whenever i needed to raise the fenders i just unhitched the line , pulled it tight and tied it off again . If i remember correctly i added a small eyelet for the line to feed through so the line was never in the way , it kind of acted like a small pulley before the cleat .

Hope to see you on the river at some point

 

[johnalison]

But the advantage of the clove hitch is that it allows quick adjustment to the height of your fenders. One might have misjudged the height of a pontoon before coming in, or the relative toerail heights of a boat you intend rafting onto.

?

That is why we don't use clove hitches. A round turn and a slip hitch can be very quickly adjusted compared to a clove hitch, even with one hand, and we then change them to two half-hitches when tied up. If people want to use cloves they are welcome, but not on my boat. It is also important to be consistent, so that people know what to deal with, een in the dark.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

I use a simple hitch that is, in effect, a slipped overhand knot, tied around the T-junction between a stanchion and the rail. Fender rope goes up along the stanchion, over the rail, round the stanchion and the standing part of the fender rope and made fast with a slipped bight under the bit that first went over the rail. It is actually quicker to tie than to describe

The fender stay put, does not slide along the rail, is easily adjusted and - so far - I have never lost a fender.