Fender stowage

Eight fenders, six medium and two known as Mr Blobby and Mrs Blobby. All stow in lockers. Plus fender cloths for both topsides.

Having been brought up in the school that to leave fenders dangling for a moment longer than necessary was akin to a crime against humanity. The habit of leaving them on the transom looks awful.

Don't need those clip things, just learn to tie a rolling hitch!
 
onesea said:
I personally dislike fenders stored above decks and in sugar scoops etc, I know I am bucking the trend on this one..

When solo I hate the chore of 8 fenders in and out, I would only do 4 but the berthing is kind of tight. So we tend to leave our fenders out all the time, once we are approaching the berth. Sailing I am lucky enough to have enough space in the stern locker to get them out of sight.

I often wonder is people really need the jumbo size fenders that most tend to have, length can be handy but do they really need to be such large diameter? Makes a big difference to storage space required.
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Totally agree with above. Sailed for years in quite small boats (27ft etc) and always managed to find somewhere to stow the fenders (lockers etc). Current style of festooning the boat with huge fenders does nothing for the look of the boat. Never a problem to dig them out and secure them to the base of the stanchions; never to the middle of the guardrails.
 
Malabar said:
never to the middle of the guardrails.
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Sorry I am in the middle of the guardrails person. Particularity when berthing means I can slide them around as I see fit, then secure as I see fit after. I try and avoid leaving them in the middle of the guardrail, then with present boats wide mid section I have little choice.......

She would just sit on one fender which IMHO is worse....
 
onesea said:
Sorry I am in the middle of the guardrails person. Particularity when berthing means I can slide them around as I see fit, then secure as I see fit after.
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Me too. However, I always tie them to the lower of the two guardrails, that way the more important top one is not saggified.

Pete
 
prv said:
Me too. However, I always tie them to the lower of the two guardrails, that way the more important top one is not saggified.

Pete
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+1, if I was restricted to stanchions I would not have fenders where they were needed.
 
Leighb said:
+1, if I was restricted to stanchions I would not have fenders where they were needed.
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Me too. Our normal stern-to aproach uses three fenders, each on a stanchion, two just each side of the widest part of the beam and one further aft. A rather smaller fender goes on the upper wire at the widest point. All x2 for the other side. We have owned a set of patent clamcleats for the fender lines for some years, bought at a boat show. They are quicker to mount than knots, valuable when tying eight on, but we sometimes add knots when berthed for a few days in windy conditions as they tend to work loose.
 
Slow_boat said:
The boat is a Countess 33 ketch, if that has any bearing on the subject.
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Just shows that you are a man with exquisite taste :)
8 fenders! I only normally use 4 - 2 each side ( I'm a careful parker). I do have 8 + a ball fender for springing off, but the rest stay in the locker.
When not in use, the 4 I use sit in fender baskets on the rear quarters. Not ideal, but they do a job.
In use I tie them to the lower wires.
 
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colind3782 said:
Is there any advantage/disadvantage of tying a "fender line" between two stanchions to have the fender where it's needed without putting strain on the guard wire?
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Sounds like to much hard work to me, do guard rails really need protecting from the strain? Also the strain is passed along them to the push/ pull pit. Stanchions are not designed for that...

As for no of fenders, marina/ pontoon I will use 4 do not normally bother with outward side. Home berth I use 8, and often use them to gently open the gaps to get to my berth. 2 x 90 deg bends depending on the wind and current they can involve changing direction (fwd to astern) as well.....
 
While everyone is talking and thinking about fenders, can I pass on some advice I received when buying a new fender. I was about to tie the fender line to the fender on the end with the stopper. The man in the chandlery said it is much better to have the stopper at the bottom than the top. He logic was that if the fender got squashed too much, the stopper might pop out and up just as you were looking down at it. It is much safer for the stopper to shoot out downwards to the water.

I realise that this is likely to be a rare event, but I it does make sense. So swap ends and save your sight

TudorSailor
 
Fender Stowage

Have the same problem, as we have 8 large, 4 medium, 2 round (for the stern), stern fender, bow fender!
A partial solution is shown:
View attachment 33481

I got the idea from Heikell, who had them on his previous yacht and you can see them in the RYA "Mediterranean Cruising" guide. Unfortunately, I could not see the manufacturer's name, so had to design my own. They work very well and it gets 6 fenders out of the way. Possible problem with waves - we shall see, but they are easily removable for offshore work, or if a rough passage is anticipated.
I thought the stainless basket type would work, but decided they would be a safety hazard, as they would encroach too far inboard (for our 300mm diam. fenders:D)

Cheers,

Michael.
 
prv said:
Me too. However, I always tie them to the lower of the two guardrails, that way the more important top one is not saggified.

Pete
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For coming alongside I don't worry about using either particular guardrail greatly, but once tied up I often attach the fenders to the toe-rail -which is perforated oval loops on our boat. In a good blow the heeling/righting forces against the pontoon are pretty substantial, so I tend to position half of them at a lower / higher position - to prevent them (all) going under the lip of the pontoon and getting caught.
I have a couple of 2ft diameter orange ball fenders (just found on a beach 20years ago!) which tend to sit on the sugar scoop under way. All the rest go into lockers. My son cringes at the orange balls, but they have been very handy at times! I appreciate the function rather more than the lack of cool :p

Graeme
 
pagoda said:
I have a couple of 2ft diameter orange ball fenders (just found on a beach 20years ago!) which tend to sit on the sugar scoop under way. All the rest go into lockers. My son cringes at the orange balls, but they have been very handy at times!
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:)

The Army yachts out of Kiel used to each carry one big orange buoy/ball, as well as the normal fenders. This was too big for the locker and typically dangled over the stern, referred to as "the bollock" :)

Pete
 
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