Fenders for rigid tender

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Martin_W_Brown

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What fenders do you use on a rigid tender? Just got a 11' GRP tender and discovered that the fenders we had were inadequate for choppy conditions. In particular, the top of the gunwale going up tends to meet the curved hull of the main boat coming down.

Pipe insulation is a possibility but the tender looks cute at the moment and pipe insulation doesn't.

My current thinking is to get some closed-cell foam, glue it into an L shape and fix it somehow to the gunwale - possibly in a canvas case tied to loops somewhere. Any other ideas?
 
Couple of proper fenders, secured to dinghy, but with clips to go on the toe rail at correct height?
 
We just got a number of the smallest size of ordinary 'sausage' fenders. Put on mounting clips on the gunnel and attach them lengthways. They should protrude above the gunnel thus preventing any knocks on the hull. Another trick is to encourage the dinghy away with a drogue or a bendy pipe acting like a spring off the pushpit. The thud thud of a hard dinghy on the hull can be hard to ignore.
 
Thanks for the replies.

We tried larger fenders attached to the guardwires (Jag 21: nowhere on the toerail to clip anything to) but the fenders weren't long enough to cope with the vertical range. We could get some longer fenders and try again. My reservation is that approaching the boat in choppy conditions can be stressful - needing to attach the fenders to the boat before getting too close wouldn't help.

I'll see if I can figure out a way to attach the current fenders lengthways to the gunnel on the tender.
 
I equipped mine with rope fendering all round the gunwales - about 1 1/4" diameter (thicker would have been even better but beachcombers can't be choosers) Cable ties about a foot apart through holes in the dinghy's wooden gunwale hold it in place , and a nice four-strand knob knot and tassel (as Ashley of the knot bible has it) terminates each end just around the corner on the transom. I still need a couple of sausage fenders at the guard rails of the "big" boat where I come alongside to board , which are just flipped into the cockpit when I leave, if I remember. It looks awfully sloppy when I forget. Rowlocks are the big problem - without them no need for the sausages.
 
Pipe insulation works very well.

tenderonbeach.jpg
 
That is what I use too. Pipe insulation is brill, cheap and cheerful.

Another use is protecting my bike on the van bike rack - but LS probably knows all about that already.
 
I used poly ' food grade ' tubing around the gunwale of a rigid dinghy, it worked very well; secured by drilling a hole on the outer side of the tube big enough to take the screw & bolt heads, with a smaller hole at the meeting between tube & dinghy to just take the thread - so there were no protruding screw heads to catch the cruiser topsides.

Looks reasonably neat, quite cheap and gives good all round protection to the mothership.

My present dinghy is a bit smarter and has a fancy all round pvc fender strip with a coloured inlay, fitted by the makers; this stuff is available in long lengths new on E-Bay at good prices.

Using an inflatable as a permanent club to mooring tender is a mugs' game, as most inflatables capable of fitting on a cruiser are small and low freeboard, + the regular use from a slipway causes a lot of premature wear & tear; I was reminded of this when my rigid dinghy was home for repairs after a little accident recently, the inflatable might have been much the same length but was a pale shadow of the grp dinghy's usefulness - also unless leaving the dinghy at the club and a prime target for thieves, it means packing away a wet dinghy in the car for going home.
 
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Seajet said:
Using an inflatable as a permanent club to mooring tender is a mugs' game, as most inflatables capable of fitting on a cruiser are small and low freeboard, + the regular use from a slipway causes a lot of premature wear & tear; I was reminded of this when my rigid dinghy was home for repairs after a little accident recently, the inflatable might have been much the same length but was a pale shadow of the grp dinghy's usefulness - also unless leaving the dinghy at the club and a prime target for thieves, it means packing away a wet dinghy in the car for going home.
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Different things suit different people. My Avon is now in its 45th year. But i look after it as one might any dinghy
I do not drag ot on the beach i keep it inside when not in use i use a trailer to deliver to the waters edge
It is far safer when getting into the yacht as one can stand on the side
However, i did a long cruise to Biscay one year. & worried that the Avon was a bit long in the tooth I bought a Wetline
Real rubbish compared to the Avon
I renamed it " deathrace"
However, my daughter uses it to get to my squib as it is lighter. & she likes it. So there you go --- differing opinions
 
Fine if that suits you, towing your tender to & fro every time.

A chap at my club leaves his inflatable in the tender pen, where either it has been vandalised or succumbed to the elements, useless in quite a short time and it was an expensive one.

I knew someone else who used an inflatable as a club tender, leaving it on the mooring.

It was stolen, by scrotes simply cutting the fabric strips it was padlocked by.

I leave my smart, seaworthy grp tender at the club pen all year round, secured by chain & padlock, just bringing it home for the odd bit of TLC.

If I row ashore to the club or pub I have a spliced on long wire which I can padlock it with, if I take the brass bung, oars & rowlocks with me there's not much casual thieves or yobs can do, but an inflatable is attractive to nab and have away in a standard car.

The grp job also rows and motors a lot better than an inflatable, even an Avon.
 
Seajet said:
Fine if that suits you, towing your tender to & fro every time.

A chap at my club leaves his inflatable in the tender pen, where either it has been vandalised or succumbed to the elements,

If I row ashore to the club or pub I have a spliced on long wire which I can padlock it with, if I take the brass bung, oars & rowlocks with me there's not much casual thieves or yobs can do, but an inflatable is attractive to nab and have away in a standard car.

The grp job also rows and motors a lot better than an inflatable, even an Avon.
Click to expand...

If you live or sail in a yobbish area i can understand your concerns. Nobody wants to steal a GRP dinghy( there are lots just dumped on our foreshore) so you would be safe having one
As for speed of rowing v sail i actually row my Avon faster than a few of the outboard driven GRPs & inflatables & rarely bother with the outboard even though my mooring is a fair way out at high tide

As for towing home - i only live 200 yards from my mooring so i hook the trailer( very light) on the back of my bicycle & pedal home. Another advantage of an inflatable
 
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Here in NZ there are a couple of commercial PVC extrusions specially for the purpose.
I fitted one such to my hard tender and grumbled about the cost but it has been worth it terms of protecting my own and other peoples motherships.
It absolutely does not mark or scratch other boats. You can see the profile at the transom corner. I took it around the corner on the bow transom and probably should have done on the stern. Probably get everything right first time in the next life i suppose.
I would be most surprised if you could not find similar in the UK.
Good luck
 
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MikePalmer said:
I equipped mine with rope fendering all round the gunwales - about 1 1/4" diameter (thicker would have been even better but beachcombers can't be choosers) Cable ties about a foot apart through holes in the dinghy's wooden gunwale hold it in place , and a nice four-strand knob knot and tassel (as Ashley of the knot bible has it) terminates each end just around the corner on the transom. I still need a couple of sausage fenders at the guard rails of the "big" boat where I come alongside to board , which are just flipped into the cockpit when I leave, if I remember. It looks awfully sloppy when I forget. Rowlocks are the big problem - without them no need for the sausages.
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Same here, but laced the rope on with light cord through holes drilled in the gunwhale. Whipped the ends with the same cord and lashed them to a couple of eyes on the transom to pull it really tight. Found the cheapest place for heavy coir rope was a garden centre.
 
Another option is a few layers of camping mat glued to the gunwhale.
Possibly covered in canvas.
It depends how rough it is on your mooring.

Inflatables can be very wet if you need to cross Portsmouth Harbour for instance, and a decent GRP tender is faster with the same engine.
 
Daydream believer said:
If you live or sail in a yobbish area i can understand your concerns. Nobody wants to steal a GRP dinghy( there are lots just dumped on our foreshore) so you would be safe having one
As for speed of rowing v sail i actually row my Avon faster than a few of the outboard driven GRPs & inflatables & rarely bother with the outboard even though my mooring is a fair way out at high tide

As for towing home - i only live 200 yards from my mooring so i hook the trailer( very light) on the back of my bicycle & pedal home. Another advantage of an inflatable
Click to expand...

Daydream believer said:
If you live or sail in a yobbish area i can understand your concerns. Nobody wants to steal a GRP dinghy( there are lots just dumped on our foreshore) so you would be safe having one
As for speed of rowing v sail i actually row my Avon faster than a few of the outboard driven GRPs & inflatables & rarely bother with the outboard even though my mooring is a fair way out at high tide

As for towing home - i only live 200 yards from my mooring so i hook the trailer( very light) on the back of my bicycle & pedal home. Another advantage of an inflatable
Click to expand...

I happen to live in a nice area, and sail in a nice bit of Chichester Harbour.

You would be rather unlikely to find a grp dinghy like mine ' dumped on a foreshore ', as for the size it and the fit-out cost more than any inflatable I know of, inc Zodiac etc !

I'm basing my opinions on 44 years of going to and from various moorings, 36 to my boats at different places.
 
How about a (cheap, green, ~ 1" OD) garden hose, slit with a Stanley knife (box cutter in US speak) and lashed every 30 cms through holes drilled in the fiberglass gunnel? Has worked for me for the last twenty years on current dinghy. Stored starboard side down in the dirt bottomed storage area, tied port side to to the transom of the yacht when boarding.
 
Thanks for the comments!

I'm not getting rid of the GRP tender :-)

It is a pretty thing with wood trim, clinker effect and a lug sail. Very stable - I can stand up on one side in a chop with no worries. Sails and rows nicely.

It is old and needs some TLC in the winter but isn't going to be replaced by an inflatable...
 
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