Mooring plank - how long, how thick?

AngusMcDoon said:
Do you mean fender boards? If so, 2 planks of planed 18mm x 144mm x 1800mm will do the job. Or do you mean for boarding when stern to a harbour wall?
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Or are you having problems with the crew?
cartoon-pirate-walking-plank-260nw-715720567.jpg
 
Captain Crisp said:
Fender boards! Although other uses to be considered!
Thanks!
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I've seen scaffolding boards used but I think they are too long, thick and heavy - and will be difficult to stow on a 28' boat. I prefer 2 smaller ones so that you can use 2 sausage shape fenders between each board and the boat. At the length I suggest you can stow them under berth cushions easily.

B&Q sell individual planks in the dimensions above at about a tenner each.
 
I used constriction ply - for form work. Its cheap as chips, will last you a couple of seasons and then you re-new. If you don't use it - it eventually goes to land fill.

I could not be bothered with the faff of fenders and glued closed cell foam on ours (its about 50mm thick + about 15mm for the ply) , foam against our hull. I drilled through both foam and ply to offer the ropes to support and suspend. Ours are 12' - but being a cat and a beamy cat we can store in a transom width locker. I did try a softwood - and it broke - you need hardwood (and hard wood is heavy) - formwork seemed the best alternative.

Jonathan
 
The length realy depends on where you are going to store the fender board. On my Fulmar I measured what could fit into the sail locker and found 5ft was the longest as I did not want to store it on deck. I constructed mine out of 2 decking planks from B&Q. I used a 35mm core drill throught the flat of the plank and a large drill from the side for the rope to pass through. The board hangs with the knot in the core drill hole. I used both boards so they would hang flat but are stored folded together. If you want some photos, just let me know.
 
The problem with foam instead of fenders is shock absorption. If you are against pilings and a tug comes by, you need a nice fat fender to absorb the wake. Also waves. Think anchor snubber! Foam is fine in a very protected harbor, but not in an open or high traffic area.

But yes, keep them simple. They are a disposable wear item.
 
A pair of 4 foot planks recovered from the marina when they replaced the wooden pontoon decks with plastic. Must have been 30 years old. Washed and cleaned then stored in the garage over winter back to back so they didn't warp whilst drying out. If I had to buy them, then a piece of outside decking would be my first choice.

Pete
 
I would imagine that it depends on what you expect to be protecting your boat against. If you generally lean a gainst a rough harbour or grind against an uneven lock wall in your local area then an 1800 board might be just the thing.
However, some walls have vertical rails & fenders just fall between them. I am going to Dordrecht later this year & want to enter the centre marina of 3. To do this one goes into the entry area & ties up to some poles. It is very rough from passing ships in the main canal & 2 crew have to work hard to hold the yacht off the poles whilst they wait for up to 30 mins for the gates to open.

In this case a pair of 4 ft boards might be better. (I could not carry one long enough for the 2 poles & the OP could certainly not on his 28 ft boat.) Each positioned opposite a pole. I am wondering what will be best as I will be single handed. I did suffer damage one year & that was with 2 of us, holding the boat off with ropes round the poles. One also has the problem of the end of the board hooking an obstruction on the approach.

Do fender board users put them in once tied up, or before coming alongside? Anyone who has tried it may comment on the best way to do it. .
As an aside-In Dordrecht, the first marina is no better & worse facilities & the old HM is woefully slow to open up. I use Dordrecht as an example, but I am sure there must be many other places.
 
I always rig before approaching. Position is a bit of a guess but can quickly adjusted. There is a short stretch of Poole Town Quay near the passenger trip boats were you can stop to nip to the shops and possibly free. However, it has huge great square vertical wooden posts so out came the boards as fenders on there own just roll out of the way.
 
I once built a calibrated "load cell" board for my boat and measured the forces over a range of conditions. Wrote and article, but it was cut mercilessly for length. Too much engineering. There were three real take-aways:

  • It really depends on the exposure to wakes and chop. But with my 34-foot catamaran, midships load around 1000 pounds were common during 60-knot beam-on thunderstorms with 400 meter fetch. (Yes they can be that strong--one of them filled the cockpit an inch deep with hail.) Go up or down according to the size of the boat (L^2) and exposure.
  • This takes a bigger stick than you may think. Over 30 feet you really want 1.5-inch (38mm) boards, probably 6-8 inches wide and 4-6 feet long. 3/4-inch (18mm) boards can snap, particularly after they get some wear on them.
  • Wakes and chop can cause big fluctuations. You want fat fenders for tough locations.
And keeping the boards in the place requires good spring lines. Obvious. And they must be long enough to keep the boards in place through the range of the tide, which may require either very long springs or periodic adjustment.
 
I haven't thought seriously about fender boards yet but I imagined I'd use something like this. (I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the design. Maybe not suitable for my 43ft/12 tonne yacht anyway?

fender-board.ashx
 
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The advantage of a foam covered board is you only need to worry about the board. I used fenders but they can move and slip from the end of a board. It easy to overcome all of this if you have lots of crew (who know what they are doing) but if you are short handed it is a different story. We would always try to set up before arrival - but if its a new location you really don't know spacing nor how you are going to be able to attach shore lines until you are committed and anything that makes it easier, initially, is something to consider seriously. Its easy to modify once you are 'secured' its how you achieve securement that is the difficult part.

Here in Sydney we have lots of public piers all of which have 2 poles (tree trunk) at the end of the pier. The distances apart of the poles is not standard and a fender board allows you to place a nice beefy fender, 3 overlapping fenders, we have one very long fender at the bow and the board allows for the variation in distance apart the poles might be. You can modify the 'padding' to then suit the occasion.

Our tidal range is small, a maximum of 2m. Its all easy at high tide but at low tide you need to tie to the poles and getting a line round both poles, position yourself, boat and fenders against both poles throw a rope up and over the top of the pole(s) - you need all the help you can get, foam, carpet, piece of rubber door mat - whatever - removes one area of concern (at least short term).

I don't particularly favour thick boards - they are heavy (though for many this will not be a concern at all) - but you don't need strength if the board is well supported by foam or lots of fenders. Lots of fenders (and big or long ones) is great - except the fenders are a devil to store (and you may need a board on one side (bow and stern) and fenders on the other....

Compromises

Jonathan
 
I think that from the above, I might glue some foam to a ply board & staple a covering of sail cloth over the foam to stop it disintegrating. I only want it for one trip & if it needed to be packed out from the boat, I can put a fender behind it. I need to work out how thick the foam needs to be.

Also, I have to ask if ordinary insulating foam will do the job, or will it need a harder foam.If so what sort & where do I get it easily in the UK?

I certainly think that the set up in picture in #17 leaves a bit to be desired. The board looks as if it needs a couple of lines fore & aft. Alternatively, the fenders might be better if secured to the board. Not having used one, I am not sure.
 
Daydream believer said:
I certainly think that the set up in picture in #17 leaves a bit to be desired. The board looks as if it needs a couple of lines fore & aft. Alternatively, the fenders might be better if secured to the board. Not having used one, I am not sure.
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I just picked out one of the photos and wasn't suggesting that particular design would suit your requirements. I suppose it depends on the conditions.

Some of these "foam" fenders appeal to me. But I have no "rubbing strip" so that would limit what I could used

boat fenders foam/board at DuckDuckGo
 
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