Swing mooring and fenders

gcostell

gcostell

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Hi, apologies if this has been asked before but what (if any) is the accepted wisdom/practice with respect to fenders when on a swing mooring? I never leave them out when moored up, as I thing they put unnecessary strain on guard wires. Is it good practice to have fenders out?
 
Difficult to know what you are asking here. When we leave a marina or harbour we stow our fenders immediately. Just occasionally if we know we are coming back soon or going elsewhere nearby where we will need them we will swing them inside the wires on deck. If we felt we needed fenders on a mooring due to possible collision with another boat we would move.
 
Also do not understand the question, if it is in case another boat rafts up on you then having fenders out is a bit like an open invitation and I certainly would not want anyone rafted on us. In fact, unless there was no room for anchoring and no other anchorage within an hour or two's sail I would refuse a request. The only exceptions would be if the boat had a problem of some kind or if there was really filthy weather outside. Do not think the mooring owner/maintainer would like it either.
 
If you leave your fenders out on a mooring while the boat is unoccupied, be prepared to buy them back at the next boat jumble.
 
mjcoon said:
Even if the problem were introduced by the other boat having anchored too close to you, and putting out fenders was more of a message commenting on this?

Mike.
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Wouldn't do it on a mooring buoy but we always leave all fenders out when anchoring after our first season in the Med. When boats anchor way too close or cross anchor chains and clash then I would rather concentrate on getting their anchor off my pulpit than worry about stopping the boats scraping. Surprisingly in our first (short) Ionian season after 3 years in Croatia we have had not trouble at all with boats colliding with us and notice we are often the only boat in the anchorage with fenders out, so may rethink the practice eventually.

We tend to leave all fenders on the deck - just hauled over the rails - even when beating or overnighting. They roll off the deck very rarely, and it saves the small hassle of moving them to the stern and back at the end of each trip. Just once with very bad weather forecast I moved them from the deck.
 
prv said:
Why would you want fenders out on a mooring?

Depends where you are mooring. If you use a Holyhead Sailing Club mooring and use the free club launch to pick you up/drop you off, then fenders save the excessive marking that occurs on your hull as the launch pulls up alongside.
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Hi, sorry I was obviously very vague in OP. The mooring is my own and there are lots of boats in close proximity. All other boats have fenders out, presumably to minimise damage in case of collisions. I am the exception, in that I do not put out fenders. So, I was wondering if I was incorrect in not putting them out?
 
Also had my own mooring for some years and never put fenders out, but judging by your neighbours it looks as if there is some danger in leaving yourself undefended.
Mind you if you are the only fenderless boat, you could be forgiven for relying on on theirs!
 
gcostell said:
Hi, sorry I was obviously very vague in OP. The mooring is my own and there are lots of boats in close proximity. All other boats have fenders out, presumably to minimise damage in case of collisions. I am the exception, in that I do not put out fenders. So, I was wondering if I was incorrect in not putting them out?
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There's no incorrect, you do what you feel is necessary for your boat.

It's also worth noting that when we were in Holyhead the mooring moved during a partiicular storm and suddenly we were a lot closer to the next boat. I would definitely put fenders out in your circumstances and never mind the "boat appearance police" that rant on this forum.
 
Jaguar 25 said:
There's no incorrect, you do what you feel is necessary for your boat.

It's also worth noting that when we were in Holyhead the mooring moved during a partiicular storm and suddenly we were a lot closer to the next boat. I would definitely put fenders out in your circumstances and never mind the "boat appearance police" that rant on this forum.
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I was thinking more about fenders hanging on guard wires 24/7 as the main issue. Knowing my luck, in a boat collision my fenders would be useless!
 
gcostell said:
I was thinking more about fenders hanging on guard wires 24/7 as the main issue.
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We were on a swinging mooring during the summer (no fenders and plenty of space). Over wintering in a marina I never relied on the guard rails to tie the fenders off, I always found a spot lower down - mid cleat, stantion bases or anything else where if the fender got caught it would break the line or fender before the fitting ...
Perhaps run a line around the deck and tie fenders off to that if you've got nothing better available.
 
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