The best fender knot

Milady doesn't do knots, so my four fenders are numbered to go forward of each stanchion, with clips securely attached at the right length for most pontoons. If I need 'em a bit higher, I just go over the top guard wire and clip to the lower.

On my dazed kipper course I used a clove hitch and was told that most of the fenders found floating were tied on with clove hitches, so I should use a RT&2HH
 
I used to use a slipknot when coming in so I could easily adjust fender heights but now leave fenders on permanently on the guard rails with round turn and two half hitches. All fenders tied together at the bottom and rope tied back to an aft cleat, with two hooks.
So, no hook - fenders are all hanging near water level for pontoon
first hook, fenders are slanted below deck level for coming alongside another boat
second hook, fenders are tightly hanging outside the guardrails for when at sea

All takes a couple of seconds each side and no locker space needed for the 12 fenders
 
'On my dazed kipper course I used a clove hitch and was told that most of the fenders found floating were tied on with clove hitches, so I should use a RT&2HH '

I've had odd fender try the escape route ... when just a Clove Hitch, gives good practice of MOB !! But its been extremely rare in all the 55 odd years of boating. The usual culprit is the COW hitch mistakenly made instead of Clove Hitch ... Cow Hitch has only one use in life ... as a chain stopper on wire ... and then its backed up by winding the chain 3 .. 4x round the wire.
 
RupertW said:
I used to use a slipknot when coming in so I could easily adjust fender heights but now leave fenders on permanently on the guard rails with round turn and two half hitches. All fenders tied together at the bottom and rope tied back to an aft cleat, with two hooks.
So, no hook - fenders are all hanging near water level for pontoon
first hook, fenders are slanted below deck level for coming alongside another boat
second hook, fenders are tightly hanging outside the guardrails for when at sea

All takes a couple of seconds each side and no locker space needed for the 12 fenders
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Used to be a conversation subject - lazy boaters who don't stow fenders !!

As regards Fender Hooks ... seen too many lose fenders ... IMHO - awful things .... never really understood the need for them.
 
Turn round the lower guardrail then a clove hitch round the top guardrail. But I add a round turn if leaving the boat for a few days.


Never lost any but we've got quite a few free ones found floating around Portsmouth and the Solent.
 
I suppose if you go in and out of your own berth on your own boat all the time, you know where to put your fenders so any old knot will do.

Personally, sailing lots of different boats into lots of places, I go for an easily adjusted clove hitch every time. Tied to the guard wires, top and bottom if concerned about weight. Easily moved if necessary. Never had a problem, never lost one and always had the fenders in the correct place to do their job.

On my own boat, if I'm only out for a few hours, I simply lift the fenders over the wire to the side deck. Longer trips or on other boats, tie them to the pushpit, inboard. Saves locker space.

On a couple of yachts I often take out, one commercial, we got short lengths of thin line and a plastic hook secured to the bottom of each fender. This means they can be lifted up and clipped to guard wire out of the way. Simple.

As usual with sailing, there is no staff answer!
 
Dutch guy I sailed with uses a clove hitch, with a bight for quick release and an additional hitch with the bight if you want it to stay on for a long time, I have adopted this.
 
It takes two hands to adjust a clove hitch, so we use a round turn and one slip hitch when arriving. This can be adjusted in a hurry with one hand if needed. They are converted to r/t and two HHs when we are settled. For our home berth adjustment isn't needed, so the full tie is done.
 
johnalison said:
It takes two hands to adjust a clove hitch, so we use a round turn and one slip hitch when arriving. This can be adjusted in a hurry with one hand if needed. They are converted to r/t and two HHs when we are settled. For our home berth adjustment isn't needed, so the full tie is done.
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That's the crux ... as Capnsensible and I both said - it all depends on what you are doing. A quick lunch stop - or serious stay etc.
 
john_morris_uk said:
Clove hitches are ok for an initial quick fix but they’re not very secure and for that reason I changed over to using a round turn and two half hitches a long time ago. I appreciate that several people have said they add a hitch on the standing part of the line to their clove hitches to make them secure, but in that case you might as well tie a round turn and two half hitches IMHO as it’s not any slower to tie.
In the end it’s not exactly a life and death decision and you or your crew could use any variation of the infamous Pussers Dhobi hitch (as beloved by RN sailors who can’t tie knots) so long as your fenders don’t fall off and float away.
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Clove hitches are, in fact very secure. I have never seen one undo itself. There is no need to put a locking hitch on it
 
john_morris_uk said:
Indeed. Good seamanship involves knowing what knot is good for when, assessing the situation and being flexible and not having a once size fits all approach.
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Go on a ship nowadays and see the lack of seamanlike practices. Tatty rope ends where they don't splice on board anymore as example .... many are lucky if they know more than 2 hitches ... if that !
 
steve1963 said:
Clove hitches are, in fact very secure. I have never seen one undo itself. There is no need to put a locking hitch on it
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Clove hitches are ok as long as the free end is sufficiently long and no serious load comes on the standing working part. Clove hitch was never intended as a full load bearing hitch. Its problem is if the load comes on perpendicular to the exit of the standing part ... pulling the locking turn away from the 'rail / post etc' ... and if the tail is very short - that can work its way out.

My boats in my channel are all secured by clove hitch to mooring posts in the ground, but the free ends are long and never any worry of pulling through. BUT I have noted the mooring rode lengthening after a blow sometimes where it has pulled a short amount through ... so the half hitch after the clove hitch is a good safety precaution. But care not to jam it and then not be able to let go.
 
steve1963 said:
Clove hitches are, in fact very secure. I have never seen one undo itself. There is no need to put a locking hitch on it
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That's an interesting comment. Clove hitches in my experience are notorious for jiggling themselves loose when they're tied around guard wires. From the comments in this thread I'm not the only one to have discovered this. A clove hitch round a bar or structure that is large compared to the diameter of the line seems to be more secure, but even then a jiggly load and I'm not confident in their security.
 
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