Your best tip for squeaky fender buoys?

[Karlsenkystfiske]

I am sure we have all been there at one time or another: You are safely moored up in a quiet haven, about to get some quality shut-eye. Then it starts. Unrhytmic squeaking of various pitches and uneven loudness. Your fenders are not so gracefully touching against the wooden dock poles or tire fenders. What do you do? I often give them a ´good shower of WD40. It is thin oil so it covers them real fast. But perhaps not the most enviromentaly friendly thing to be spraying all around? Also, other guest might not enjoy the smell of it

 

[Roberto]

Dish washing liquid

 

[Fantasie 19]

Dish washing liquid

..and Ecover if you want to be friendly to the environment and all that...

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Gag 'em ..... oh, sorry, that kind of buoy.

 

[lustyd]

Just tie up so they aren't rubbing. Use your forward offside line to pull the boat against the stern nearside line and your boat won't push against the dock

 

[johnalison]

Just tie up so they aren't rubbing. Use your forward offside line to pull the boat against the stern nearside line and your boat won't push against the dock

Even if the wind is blowing you on?

 

[Boathook]

I find that it is more the lines holding the fenders making the noise.

 

[B27]

Ball fenders or fender socks.

Washing up liquid will take the wax off the hull.

A mat between the fenders and the hull is a proper job.

 

[lustyd]

Even if the wind is blowing you on?

Yes, obviously assuming finger pontoon rather than alongside

 

[Humblebee]

Dish washing liquid

Yep, that's what we use.

 

[Daydream believer]

I hope that this is not going to start another rant about those stupid fender socks

 

[Daydream believer]

A mat between the fenders and the hull is a proper job.

What if SWMBO notices the hole in the lounge floor

 

[RupertW]

I hope that this is not going to start another rant about those stupid fender socks

What’s wrong with fender socks? Anybody got any opinions?

 

[vyv_cox]

What’s wrong with fender socks? Anybody got any opinions?

I would not be without them. I have seen severe hull damage caused by unsocked fenders but ours simply polish a little

 

[johnalison]

What’s wrong with fender socks? Anybody got any opinions?

Some people have had unhappy experiences with fender socks causing abrasion. I have used them for many years and my hull may not be showroom perfect at 23 yrs but it only needs a coat of wax each year to make it look pretty good. I have had a few scuffs - once when grit washed off the shore onto our then unsocked fenders due to heavy rain, and the other time when I was in hospital and someone kindly removed some extra lines that I had put out for some expected heavy weather. These have polished out to the point of being invisible.

We have found socks to be useful and generally advantageous, though we encountered problems when forced to use them against the walls of Dutch locks.

 

[vyv_cox]

A few years ago we rode out a very strong Meltemi at Tinos, very close to the Kafireas Strait, notoriously windy. We were there for a week in surging so strong that on several days we could not get ashore. Our neighbour had fenders without socks. The squeaking was horrendous even with liberal application of washing up liquid.

Once we got out and looked at our topsides from the dinghy we could see that where his fenders had been there was considerable abrasion, whereas there was no sign of the contact of our socks. It took a lot of polishing to recover the damage that he had caused.

Many polymers use glass powder to provide strength and I can only assume that some fenders employ these polymers. Naturally these are very abrasive.

 

[rotrax]

I hope that this is not going to start another rant about those stupid fender socks

You are off again..........

This thread was doing OK until you went off on your personal crusade

 

[johnalison]

You are off again..........

This thread was doing OK until you went off on your personal crusade

He is not alone. I have them on my list.

 

[TonyMS]

We have two big sperical fenders. Tied quite loosely fore and aft, they roll with the boat so that there is no rubbing. Problem solved.

 

[johnalison]

We have two big sperical fenders. Tied quite loosely fore and aft, they roll with the boat so that there is no rubbing. Problem solved.

I bought a large spherical fender because our berth companion was unreliable (=incompetent). Unfortunately there was no locker it would go in and I couldn’t even get it into one of the cabins. It’s still in the garage.