How to fend boat off dock in winds

[madhatter1]

These are great and easy to stow once you deflate them. They come in all sizes. Get them big enough and long enough to sit horizontal tied to the boat and centered on each piling.

https://www.amazon.com/BRIS-Heavy-Duty-Inflatable-Fenders-Sailboats/dp/B07BW38SBH

Ordered a pair of 45"x18". These should work great with the piling bumpers.

 

[Pascal]

Or you can hang them off the pilings and keep them in place with a line on each side either tied to a nearby cleat or to an eye bolt screwed into the dock. I ve done that on a tee head works really well and you don’t have to remove them every time you go out.

 

[Briankinley2004]

Or you can hang them off the pilings and keep them in place with a line on each side either tied to a nearby cleat or to an eye bolt screwed into the dock. I ve done that on a tee head works really well and you don’t have to remove them every time you go out.

Curious how you do this to where they move up and down with the tide. A 48" one wouldn't be tall enough for the tides I sometimes get.

 

[Pascal]

Well that’s why you want the fenders secured to the dock or pilings. This way they are pretty much always on the right spot. Obviously if using long fenders you set them horizontally. If using balls it doesn’t matter.

 

[Briankinley2004]

Well that’s why you want the fenders secured to the dock or pilings. This way they are pretty much always on the right spot. Obviously if using long fenders you set them horizontally. If using balls it doesn’t matter.

Not quite sure I follow you. I don't have a dock per se, only pilings. I posted a picture earlier on this thread. My dock is a small floater held by cables which is not structural enough to hold the pressure of the boat. It is only at the cockpit area so I can access the boat. If I secure the fenders to the pilings the rub rail would either eventually wind up on top or under one.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Not quite sure I follow you. I don't have a dock per se, only pilings. I posted a picture earlier on this thread. My dock is a small floater held by cables which is not structural enough to hold the pressure of the boat. It is only at the cockpit area so I can access the boat. If I secure the fenders to the pilings the rub rail would either eventually wind up on top or under one.

Then tie them to the boat horizontally.

 

[jim rosenthal]

These look a lot like the ones SubSalve make (they also make lifting bags, hence the name) Theirs are Hypalon, I think, and inflate with a dinghy foot pump. They also make fabric socks for them. Theirs are more money, though, so for something you didn't use all the time, the Amazon ones might be a better deal.

 

[DCMY #92]

I've had two slips over the years where I laid alongside and couldn't install outboard pilings. I didn't want to use fenders long term due to the inevitable damage to the paint. I installed mooring whips on the first dock. They did a great job holding our 41 DCMY off the dock. I took them with me 11 years later
to the second dock, where they also performed well. I don't recall the manufacturer. They were tapered fiberglass poles with a gray plastic sleeve where they fit into the orange aluminum dock fittings and a gold anodized fitting where the rope attached. They were bulletproof for 20 years. I left them on the second dock when I sold it - still in perfect condition.

 

[Briankinley2004]

Then tie them to the boat horizontally.

I get that. Same concept as a fender board. The 60" ones might work for me but the board and bumpers I have do the same thing. I don't get tying them to the pilings.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I don't get tying them to the pilings.

Me either.

 

[Pascal]

Reason I like having the fenders ties tried to pilings or dock depending on construction is that they stay in place. No need to take them off and store them on board everytime you leave the dock. Saves time and space on board. No big deal if you only go out a couple of times a months otherwise if you use the boat a lot it s a PITA. Also when coming back the fenders are where they are needed no need to guess where you have to hang them.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Reason I like having the fenders ties tried to pilings or dock depending on construction is that they stay in place. No need to take them off and store them on board everytime you leave the dock. Saves time and space on board. No big deal if you only go out a couple of times a months otherwise if you use the boat a lot it s a PITA. Also when coming back the fenders are where they are needed no need to guess where you have to hang them.

But he has basically no dock, just pilings. How can you tie a fender to a single piling without having it spin around it?

 

[Pascal]

You screw in an eye bolt into the on each side of the pilings and tie the fender horizontally to the eye bolt, getting the line as tight as possible. Fenders stays in place. Alternatively you can also run each line to the closest piling if they re close enough. Or cleat. The key is to have the lines nice and taught. I ve had this for years for a larger boat on a tee head

 

[SKYCHENEY]

You screw in an eye bolt into the on each side of the pilings and tie the fender horizontally to the eye bolt, getting the line as tight as possible. Fenders stays in place. Alternatively you can also run each line to the closest piling if they re close enough. Or cleat. The key is to have the lines nice and taught. I ve had this for years for a larger boat on a tee head

I wouldn't trust that. I'd keep them tied to the boat. I know that works. I don't care if makes more work. That's just part of boating.

 

[Briankinley2004]

They would need to be 4-5 feet long here. Our tide is 3' on a normal day. I would worry about either the rub rail getting hung under or over one of the bumpers

 

[madhatter1]

Bought the big inflatable fenders and added piling hard PVC bumpers. Seems that will all get tested early next week!

 

[JuiceClark]

Looks like we might get a little breeze in a couple days. I leave it alongside my floating dock if a Cat 1 or less. I have one spring line on the transom because the neighbor's dock sticks out much further than mine.
If it's questionable 1+ storm, I'll drop the big anchor in the middle of the canal and tighten it up to take the bow off the dock a bit.

If it looks like a bad one, I'll have to moor it like I did for Charley in 2004. I stuck the bow in the mangroves across the canal and dropped the anchor there. Then, I backed off and tied 4 lines to different pilings and tightened them so the boat sat right in the middle of the canal. Lastly, I hung a full concrete black off the four transom lines to keep pressure on.

Charley gave us gusts of 180mph. The storm literally blew all the water out of my 9' deep canal and my 42 Post sat in the mud before coming back up 4' above normal high tide. Nothing gave and she was nice and clean when I returned home. No damage to the running gear either, thank goodness.

 

[Phasma2128]

Fenders and make sure the Admiral knows how to loop a line over a piling and release at the right moment. We did this last year in 30mph winds. We had no choice but to go. It sucked but she did amazing!

 

[Briankinley2004]

Its a named storm so if you have a plan on file with your insurance make sure its followed or they may not pay if something does happen.

 

[JuiceClark]

I've got 10 or 11 lines her and all the accessories are well secured. The storm doesn't seem bad enough to have to haul the anchor out into the canal, yet.

They've undersold Elsa. Storms blow-up so quickly in Florida Bay and accelerating storms are the angry, dangerous ones. Still, nobody has battened down the hatches because the TV says it's nothing. People never learn.