Fender covers - pros and cons? - YBW Forum

My new crew is most unimpressed when paean is being blown on and she is sleeping on the same side. Apparently the fenders make noise. Personally, I find normal boat noises comforting (I wake up instantly for a new one and have to track it down before I will sleep again). Anyway, she thinks that fender covers will work.

Wooden boat, caravel construction. Topsides painted bi-annually. Comments and experiences please. In my (pretty long) experience with wooden boats, I found that what works better to avoid wearing out the paint is using ball rather than sausage fenders.
Covers make very little difference, but balls tend to rotate, "copying" the movement against another boat and/or the dock, and this does make a big difference vs. sausage fenders which are bound to scratch against the surface rather than rotate along it, so to speak.

That said, I also used covers also with ball fenders.
A side advantage, for the very same reason I just explained, is that covers can withstand much more "rubbing" on ball fenders, hence lasting longer.

I have never used fender socks, but there are times when aI look at the marks on the hull after a while on the mooring I wonder if socks would reduce the marks/scratches from the fenders.

You just get a different kind of mark on the hull. The socks thend to attract and hold grit and dirt as well as if not more than 'naked' fenders. In my experience (old white AWB, sausage fenders, home port marina finger pontoon, weekends and holidays mostly stern buoy and bow to jetties with other boats often snugly alongside) the bare fenders left rubbing marks, but with covers they don't. Sometimes a neighbouring boat's fatter bare fenders squeak all night as the boats gently rock, but our covered fenders mostly don't. I've never had a problem with dirt in the covers scratching the sides.

My second boat (just does day sailing from her marina finger pontoon) has thin dark blue paint over fibreglass, apparently no gelcoat, so she scratches very easily. The bare fenders (brand new) made lots of scratches and rubbing marks; once I got covers, the problem went away. Chandlers like fender covers. They rub through quickly and need replacing. You can see that by wandering around any marina and seeing fender covers with holes. Plus my wife spent a while once working in a Chandlers and had to handle complaints from people who's fender covers had worn through.

If you want, old t shirts work for a while. Plus on a noisy night, a little bit of washing up liquid reduces squeaky and a rub down in the morning helps clean the fenders. ?

We have found that fender covers like to hang on to every little bit of slime and grit offered by lock walls, stone docks, harbour walls etc; there seem to be a lot of those where we sail. Once embedded with detritus they are difficult to clean and after even a single lock passage will look less than bristol.

Certainly true.
We mostly live on swinging moorings so our covers don't get tatty from being in the sun 24/7.
We have some 'naked' ball type fenders for rough places.
Some places, if I'm planning to go there I will take a fender plank to keep the fenders off the wall or pile.

Our covers are home made. It's not hard to undo the drawstring and remove the cover if the situation demands.
Trouble with having nice clean fender sox, everyone wants to come alongside.

You cannot have too many fenders.

You just get a different kind of mark on the hull. The socks thend to attract and hold grit and dirt as well as if not more than 'naked' fenders.

Urban myth. It just doesn't happen. I have seen horrendous hull marking with naked fenders but in 30 years of using fender socks in a variety of marina and locations I have never once had marking by grit or dirt embedded in the socks, despite often berthing against concrete and being in Greece, which tends to be very dusty.

The best indication of the benefits of fender socks can be seen by looking at superyachts. The crew's only duty is to keep the yacht looking good. You will never see one without fender socks.

Like this for example. Fender sock free

Urban myth. It just doesn't happen. I have seen horrendous hull marking with naked fenders but in 30 years of using fender socks in a variety of marina and locations I have never once had marking by grit or dirt embedded in the socks, despite often berthing against concrete and being in Greece, which tends to be very dusty.

I do strongly suggest you give the Dutch and Breton locks a try - a veritable myth-busting experience it would seem. The slime makes a very potent glue that is more than capable of hanging on to grit and even small pieces of rock/concrete. Tidal walls also offer a wide variety of shell and barnacle just waiting for your pristine fender socks.

I do strongly suggest you give the Dutch and Breton locks a try - a veritable myth-busting experience it would seem. The slime makes a very potent glue that is more than capable of hanging on to grit and even small pieces of rock/concrete. Tidal walls also offer a wide variety of shell and barnacle just waiting for your pristine fender socks.

I lived and sailed in the Netherlands for seven years, passing through locks on a very frequent basis. We cruised all over the inland canal system, Oosterschelde etc and most weekends transited the Stellendam locks. At worst we would tow the fenders astern for a short time but rarely found it necessary. A good fender pad will offer a lot of protection to the hull. If made of non squeaky material it will quieter too. Canvas is effective. I once made one out a a large dark blue bath towel. It worked really well and lasted longer than I expected. Not as long as canvas one though. Mine are currently 2 layers of canvas with 6mm foam sandwiched between them.

I lived and sailed in the Netherlands for seven years, passing through locks on a very frequent basis. We cruised all over the inland canal system, Oosterschelde etc and most weekends transited the Stellendam locks. At worst we would tow the fenders astern for a short time but rarely found it necessary.

To be fair, we "only" did five years (consecutively, there were other times) in Holland, then there were the French canals and European rivers down to the Med, Brittany, Central America. We have done hundreds of lockings and we seem to like tying up to crappy docks as well. There is a considerable difference between fresh and salt water locks & tidal and non-tidal harbour walls.

Our present boat came with socks. Never again. I'm not given to conspiracy theories, but I have come to believe that they are simply a racket fostered by a greedy yachting industry.

Fender boards are a useful tool, but they are a dangerous menace in a lock and a source of endless embarrassment, when, as they are likely to, get caught up in ladders, floating bollards, mooring chains and, subsequently, will remove from the boat what they were tied to.

Work for me in a marina situation. Generally stops fender rub marks and I've seen boats with grooves worn in the gelcoat where dirty fenders have been left to swing along the topsides. Not obvious until you come to polish the boat and then you can see the grooves. Only downside is that in strong wind they can be "flicked" up and the fender drops round the back of them so tie the fenders well in from the ends of the Fender pad. I've used one for many years on a dark blue hull and they certainly do help prevent fender marks. The point about the wind blowing them up is well made, mine, which was custom made, has weights sewn into the bottom.

I've used one for many years on a dark blue hull and they certainly do help prevent fender marks. The point about the wind blowing them up is well made, mine, which was custom made, has weights sewn into the bottom.

+1

Could I ask what the construction of the mat is because I'm thinking of sewing some up. My initial thoughts were: canvas outer -thin wadding in the middle - canvas outer.

Had mine for years and they've come with me on 6 or 7 different boats now. They're made from a plastic inpregnated canvas material and are basically sewn up as a long flat cushion with approx 8mm foam inside. 6 plastic eyelets along the top to tie them on by. Each cushion is sewn in 4 sections with the foam inside each section making convenient folding points for storage. Try and make the outer waterproof and easy to clean because if you just use canvas, the filler will get wet and the outer will collect dirt and scratch your topsides. Waterproof makes them easily washable with soap, water and deck brush on the pontoon.

Could I ask what the construction of the mat is because I'm thinking of sewing some up. My initial thoughts were: canvas outer -thin wadding in the middle - canvas outer.

10mm or so 'camping mat'.
Heavy PVC cover fabric as used for 'curtain-side' trucks outside.
Soft, non-waterproof polyester 'hull side'.
webbing loops on outside for attachment. You don't want webbing rubbing on yer paint.
Our also get used for sleeping on deck etc.
They are not a whole camping mat, they wouldn't have gone in the locker easily if they were. They don't exactly roll tightly.

Thank you both. You've given me something to think about.

.....I used a single layer of coated acrylic canvas, which does the job ok. It dries easily, or rather does not get very wet, and folds or rolls quite small. It has relatively poor abrasion resistance but this has not proved a problem.

One refinement is that I lined them with non slip mat which prevents any movement against the hull. Webbing or fabric loops avoid the need for metal grommets.