Awesome Fenders
My boat is in a marina with stationary docks. They don’t float, which makes tying up the boat an interesting proposition. One has to allow for the changing tides, which may vary 3′ – 5′ between low and high, depending on the season. Yes, I have a spring line. But that acts more of a way of making sure that my outboard doesn’t end up under the docks than it does prevent forward/backward motion of the boat.
The only times that this is really a pain is when trying to get on the boat during a really low tide, and trying to judge where to put the fenders so that, when the winds come up, the rubrails don’t get allow scratched up. The usual dock fenders, made with a 2 x 4 really don’t seem to do well. The ones you buy just aren’t long enough to allow for all the boat motion.
While meadering on the web one time, I came across this nifty idea for a dock fender that used two existing fenders and a piece of PVC pipe. I picked up the supplies, followed the directions and voila! I don’t have to worry about the boat getting scratched up!
They’re really easy to put together. Get a 5′ section of 3″ pvc pipe. Drill a couple of holes. Put the line through and attach to the fenders.
Update: The docks caught the line and tore off the bumper. So I made a new one, using a 3″ pipe, and I asked the marina to replace the 2×4 on the piling that had caught my line. They did and so far, so good!