Fenders.

[Andrewcook]

 I do know Fenders stops from damaging other Cruisers when Mooring or coming to Moor up but when the Boat is Under way from it's mooring's they don't bring them on  board why not? until the Boat is Moored up once again. They do drag on the water it they are set to low. I remember Years ago they were always brought on Board and looking Tidy while the Cruiser is going along as Griff always does with B A . I do could do with Fenders for my Car as No one won't bump in to it lol.

Andrew Cook

[grendel]

I think nowadays if you put fenders up, they will just roll back off the side deck, as I dont believe many hire boats have the toe rail as Broad Ambition does.

[CambridgeCabby]

I thought it was customary to place them all on the deck when going along with the exception of a blue one 

[ranworthbreeze]

After setting off I go around the boat and lift ours so they above the water level, dragging them in the river uses more fuel and there is also the danger of loosing a fender, mind you it would never be a blue one

Regards

Alan

[ChrisB]

At sea, it is of course normal to remove all fenders and stow them. In fact it is not considered "form" to have fenders on show. Just like using an elbow to coil a rope. Just "not the done thing".

 

[Polly]

We lift ours

[TheQ]

I have 1ft wide side decks and 18 inch diameter fenders there is no where to store the fenders.....

[RumPunch]

Depends on whether I'm motoring or sailing and if I have guests on board who'd be likely to fall over them if stowed on deck

[ZimbiIV]

I insist our fenders are left in place, for safety reasons. It is not good practice to walk round the deck when underway unless something really has to be done.

ie a rope dangling over board.

paul

[BroadAmbition]

It's just sort of been ingrained with me.  I view it as akin to setting off on a motorbike with the topbox / pannier open, or in a car with the boot / tailgate open.  It's just not right n proper or Seamanlike / Bristol fashion. That aside dragging them in the oggin creats noise, wastes fuel too and just looks shocking, especially if they are very low and actually in the oggin  However some craft have such narrow decks its impractical to lift em, at the very least the painters in this case should be shortened to keep them from draggin in t oggin.   During the Lads Week, fenders on the Jewels are always lifted.  Of course many newbies both hire and private are not aware of this and it's not like it's a hard and fast rule, no real harm done. (Still looks pants though)

Just like using an elbow to coil a rope. Just "not the done thing".

Other than just  "not the done thing"  there's a very good reason why one should not 'Elbow Coil a rope' and that is everytime a turn is completed, it puts one twist in the rope, ten turns = ten twists.  If you want to coil a rope (Not cheese it) then do it from the waist outwards horizontally and then coil vertically in the hand = no twists (Not really easily to explain in writing)

Griff

[Guest]

40 minutes ago, ZimbiIV said:

I insist our fenders are left in place, for safety reasons. It is not good practice to walk round the deck when underway unless something really has to be done.

ie a  rope dangling over board.

paul

Agreed + if sailing single handed its impossible to lift fenders and redeploy them when time to moor in a safe manner , it may well be not the done thing at sea but  there's a very good reason for that as a fender flying around can easily smash a window , the fact is this is the broads it very rarely if ever gets bad enough for that to ever happen , not sure exactly how much diesel is saved by lifting them to be honest but I doubt anyone would notice any difference , decks are for crew to walk upon if required not for the storage of Fender's that's why you will never see a vessel at sea with Fender's littering the decks as its unsafe hence they are always removed . 

[Broads01]

I've never lifted fenders. To be honest, it's a faff I can do without. Rarely have I had fenders low enough to drag in the water, so it hasn't made any difference from that perspective. Do they need to be as low as that to be effective at a mooring? 

[WherryNice]

I dont lift fenders and nor does my dad but we both hate seeing them dragging in the water as boats go past as it looks very sloppy in our opinion. Personally I think boats look much better without them but the Broads being what they are I think its safer to have them in place at all times in case of brushes in tight spots etc.
Question to those who do lift them, when moored do you drop them on both sides or just the bank side? Just curious.....

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

[MauriceMynah]

Wot Ricado said. Try it solo cruising. :) 

[Polly]

I just kick them back over while laying out the mooring lines, and both sides on account of it being the Broads with passing traffic.

[ranworthbreeze]

7 hours ago, WherryNice said:

I dont lift fenders and nor does my dad but we both hate seeing them dragging in the water as boats go past as it looks very sloppy in our opinion. Personally I think boats look much better without them but the Broads being what they are I think its safer to have them in place at all times in case of brushes in tight spots etc.
Question to those who do lift them, when moored do you drop them on both sides or just the bank side? Just curious.....

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
 

We drop our fenders on both sides. If the location has a high rise & fall we may stagger our fenders, we will use some from the river side and substitute these with our shorter spare fenders.

Regards

Alan

[vanessan]

There is a boat that appears on the BB webcam which has a few fenders, I bet he doesn't bring his up when cruising. By the time he had them all stored, it would be time to drop them all in again!! Personally I think life is too short to be too fanatical about fenders, ropes and the like. It is a holiday after all. As long as things are safe and stowed properly, just enjoy the water. 

[TheQ]

8 hours ago, Polly said:

I just kick them back over while laying out the mooring lines, and both sides on account of it being the Broads with passing traffic.

This is why being moored in Horning on the river, I have the 18 inch diameter fenders on the sides. Unfortunately I'm now moored bow in, and the stern fenders are only 4 inches in diameter. Hence I noticed last weekend a big black mark across the stern and crazing on the paintwork at day boat rubber edging height.

Time to get bigger fenders for the stern I think...

[ExUserGone]

On rivers my fenders stay down but not dragging in the water, it may not be seaman like but I'm not at sea, at sea they get stowed or lifted onto the deck and tucked behind the stanchions.

Lifting them everytime on the river just seems like vanity to me, my mooring lines are usually in place so they can be deployed from the cockpit which ever side I moor both bow and stern, why walk down the side decks if you don't need to.

 

[BrundallNavy]

So many hire boats have fenders that are flat, when I hired from Ricos I asked for 3 to be changed and I got the reply they will be fine and don't need replacing this resulted in a section of lower rubbing strake getting pulled off as the fender didn't hold the boat off the key at Reedham.

[addicted]

I remember on one occasion Tony had just bought some new fenders and inflated them The next day was very hot and we were sitting on the bank by the side  of the boat when we heard a very loud bang! 0n looking round  we found a fender had been somewhat over inflated (Tony doesn't do anything by half!) And had exploded in the heat. We never stow fenders for river use,You never know when they will be needed as protection . When mooring at spots with drastic rise and fall we do sometimes stagger the levels and we do that if we're moored anywhere where we're vulnerable to being clouted by passing or manoeuvering craft too. We have much larger black fenders in fender pods and we use these when mooring to give more protection and to help  keep the white fenders clean! We have no blue fenders at all.

 

 

Carole

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Carole,

All of our fenders are blue (blue fender socks) other than the four spare in the racks.

Regards

Alan

[Guest]

Please, I'm new to this Norfolk Broads boat ownership thing; what is wrong with blue fenders, I nearly bought some?

BTW, I usually roll the fenders onto the deck when underway.

Phil

[riyadhcrew]

Phil,

It would be a long story, but suffice to say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with blue fenders.

Putting your fenders on the deck is also seen as a good thing.

[Bound2Please]

7 minutes ago, Philosophical said:

Please, I'm new to this Norfolk Broads boat ownership thing; what is wrong with blue fenders, I nearly bought some?

BTW, I usually roll the fenders onto the deck when underway.

Phil

Nothing wrong with blue fenders at all Philosophical, all of them on Bound 2 Please are indeed blue, its just a standing joke with a member and an odd blue fender..  By the way a warm to the forum from me and the Wench (some call her Inge)

Charlie