Automatic Fenders

Should come standard on a bayliner,they are so light and unmanageable to dock in a breeze.
 
Should come standard on a bayliner,they are so light and unmanageable to dock in a breeze.
 
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I just love the look of dirty white fenders permanently installed on the side of a beautiful boat. Adds a real touch of class.
 
sbw1 said:
View attachment 83399 I just love the look of dirty white fenders permanently installed on the side of a beautiful boat. Adds a real touch of class.
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We prefer dirty black to match our dirty black hull. Like most boaters that cherish their vessels, we never wash any of it...except the white shore power cords; gotta keep those gleaming (that makes me think of a good post topic)!

Guess I better work on getting rid of those ugly accessories. Thinking of removing the rub rails too. Total eyesore! ;)
 
Possible (?) thread drift coming. Brace yourselves.

Funny you should mention fenders being on deck while you're running. We use 5 fenders along the stbd side when we're locking up or down and I set them for the proper height before we leave the slip. We use two large ball fenders and three large sausage fenders. That way, all mama has to do is walk forward and flip them over the bow rail.

When we're locking up I set the height so they will ride just at the rub rail. When locking down I ajust the sausage fenders so they are right below the rub rail. That way they can't pop up as the boat goes down.

Some day I may share with all of you who use locks my secrets to going through the locks with minimal stress and no gelcoat damage. They're closely held secrets that I've learned over many years of using the locks.
P1040497.JPG

Our biggest lift lock is at Ice Harbor Dam. It's normal lift is 105'. The highest lift I've seen in this lock was 118' during a heavy spring runoff with lots of water going down river. It can be a bit challenging and that's when it gets to be fun.
 
Gofirstclass said:
Possible (?) thread drift coming. Brace yourselves.

Funny you should mention fenders being on deck while you're running. We use 5 fenders along the stbd side when we're locking up or down and I set them for the proper height before we leave the slip. We use two large ball fenders and three large sausage fenders. That way, all mama has to do is walk forward and flip them over the bow rail.

When we're locking up I set the height so they will ride just at the rub rail. When locking down I ajust the sausage fenders so they are right below the rub rail. That way they can't pop up as the boat goes down.

Some day I may share with all of you who use locks my secrets to going through the locks with minimal stress and no gelcoat damage. They're closely held secrets that I've learned over many years of using the locks. View attachment 83406
Our biggest lift lock is at Ice Harbor Dam. It's normal lift is 105'. The highest lift I've seen in this lock was 118' during a heavy spring runoff with lots of water going down river. It can be a bit challenging and that's when it gets to be fun.
Click to expand...

I look forward to it!

Big lock. We don't have any that big in our immediate area on the Rideau system. We have quite a few of them though. 15 locks from Big Rideau Lake (where we were) to Lake Ontario. Biggest total lift on that stretch is about 60 feet over 4 locks though. 32 locks from Big Rideau to the Ottawa River...not a common run for us. Lots of small locks present many opportunities to upgrade your gelcoat!

It wouldn't be unusual to go through 6-8 locks on a typical weekend...maybe more.
 
Gofirstclass said:
Possible (?) thread drift coming. Brace yourselves.

Funny you should mention fenders being on deck while you're running. We use 5 fenders along the stbd side when we're locking up or down and I set them for the proper height before we leave the slip. We use two large ball fenders and three large sausage fenders. That way, all mama has to do is walk forward and flip them over the bow rail.

When we're locking up I set the height so they will ride just at the rub rail. When locking down I ajust the sausage fenders so they are right below the rub rail. That way they can't pop up as the boat goes down.

Some day I may share with all of you who use locks my secrets to going through the locks with minimal stress and no gelcoat damage. They're closely held secrets that I've learned over many years of using the locks. View attachment 83406
Our biggest lift lock is at Ice Harbor Dam. It's normal lift is 105'. The highest lift I've seen in this lock was 118' during a heavy spring runoff with lots of water going down river. It can be a bit challenging and that's when it gets to be fun.
Click to expand...
Would love to share your secrets with the admiral. We go through the Ballard locks probably 2 dozen times a year, and she still freaks out every time. I've come to enjoy it (except for those long weekends when there are hundreds of boats waiting and it can take 2+ hours to lock through), but she's never gotten the hang of, nor been comfortable, with it.
 
GnrlPatton said:
Would love to share your secrets with the admiral. We go through the Ballard locks probably 2 dozen times a year, and she still freaks out every time. I've come to enjoy it (except for those long weekends when there are hundreds of boats waiting and it can take 2+ hours to lock through), but she's never gotten the hang of, nor been comfortable, with it.
Click to expand...

I hate going through the Ballard locks PITA !!!
 
I enjoy going through the Ice Harbor Dam Locks. It's really cool when you're at the lower part of it, really makes you look small.
 
ocgrant said:
Interesting... I know wifey would approve. Kind of solves two issues as if mounted properly it stores the fender in mid air out of the way. I like it as it says it works with 10" x 24" fenders which are a bitch for my wife to move. I might just order a set of these.
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We store 4 of the 10x24 fenders in the transom.
 
Gnl Patton, I've stood alongside the Ballard locks several times to watch their operation but have only gone through them once. I'm not sure how much my tips will help in those locks because they're so different from our locks in the way you tie up and then go up and down. I was going to put my tips in this thread but it got to be more like a novel than just a few paragraphs.

Here's a linky to that thread....
http://clubsearay.com/index.php?thr...s-and-tricks-about-going-through-locks.97548/
 
Just ordered mine. I single-hand most of the time and I absolutely hate having to leave the helm and crawl around on the boat to deploy and retrieve the bow fenders while the current and wind has its way with me.
 
bobeast said:
Just ordered mine. I single-hand most of the time and I absolutely hate having to leave the helm and crawl around on the boat to deploy and retrieve the bow fenders while the current and wind has its way with me.
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We look forward to your full review!
 
bobeast said:
Just ordered mine. I single-hand most of the time and I absolutely hate having to leave the helm and crawl around on the boat to deploy and retrieve the bow fenders while the current and wind has its way with me.
Click to expand...

yes, please let us know how they work out. I am alone on the boat about 33% of the time...
 
I was told a long time ago, by a crusty old salt that owned a boat yard that specialized in wooden yachts, that "cars have fenders, boat have bumpers"....told me to never make that mistake again or he would fire me. Never made that mistake again, and to this day they are bumpers. It doesn't matter either way to me, the stupid stuff that sticks with you, and which always brings a smile when I read or hear fender.
 
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