Do-It-Yourself Fender

Battle of the Fenders

For a 60 foot 30 ton power cruiser in high winds.... typhoons... ?.

Anyway, even if if they did work... the port authority here wouldn't allow me to construct anything permanently on the pier.

 

Battle of the fenders

I tried bonding outdoor carpet to the tires I had on the boat, but the bonding agent wasn't strong enough and the carpet came off... the tires eventually mangled and offered no protection... they actually scratched the gel-coat.

The pier I'm against is actually a solid concrete sea wall... lots of razor sharp oysters below the water line on the wall... tide range is huge...

 

Yokohama Rubber makes the expensive fenders I mentioned. See:

http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=9966

This is their latest innovation which doesn't look too much different from what they have been selling. The thing is they are air filled and can be punctured... if the vandals don't get them the razor sharp oysters growing on the sea wall does.

Tried to open the url you posted, but it wouldn't open. I'll try again later, but if they are air filled... they won't work.

Thanks for the input.

 

Filling the old fenders

you could fill up the old fenders with expandable(elastic)foam so they are no more air filled?

 

Hmmm... yes... that's a possibility... unforturnately I chucked them out... that might be a workable solution. What kind of foam would you recommend... where do I get it?

 

PU foam

I think PU foam rubber will do well, over here in Belgium I find it at the store that suppl the resin and glassfibre stuff.

It is a 2 component alike the other resins.
could try to find some old fenders and fill them up or new ones less expensive than those of 3K USD and fill them up.

Note that you should check adhesion between the fender material and the PU foamrubber before filling them up definetly.

If they do not stick on eachother the fender acting as an outer shell will get ripped in pieces by wearing against the dock and leave you with a fender formed plain foamrubber body.

 

Fenders

PU stands for Poly Urethane? Who manufactures it? That would be worth a test on even a small fender to see how it works out.

 

PU indeed is poly urethan, manufaturer, here in Belgium I find it trough VOSSCHEMIE, you should be able to find something in some composite shop nearby. If you try this out on a small one of course, let me know how it works out. could be patenting this if it works that's not wise to say this on the net, somebody else will steal away this, and me be

greetz

 

Are they going to be strong enough (mooring whips)?

 

It sounds like what ever you install on the boat or dock is going to get torn up reasonably quickly, or not stay in place. Whips can be mounted on the boat so that your yacht can stand off the dock altogether, eliminating the wear issue on an abrasion type device. Whips would be the logical choice in a rough exposure such as you hinted at. They have no chance of picking up the growth on the dock and transferring it to the hull like a rolling fender does, they can be rigged for large tidal swings, and they keep the dock and boat separated in the event of a extra large swell or wake moving the craft more then is expected. They wouldn't add anything extra to the dock other then the typical lines necessary to secure the vessel. Foam filled fenders will suffer the same fate as the air filled ones, though the vandals may have more difficulty. Any device that touches the boat and the dock will get cut up, have growth, will transfer that growth, which will hack up the paint on you yacht. You need to be off the dock.

Yes, whips can be engineered for a 60', 30 ton craft, but if you leave it out in typhoons, well, that's between you and your insurance company. Personally I wouldn't leave any craft I cared about that exposed (trust me, I know a thing or to about hurricanes) if a typhoon rolled in. Talk to one of the manufactures.

 

It sounds like there are no satisfactory answers for you at that location. Get a small slice of waterfront with enough draft at all times and build a 3 sided berthing area to hold it in place from 3 sides. What else is left?

 

Typhoons sound like a lot of fun

 

Sounds like you need a sacrificail boat between you and the wall. Get someone to raft up against and give them the convenient dockside location ?

Seriously though..... have you tried tyres and an outer wooden fender board . That way the wood takes the punishment protects the ropes and the tyres give the cushioning. or some similar setup. Since its a grp boat I'd watch the hull distortion cracking your bulkhead connections in heavy weather. Really should move off and anchor.

 

A mooring and tender would be best, it seems.

 

Gets my vote.