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Tires as Fenders

20K views 66 replies 25 participants last post by  SV Siren 
#1 ·
The way I need to tie my boat at the dock means that it is constantly hitting the boat fender. Dock is double wide with nothing between me and other boat, so no practical way to tie off boat to be completely free of the dock. And at times of big ground swell, boat actually does better when tied tight, with some slack on the lines to the dock (with fender profiding cusion).

Fenders are expensive and if punctured, will deflate and offer no protection. Thinking about using tires as a fender. Maybe cover with carpet to reduce boat scuffing.

Comments?
 
#55 ·
First of all. .... You lucky dog. You live in Hawaii. What island are you on? I went to U.H. For a year. love it. Sailing must be out of this world. I don't see why you would need 2 g worth of fenders. With the way a sailboat is shaped you really have one main rub point if you are square to the dock. I'm running 3 along the dockside. Maybe 2 on the opposite as a courtesy to my neighbor if he drifts over. And the cost to me was a couple hundred with all the rope. I hate spending the money. Seems like everything for a boat has you pay triple tax hidden somewhere.
 
#56 · (Edited)
On a large catamaran, the hull is pretty much straight, not like a mono hull that is widest at its beam. The guy that owns the large cat with the $2k in fenders I suppose wants to protect is $500k boat as best he can, and try to distribute the hull forces along as much surface area as can be done. The guy with the tires has the entire dock along side his hull covered with tires- again to increase the fending surface area. I am on Oahu, harbor is Haleiwa on North Shore.

The sailing here is good, generally a 25 knot plus wind. I kinda like the days the wind goes below 15 knots, then I can relax a little.
 
#58 ·
He should be ok, just treat others as you would like to be treated and all is good.

I am on the fence about a cat. They are big and nice, but what about in a big storm? I feel safer in a mono that can roll and come back. Docking, as you point out is a big expensive problem, and harder to manuver. I assume its like paying for two boats (double slip) unless you are on an end pier. I'll stick to a mono.
 
#59 ·
Hmmmm???
White "tires" from interior porta lifts? Hard rubber; but once pressed from the steel ceneter, might make good bumpers?? The , perhaps 8-10" ones I've seen get changed out when there's only an inch or 1.5" left onnem.

just wondering???
 
#63 ·
I often tie to log booms and a couple of tires with drain holes will sink to the correct level and sit well against the low lying log.A piece of carpet lashed to the tire make a great kitty ladder when at anchor and is heavy enough to not bob bob against the hull in a little wave action.
 
#64 ·
I'm in the same situation with single a single finger berth. I changed slips once, so that the prevailing wind blows my boat off the dock (while blowing my dock mate's boat into his finger). I also fix my fenders to the dock rather than the boat, using fenders I find adrift. I keep my good fenders aboard for when I visit guest docks. I've used the same "borrowed" fenders for years, and they are still very serviceable. If I didn't find fenders I would do the same thing with fenders I purchased, as I agree with others that tires would look "Ghetto" on a pleasure boat. More importantly...."Non-Marking" soles on shoes don't mark because they are carbon free. I could be wrong, however, I assume there is plenty of carbon in tires!
 
#66 ·
The way I need to tie my boat at the dock means that it is constantly hitting the boat fender. Dock is double wide with nothing between me and other boat, so no practical way to tie off boat to be completely free of the dock. And at times of big ground swell, boat actually does better when tied tight, with some slack on the lines to the dock (with fender profiding cusion).

Fenders are expensive and if punctured, will deflate and offer no protection. Thinking about using tires as a fender. Maybe cover with carpet to reduce boat scuffing.

Comments?
I have two thoughts. First, you tend to see tires as fenders on boats that do not haul in fenders while underway, such as tugs and towboats. Tires on a sailboat would be difficult to stow below. Second, our old houseboat had tire fenders, and they used to become full of Marine fouling, especially mussels and clams. We would take the clams up on deck as kids and play with them. They seemed to adore the environment inside the old tires.
 
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