Peter Pegasus
Veteran Member
Horses for courses.
I am fortunate that Aquabelle came with 4 or 5 of those leather fender hooks--looks like they were made by the Seattle mob. I can tie a clove hitch fast, but not nearly as fast as I can do so while managing the fender, trying to get the right length, adjusting it so the fender isn't touching the water and getting oily and algae laden once at dock, and moving it to the precise position needed, all of which I can do in seconds with the "fancy" leather hooks. They also allow me to deploy and adjust easily the two massive ginormous F11 fenders we have aboard for gnarly situations like tying up to a tug last December at Harwoods when they couldn't lift us, or during the flood when we risked being hammered by another boat. You can see the difference between tying them off over the handrail and using the leather hooks in the after section here lying alongside the tug.
I likely wouldn't have had the $ to buy them but they surely are a joy to use.
But all that isn't the most important time-cost related reason to use them or a similar home-made system. The leather hooks don't work the varnish over time, requiring redoing expensive multi-layered varnish; and they don't chafe the lines, which is almost inevitable when using a clove hitch tied to either a stanchion post and draped over the toerail. They get a fairlead outboard down to the fender. They also distribute the load which is important upon arrival, less so at dock (or not at all if the boat is sprung off the dock). The avoided cost is significant.
Like Twisted Tree, I reckon the track system is also good. On Pegasus, our 51 foot Alden ketch in San Francisco, we used the midships genoa track to mount a sliding car-cleat from Harken or Lewmar, I can't remember which.
but Garhauer make a less elegant and likely much cheaper version in stainless https://www.garhauer.com.au/Garhauer-track-car-midship-cleat
We did this not only to make it easy and fast to deploy the fender (and safer), but also to reduce loads on lifelines or stanchion bases (leak risk over time) when the fenders hit the dock on arrival or drag along the dock on departure). And, the genoa track was already there...it also works well for heavy midship loads in raft-ups.
The cost of track, installation, and cleats is not insignificant, and a cleat on a trawler toe-rail might be a bit unsightly. That said, a cleat on a sliding car is likely much easier to use than a car with an eye designed for a sheet block. BUT...you still have the wear on varnish and chafe on the toe-rail and rub-rail to deal with.
No free fender lunches.
I am fortunate that Aquabelle came with 4 or 5 of those leather fender hooks--looks like they were made by the Seattle mob. I can tie a clove hitch fast, but not nearly as fast as I can do so while managing the fender, trying to get the right length, adjusting it so the fender isn't touching the water and getting oily and algae laden once at dock, and moving it to the precise position needed, all of which I can do in seconds with the "fancy" leather hooks. They also allow me to deploy and adjust easily the two massive ginormous F11 fenders we have aboard for gnarly situations like tying up to a tug last December at Harwoods when they couldn't lift us, or during the flood when we risked being hammered by another boat. You can see the difference between tying them off over the handrail and using the leather hooks in the after section here lying alongside the tug.
I likely wouldn't have had the $ to buy them but they surely are a joy to use.
But all that isn't the most important time-cost related reason to use them or a similar home-made system. The leather hooks don't work the varnish over time, requiring redoing expensive multi-layered varnish; and they don't chafe the lines, which is almost inevitable when using a clove hitch tied to either a stanchion post and draped over the toerail. They get a fairlead outboard down to the fender. They also distribute the load which is important upon arrival, less so at dock (or not at all if the boat is sprung off the dock). The avoided cost is significant.
Like Twisted Tree, I reckon the track system is also good. On Pegasus, our 51 foot Alden ketch in San Francisco, we used the midships genoa track to mount a sliding car-cleat from Harken or Lewmar, I can't remember which.
but Garhauer make a less elegant and likely much cheaper version in stainless https://www.garhauer.com.au/Garhauer-track-car-midship-cleat
We did this not only to make it easy and fast to deploy the fender (and safer), but also to reduce loads on lifelines or stanchion bases (leak risk over time) when the fenders hit the dock on arrival or drag along the dock on departure). And, the genoa track was already there...it also works well for heavy midship loads in raft-ups.
The cost of track, installation, and cleats is not insignificant, and a cleat on a trawler toe-rail might be a bit unsightly. That said, a cleat on a sliding car is likely much easier to use than a car with an eye designed for a sheet block. BUT...you still have the wear on varnish and chafe on the toe-rail and rub-rail to deal with.
No free fender lunches.
