Linda Lou spotted.

Here's a few pics taken by YF member 'Rodger' as Linda Lou made her way down the Welland Canal a few days ago. Das ist ein großes Boot!

196.85 ft / 60.00 m Lürssen 2006. Don't see fender boards in use too often these days and they don't appear to get them any more coverage than if the fenders were laid horizontal.

Hi,

One use of Fender Boards with this type fenders can also be to keep the abrasion damage to a minimum on rough concrete and splinter filled wooden docks.

I am quite surprised that this is where they stow their fenders and boards when underway.

They were just coming out of lock in the Welland Canal. And you're right, the boards were to minimize abrasion to the fenders from the concrete wall in the lock.

Understand their use. Just haven't seen them used much lately. Wonder if the key here is "this type of fenders". There was a recent discussion on another thread about fenders, and I know these fill fast and stow easily. Do they not take abrasion as well?

Hi,

I would have added the cheeky grin smilie but didn't find it available when I went back to edit my post

Would you leave your inflatable dinghy alongside a rough concrete wall or wooden dock full of splinters?

If you get grit and other foreign objects stuck in the surface of any fender it can easily turn around and damage the topsides when put on again with what was previously the outer face now against the boat or come into contact when rolling along between dock and boat doing some unnecessary damage to the paint system along the way.

Ah now your pulling my leg K1W1. By that reasoning you'd never see fenders out without boards. Come on now. Seriously though, I haven't used these soft fenders. Are they more prone to wear?

The Welland canal has very rough concrete on it's walls. It also has a very very strong current in most of the locks, especially the 3 locks that are connected together as well as a rise of about 86 feet. I was at the helm clutching the engines to help maintain position even though I had a mate on the bow and stern of a 75' Hatteras MY with lines. There are also some places on the lock walls where there is steel showing through. I've gone through it without fender boards but was using A4 and A5 Polyform polyballs with thick skin. But, would have used fender boards in addition if I had them available to me.

The inflatable fenders have a thinner skin then your typical Taylor or Polyforms you see on smaller boats. It appears to be a stronger skin, but they most likely don't want all of their pretty fenders all marred and scratched up, as well as what Kiwi said about the fenders picking up debris and possibly scratching the Yachts paint as they roll around. You know, looks are everything on a 200' yacht.

I'm on board for the thin skin possibly making them more prone to a tear and the scratched up appearance. Of course I would leave an inflatable dinghy along side a wooden dock full of splinters. Aren't all wooden docks full of splinters? As for things getting lodged in the skin, that's not supposed to happen but a wipe down should dislodge anything sticking to them. Remember what fenders rub against at low tide. That stuff is razor sharp. Additionally, if you were to use fenderboards while in motion transiting a tight lock you'd run the risk of snagging the front of a board on that rough concrete and driving the back end off the fenders into the boat's side. The round fenders are the right choice there. The main purpose of a fender board is against a piling to avoid the fender rolling around and off it and to extend the distance covered; also to spread the load. IMHO I think the use of fenderboards has dropped off due to the advent of longer, less tappered fenders.

On the contrary, the boards provide less surface area so they slide up the rough walls more easily than fenders alone, and are sacrificial as the boat rises and falls through the lock. If you are in motion through a lock close enough to be dragging your fenders against the wall, you're doing it wrong and you have bigger issues to worry about with your poor boat handling.

I agree. I was responding to the statement by Capt. J about having trouble holding position.