Other Uses

#1: Raft-Ups

Our fenderboard system is perfectly suited for rafting up with friends. Typically when rafting, there is only one fender wide of protection between vessels – which is about 10” before the fenders compress. Aggravating factors during rafting include differing rub rail heights of neighboring boats. The rub rails themselves are proud of the hulls, reducing the effective gap between boats when relying on fenders between hulls. The typical rafting setup with 10” diameter fenders loses 2” from each rub rail, leaving 6” of distance protection before the fender compresses. Add in passing wakes and you can see why captains have to actively fight to keep vessels from scraping each other.

Enter the Fenderboard! By deploying a Fenderboard on your vessel, and having your neighbor provide two fenders similarly to support the board on your neighbors vessel, the distance between vessels will be two fender diameters plus the board thickness. In the example above, we’d have 10” + 10” + 1.5” for 21.5”, before rub rail losses and wakes etc. The boats must be tied together and spring line cross tied so they maintain the same fore/aft position. This insures all fenders stay aligned to keep the boards off the boat hulls.

We recommend two Fenderboards when rafting, one at the transom and one amidships. Transom and midship lines keep the boat spacing uniform, and two spring lines between boats to keep the boats registered fore/aft together. The spring lines will be placed from one boat's stern cleat to the opposite boat's midship cleat, and visa versa. There is a bit of setup, however it is a small price to pay for several hours of trouble free rafting!

#2: Sheet Steel Locks

Great loopers will love using the boards when docking alongside sheet steel locks. Instead of hoping your fenders will not fall into a steel corrugation and allow your boat's rub rail to scrape against the sidewall, use a Fenderboard to create defined distance from the side of the sheet lock to your fender.