Kristin and I enjoy cruising to many of the harbors on the Michigan side of the lake. Though we prefer anchoring, occasionally we stay in a marina.
Many of Michigan’s marinas have a system of “mini pilings” that extend vertically every 10 feet along each finger pier. It makes docking a little easier, since crew can wrap a line around one from deck level pretty comfortably. Unfortunately, many of the these mini pilngs are shaped such that they render our fenders much less effective.
Our fenders can be attached to our toerail either vertically or horizontally. Because these mini pilings extend from the outer edge of the finger pier, vertically mounted fenders are often useless. A horizontal installation might initially look like it would be compatible with the mini pilings, but if the boat moves forward or aft much at all there won’t be any protection. Even a row of a few fenders has limitations… the fender ends can get caught on the piling, or the piling works its way in between fenders.
We’ve had plenty of stays in marinas during some pretty nasty conditions with swells moving through the slips, and even with lots of extra lines the boat moves quite a bit. Occasionally a seiche or swell will significantly change the tension on all our lines, including spring lines, and keeping horizontally mounted fenders aligned with a piling is difficult.
After enough nights where I’d wake up hearing the “thud” of a piling hitting our toerail, I wanted something better. Consulting with more seasoned cruisers in the area convinced me we needed to bring a fender board.
Basically, a fender board is a horizontal piece of wood that is placed between two vertically mounted fenders and the mini piling on the dock. I cut a pressure treated 2×6 to a manageable length. My version definitely has a “boat side” and a “dock side,” where the dock side sees all the wear and chafe. I drilled holes for support lines in a way that they wouldn’t chafe against the piling. In the event a fender gets loose when we’re not around, I also added vinyl “dock bumper” material to some of the edges on the boat side to prevent the board itself from scratching our gelcoat. Being wood, the fender board causes minimal or no damage to the dock, too. Also, using two fenders spreads out the forces more.
Stowing it is the hardest part. When not at a dock, I hang the fender board from a lifeline, though I could consider fitting it vertically inside a lazarette somehow. Since I used a pressure treated 2×6, it’s kinda heavy, but I appreciate the strength versus a 2×4.
In practice, our fender board has worked great. The boat can move forward and aft for most of the length of the fender board and still protect our boat from chafing. If we decide to deploy our fender board prior to our arrival at the dock, we just need to be sure the piling lands near the middle of the board and does not catch the end.
