Binkie's Grandson

My Uncle's old boat. Are we related?

Or better still, does anyone own a Bob Bush can that they'd like to sell to me

I make fenders and have made long buttons up to 22" long, but I generally wouldn't recommend anything longer than 18". For the cores, I use a combination of old tyre treads wound up tightly and coiled 1.5" diameter rope; for the longest ones I have even connected two tyre cores together. However, these long buttons do risk drooping over time or buckling under a heavy impact, and they just look silly (IMHO). You really only need about 3-4" of protection longer than the rudder and you are better off with a combination of tipcats and buttons for two main reasons; the button can easily be pulled out of the way if you are in a tight lock or winding hole; and the button also takes the majority of the wear and tear, so can be replaced at relatively low cost. Your particular setup seems to have only two fixing points, but you have added a third chain wrapped around the tiller bearing, which is far from ideal as this risks damaging your bearing or even the rudderstock. You may have another central point below the fender, which long buttons often utilise, but for the reasons given above, this does make it difficult to move the fender quickly, when needed. In the long-term, you might want to consider having two additional points welded on so that you can fit a combination of tipcat(s) and a button (A temporary fix could be achieved by adding two pieces of flat bar drilled at each end, with an eyelet at one end and bolted down with the same bolts for the tiller bearing, but I would only recommend this temporarily as any forces on the bearing that it is not designed for could be a problem). As you will see from the various photos sent by others, the tipcat(s) fit to the wider points and the button chains run over the top to two narrower points; if you do decide to weld on some additional points, the wider points should be about 26" apart and the narrow about 12" apart. When I make tipcats, they are typically each 7" thick, combined with a simple button of similar dimensions or the more decorative Barlow button option about 11", so you can work out what you need to protect your rudder. However, if you want fewer tipcats, these can be made thicker to suit. https://www.facebook.com/KnotforProfitFenders/

Bob (my uncle) died some time ago and sadly Elizabeth, his wife, last year. My cousins did a clear out of their loft, but I'm not sure if there was any archives left.

What makes you think this was Bob's work? He was my uncle and I'd love to know how to recognise his work

I can re-cover that for you, with whatever natural or man-made fibre rope you want https://www.facebook.com/KnotforProfitFenders. I often use old tyre treads to make the cores for long buttons and they'll probably outlast most boats; they can be re-covered many times and they don't suffer from fender droop. However, it's not so easy to make the core shapes for U-fenders, V-buttons and tipcats with tyre treads, so I stick to the traditional manila rope cores for these.

Thanks for the shout out, Hudds Lad. The link gives a good idea of what I do and, like Tradline, don't expect anything straight off the shelf, as they are all made to order. Currently my lead time is about 6-8 weeks, so if you can live with that, get in touch.

My Perkins 3.152 was previously used as a standby generator and the guy who fitted out the boat in the early '90s told me the Borg Warner Velvet Drive came from a forklift truck

I shared the exact same idea with CRT myself

I have messaged you

https://www.facebook.com/KnotforProfitFenders

Your boat setup has four fixing points for a tipcat and button, which I can make for you (Knot for Profit Fenders). The advantage of this arrangement is that it breaks in half if you ever get stuck in a tight lock or winding hole, by simply lifting up the button. It also means the button takes the majority of the daily wear and can be replaced without changing the tipcat. And it looks so much better than a droopy long fender. I can also make this for you if you want; I use old car tyres as the core to avoid the droop, it should be 3-4" longer than your rudder.

The IWA seem to be going through CEOs like the Tories through Prime Ministers. What's going on?

Is there a traditional method, rope material and/or knot for securing fenders to the boat? I am thinking particularly how the fender chains are extended to the fixing points in the photo.

I just saw a terrapin above bridge No55 above Hatton flight. It was clinging to a branch in the water as I went past, but had swim off before I could get a photo. Can anyone corroborate my sighting as my family don't believe me (Not after the 4ft swimming grass snake I saw on the K&A).