Front fender

[starman]

Our button fender finally shredded itself going up Heartbreak Hill today. Constant scraping up top gates over the last year or so has done for it. I have a weak link (a screw-close link left half undone) either side but I can't see there's any way that the fender won't drag, scrape and sometimes foul its way up a gate.

Can I do without one (I can see any impacts will be harsher) or is there a different sort or way of mounting one? Even a different locking technique - though most locks push you hard up to the top gate when filling.

[denboy]

yes you need one think theres a BW bye law that has words to the effect and it will save the lock gates getting smashed

[furnessvale]

Our button fender finally shredded itself going up Heartbreak Hill today. Constant scraping up top gates over the last year or so has done for it. I have a weak link (a screw-close link left half undone) either side but I can't see there's any way that the fender won't drag, scrape and sometimes foul its way up a gate.

Can I do without one (I can see any impacts will be harsher) or is there a different sort or way of mounting one? Even a different locking technique - though most locks push you hard up to the top gate when filling.

 

Use a front fender. It will be kinder to your boat AND the lock. To save excessive wear on your new purchase, wrap it in an inverted tyre casing which can be replaced as required.

 

George ex nb Alton retired now tug Sandbach out of retirement.

[GUMPY]

yes you need one think theres a BW bye law that has words to the effect and it will save the lock gates getting smashed

BW rules say thet you must have a fender ready for deployment

Doesnt say that you have to use it!

[matty40s]

so, you are single handing, with front fender ready for deployment.... I have a 70ft narrowboat, what do I require , a converted harpoon gun for said fender to ensure it's deployment in time.....

 

 

Buy a new one FGS, they are like paint, consumables/expendables etc........

 

or just chop a few tyres in half and wrap 'em round the front.

[Keeping Up]

When it's nearly worn out, but before it falls apart completely, turn it around and use the other side. Ours was already quite old when it got shredded by the corrugated cill of a lock, but we got another 2 years out of it by turning it round.

[pete harrison]

Our button fender finally shredded itself going up Heartbreak Hill today. Constant scraping up top gates over the last year or so has done for it. I have a weak link (a screw-close link left half undone) either side but I can't see there's any way that the fender won't drag, scrape and sometimes foul its way up a gate.

Can I do without one (I can see any impacts will be harsher) or is there a different sort or way of mounting one? Even a different locking technique - though most locks push you hard up to the top gate when filling.

 

A stem fender is a requirement of the Boat Safety Certificate, and can be extremely hazardous. When fitting a stem fender it is essential that a 'weak link' is used to prevent the fender snagging on something and trapping the boat. This can be done by cutting one side on one of the chain links so it will open if stressed. Alternatively one chain link should be replaced by string so it will break if stressed.

 

Most of my boating has been done on former working narrow boats, particularly Grand Union Canal Carrying Company Ltd. boats. The fore ends of these boats are so high that a stem fender rarely touches anything, and makes pleasure boat windows and their modern fancy paintwork rather vunerable. For this reason, and the fact that a stem fender falls to one side when going down hill and gets caught under balance beams and handrails going uphill, I always pull my stem fender up onto the fore end. This satisfies the Boat Safety Certificate and if anybody complains (which is rare) I say that it must have ridden up in the last lock.

 

Provided you enter and operate a lock with care, especially going up hill when making contact with the cill you should not really need a stem fender.

[Radiomariner]

A stem fender is a requirement of the Boat Safety Certificate, ....

 

No it isn't

 

I always pull my stem fender up onto the fore end. This satisfies the Boat Safety Certificate and if anybody complains (which is rare) I say that it must have ridden up in the last lock.....

 

BSS is not interested in fenders

Edited October 11, 2009 by Radiomariner

[sueb]

Buy a secondhand fender. Some buy a new one when the old one gets dirty, others if they don't like the colour!

Sue

[n.b.Goldie]

Steps up onto soap-box;

 

It is essential, in my view, that a stem (button, no legs) fender is mounted by only two chains one of which must have a weak link, preferably via a piece of 'rotten rope' or string.

 

The fender should sit on the most prominent part of the bow then, if it gets caught on the way down it will flip up and if it gets caught on the way up it will flip down out of the way. If it fails to 'flip' then the rope/string will break and it will fall to one side.

I cannot believe that folk are so afraid of losing a fender that they chain it to the boat with enough chain to secure a battleship.

 

www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=3282]

 

Price of fender - £40 approx

 

Price of boat - Anything up to £100K and beyond.

 

I can recommend an excellent fender-maker:

 

Mick Betts who is at Cosgrove long-term mooring on a boat called Agnes Blomfield his tel no. is 07816541868

 

Mick will not only make the fender customised to your craft he will, if you would like, mount it onto your ship for you.

 

Regards

 

Ditchdabbler

[blackrose]

Cable ties make good weak links and they won't rot.

Edited October 11, 2009 by blackrose

[dave moore]

Hi all

I can't endorse Ditchdabbler's remarks about the weak link enough and I also fail to see why so many fenders are bedevilled with chains above, below etc etc. Sometimes it's the lack of properly placed fender eyes that's the problem - I find them most convenient on top of the cants a little way back, allowing the button fender to sit on the stem bar. Neither can I see the purpose of the "legs" on either side that some makers add.

Personal preference - I'd go for a proper traditional fender with a rope core. Joe Hollingshead, an old boater, does a cracking job of making what he refers to as a "bumper". I have his contact details if anyone's interested

(Steps off soapbox)

Cheers

Dave

[Chertsey]

From my experience with Tarporley, which currently doesn't have a front fender, I can endorse Pete's comments. It makes locking a lot easier and less worrying (and knocks a few inches off the length of the boat, of course). But on the other hand it makes manouevring near other boats' windows, posh canalfront glass balconies (ahem) etc very stressful.

 

But accepting that someone, somewhere, says you have to have one, I have a query to add to Starman's, regarding Warrior. Warrior's front end is very pointy, low down, and flat, and it's a bugger to get a fender to stay anywhere it might conceivably be useful without four fixing points. What shape fender, and how attached, would people recommend? Up to now we've used the old back one as a 'bumper' having had a lovely set of new back ones made by Joe Hollingshead, but it bit the dust at Keadby lock. Anyway, it never sat very straight or looked very pretty. Will now try to find a photo to illustrate.

Edited October 11, 2009 by WarriorWoman

[Keeping Up]

From my experience with Tarporley, which currently doesn't have a front fender, I can endorse Pete's comments. It makes locking a lot easier and less worrying (and knocks a few inches off the length of the boat, of course). But on the other hand it makes manouevring near other boats' windows, posh canalfront glass balconies (ahem) etc very stressful.

 

But accepting that someone, somewhere, says you have to have one, I have a query to add to Starman's, regarding Warrior. Warrior's front end is very pointy, low down, and flat, and it's a bugger to get a fender to stay anywhere it might conceivably be useful without four fixing points. What shape fender, and how attached, would people recommend? Up to now we've used the old back one as a 'bumper' having had a lovely set of new back ones made by Joe Hollingshead, but it bit the dust at Keadby lock. Anyway, it never sat very straight or looked very pretty. Will now try to find a photo to illustrate.

Perhaps the same would work for you as does for us. With the 4 fixing points that you have, leave the lower chains just slack enough that if you push the fender up hard, it slides over the bow to sit on the foredeck and can be pushed down again by placing a foot on the top. Failing that, with the setup that you have, I see that the lower chains have two parallel lenghts, one tight and one loose. A weak link such as a cable tie in the tight sector (as well as in the top chains) would allow breakage in emergency but still let the longer length to act to make sure it can't fall off completely.

 

Or is that what you do already? Hard to tell from the photo

[Guest]

Cable ties make good weak links and they won't rot.

That is a good idea. Will try that.

[n.b.Goldie]

From my experience with Tarporley, which currently doesn't have a front fender, I can endorse Pete's comments. It makes locking a lot easier and less worrying (and knocks a few inches off the length of the boat, of course). But on the other hand it makes manouevring near other boats' windows, posh canalfront glass balconies (ahem) etc very stressful.

 

But accepting that someone, somewhere, says you have to have one, I have a query to add to Starman's, regarding Warrior. Warrior's front end is very pointy, low down, and flat, and it's a bugger to get a fender to stay anywhere it might conceivably be useful without four fixing points. What shape fender, and how attached, would people recommend? Up to now we've used the old back one as a 'bumper' having had a lovely set of new back ones made by Joe Hollingshead, but it bit the dust at Keadby lock. Anyway, it never sat very straight or looked very pretty. Will now try to find a photo to illustrate.

I think that Warrior's fender top-mounts are too close together. If they were some 4/6 inches either side of the stem post a two chain button would sit very well.

 

If you do not want to weld any new mounts on an eye-bolt either side will serve just as well.

[magpie patrick]

I think that Warrior's fender top-mounts are too close together. If they were some 4/6 inches either side of the stem post a two chain button would sit very well.

 

If you do not want to weld any new mounts on an eye-bolt either side will serve just as well.

 

 

I agree they are too close together but given how fine that bow is I don't agree your solution would solve it. Ripple has a similar problem, although her bow is much higher out of the water, and even the fender makers can't suggest a two-chain hang for her. We've settled on a single chain wrapped around the front T and two lower chains.

 

For those who would do without, I would say that some working boats did carry them, but not all, and it depended how they were worked. I would also add that working boats, while they might motor into a lock and strike the other end, generally had no room to be pushed backwards and forwards, and having seen them (and Ripple) hit the end of a lock, they seem to give more. Perhaps it's because modern all steel boats are in effect box girders.

[pete harrison]

No it isn't

 

 

 

BSS is not interested in fenders

 

I stand corrected by somebody more knowledgable, but things have obviously changed since I was operating camping boats in the 1980's !!!

Edited October 11, 2009 by pete harrison

[mayalld]

A stem fender is a requirement of the Boat Safety Certificate

 

Rubbish!

 

Why on earth do people make stuff like this up?

 

I stand corrected by somebody more knowledgable, but things have obviously changed since I was operating camping boats in the 1980's !!!

 

Yes, there was no boat safety scheme in the 1980s

[gazza]

smooth reply dave!

[ditchcrawler]

I stand corrected by somebody more knowledgable, but things have obviously changed since I was operating camping boats in the 1980's !!!

When did the BSS start then?

[alan_fincher]

When did the BSS start then?

From their site:

 

The BSS was jointly established in 1997 by the Environment Agency and British Waterways to promote safety on the inland waterways in respect of boats, their installations and components.

[GUMPY]

And before that there was the CofC for about 8 years which was what the BSS was based on.

[pete harrison]

And before that there was the CofC for about 8 years which was what the BSS was based on.

 

One of my first jobs as a professional boatman in 1980 was to prepare my boats (camping boats operated on hire & reward licences) for their 'safety certificate' at the start of the 1981 season. This inspection was carried out by an approved Birmingham based surveyor (Don Inglis) and was a pre-requisite of us obtaining our B.W.B. licences. At that time this 'safety certificate' was only applicable to hire boats, later becoming applicable to privately owned boats as well.

 

I am afraid with the passing of time I do not recall the specific title of this 'safety certificate' (C. of C. / B.S.S. or whatever) and for this I apologise.

 

I am not however making up anything regarding the requirement of both a fore end and stern end fender at that time. I clearly recall many hire boats having steel frames welded to their sterns in order to protect their rudder, usually supplemented by either a button fender or tyre of some description. I also clearly recall talking our surveyor about the fender requirement of our butty's rudder - he wanted a fixed frame around it which would have lengthened the boat to about 75' ! I am not a fan of fore end fenders at all as I believe they can be unsafe, and it is for this reason that I recall being (almost) forced to fit fore end fenders to both of our boats in order to satisfy the surveyor.

 

In future I shall not contribute to this modern boat stuff (as I am obviously stuck in the past !!!)

Edited October 12, 2009 by pete harrison

[pete harrison]

Rubbish!

 

Why on earth do people make stuff like this up?

 

 

 

Yes, there was no boat safety scheme in the 1980s

 

Because we are not all perfect and I am happy to admit I made a mistake as my knowledge is not up to date.

 

I would like to draw your attention to Waterways World magazine April 1981 page 30 which states:-

 

"some hire operators did not apply for their annual licence until later in the year because of the need, for the first time in 1980, to obtain Certificates of Compliance with the Board's Standards for the Equiping and Construction of Pleasure Boats"