Front fender

[Naughty Cal]

One colour and a roller, job done.

 

As you have seen with our tub

 

Cant say i noticed so it cant have been that bad.

[nb Innisfree]

Cant say i noticed so it cant have been that bad.

 

You have forgotten me already, I'm quite hurt

[magpie patrick]

I've seen MY boat hit a cill with and without a front fender...

 

It's cills that really mater, a gate gives.

 

With fender, gentle creak from the fender, entire chock absorbed in a few inches, nice soft landing

 

without a fender, crunch... anything not nailed down is on its side in the boat, and a nice clean mark in the cill, newly exposed stone.

 

It may be because Ripple is built like a box girder, and I have seen working boats do the same thing and they seem to give (the "draw" in a lock can throw you back the forward) but if I hit a lock cill, I damage the cill, and throw the beer bottles around in the cupboard, without a fender.

 

If you haven't hit a cill then you only go through shallow locks or the deep ones you've gone through don't have the "back and forward" pull on the boat. Or you've tied up to the bottom gates

[Chertsey]

I've seen MY boat hit a cill with and without a front fender...

 

It's cills that really mater, a gate gives.

 

With fender, gentle creak from the fender, entire chock absorbed in a few inches, nice soft landing

 

without a fender, crunch... anything not nailed down is on its side in the boat, and a nice clean mark in the cill, newly exposed stone.

 

It may be because Ripple is built like a box girder, and I have seen working boats do the same thing and they seem to give (the "draw" in a lock can throw you back the forward) but if I hit a lock cill, I damage the cill, and throw the beer bottles around in the cupboard, without a fender.

 

If you haven't hit a cill then you only go through shallow locks or the deep ones you've gone through don't have the "back and forward" pull on the boat. Or you've tied up to the bottom gates

But when you hit a cill, don't you hit it with the stem post below the fender? I've had the experience you describe, but that was with a fender fitted.

[ditchcrawler]

I've seen MY boat hit a cill with and without a front fender...

 

It's cills that really mater, a gate gives.

 

With fender, gentle creak from the fender, entire chock absorbed in a few inches, nice soft landing

 

without a fender, crunch... anything not nailed down is on its side in the boat, and a nice clean mark in the cill, newly exposed stone.

 

It may be because Ripple is built like a box girder, and I have seen working boats do the same thing and they seem to give (the "draw" in a lock can throw you back the forward) but if I hit a lock cill, I damage the cill, and throw the beer bottles around in the cupboard, without a fender.

 

If you haven't hit a cill then you only go through shallow locks or the deep ones you've gone through don't have the "back and forward" pull on the boat. Or you've tied up to the bottom gates

When I hit the cill I only do it once and stay there until the water level is high enough to touch the gate. I then stay there until the gate opens

[magpie patrick]

But when you hit a cill, don't you hit it with the stem post below the fender? I've had the experience you describe, but that was with a fender fitted.

]

 

In deeper locks no, in shallower ones I used to, until I worked out fo fit a sort of bead on a string arrangement up the stem

 

 

 

When I hit the cill I only do it once and stay there until the water level is high enough to touch the gate. I then stay there until the gate opens

 

Yes, so, usually do I, but if 7000 boats a year do it the cill eventually cracks, which is very expensive for BW (or whoever the navigation authority is)

[David Schweizer]

Do you really need a front fender at all?

The small Fibre glass cruiser which shot backwards out of Braunston Marina straight into my path a few years ago, was grateful for the fender on our stem post. The side of the cruiser bent in quite a bit when we hit him broadsisde, but an inspection revealed no apparent serious damage, but without the fender to absorb some of the impact, I suspect that some damage would have been done.

 

So yes we do really need a front fender, the incident had little to do with poor navigation, something in the boat's control gear apparently jammed creating the lack of control. I know it would not have been my fault if the cruser had been badly damaged, but concern for another boater's safety would not have made me feel any better if any damage caused was not my fault.

Edited October 18, 2009 by David Schweizer

[Water Rat.]

Why spend thousands on a paint job that will get scratched. I have yet to see a narrowboat without scratches.

Err to stop it rusting?

[Naughty Cal]

Err to stop it rusting?

 

If your car gets a stone chip do you repaint the whole thing?

 

Personally i touch them up with a little spare paint

[Dalesman]

Good grief!! How tight can you get? A front fender, compared to the price of your boat, is not a lot. And please do not bump into me without a fender on the front. You might not need one for yourself, but the rest of us would rather you had one if only to protect OUR paint work. Please get a new one!

Get some like these perhaps..!!