Fender covers - good or bad?

[Justin_NSA]

I'm putting together my Christmas wish list. It's that or expect a new tie or something.
Anyway, I'm considering a couple fender covers. They are touted to silence the fender rubbing while trying to sleep, and prevent marring the hull. The first point I can accept. I question the second. Couldn't they trap dirt and abrade the hull? How often would they need to be rinsed out? IOW, are they worth the money?

 

[JRacer]

I've been using them for several years. They do eliminate the plastic noise. They should be rinsed off periodically. And, in my case, some of them are worn through and ready for replacement. Some of the others are just sun faded. Probably got 3-4 seasons out of them. That said, I'm a tight fit in the slip so some (the ones wearing out) are in tight contact with the slip and boat whenever we are in the slip and take a lot of abuse.

The ones I use are the fleece material.

 

[FastOlson]

All of the boats in my YC with spendy LPU paint jobs use them. They do seem to protect the finish. Washing fender covers is easier than refinishing or buffing out the boat, strictly IMHO.

 

[Jackdaw]

Use them on Kestrel, which has a Flag Blue Imron painted hull. While not perfect, they are much better at not leaving marks on the paint. In particular, the while plastic rub marks bare fenders can give.

 

[CaptKimble]

The Admiral just finished making fender covers per instructional video from the Sailrite folks. They look snappy, are easy to fabricate and the fabric is pretty neat. I'm thinking an occasional rinse to keep the dirt levels down will do wonders. I'll try to take some photos this weekend and post next week.

 

[Gunni]

I inherited them. They picked up debris and rubbed the hull to dullness. Very noticeable damage on a non-white hull. I took covers off and devised a way to tie off the boat in a manner that required no fenders. I have fenders on the dock piles but they are for emergency backup. I carry fenders for rafting and the occasion t-dock tie up.

 

[Rick486]

Been using various ones over 30 years with no issues. Currently I have the Defender ones monogrammed with the boat name, as shown on your pic. They have a soft surface which seems to prevent abrasion on the hull. I blast them with the dock hose whenever I clean the boat. Seem to work fine. One issue though is that they are retained on the fender line by a stopper knot and cringle. I have noticed that after a period of years the cringle does loosen up and pull away from the fabric of the fender. Easy enough to repair with twine and a needle.

 

[SG]

The Polyester ones hold-up best in my experience. The "polartec-like" fleece ones seem to age faster, pick-up dirt from plies and docks,faster, and cost an arm and leg. I used the "better grade" ones from West Marine. They last about 4-7 years out "year around" in Dark Blue for us.

The Sunbrella ones are not soft enough, in my opinion and can hold dirt.

 

[jibes138]

It often rains and that tends to rinse them. I use old T-shirts for fender covers. Work great at preventing vinyl goo from attaching to the hull, don't mark the hull themselves, are readily available, and as inexpensive as you can get (free).

 

[Will Gilmore]

I have a vivid memory of being on a lee pier during a gale in Cedar Key. I was about 12 y.o. Our fenders were not enough, they kept rolling past the pilings. A friend of my fathers and I ran around in our foul weather gear in town, the middle of the night, and found 4 tires behind a gas station. The black marks were not an issue at the time.
If not for the lightning, we'd not seen the tires.
- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Fred]

We used them while rafting up at nights on our North Channel sailing trips. They were an essential element to a good night sleep!

 

[Dalliance]

I've been using them for years and IMO, yes, they are worth the money because they silence the vinyl on gelcoat squeaking that otherwise keeps me awake. I've had good luck with 100% polyester fleece and just bought a new set of TaylorMade fender covers for next season. I have not noticed any abrasion on the hull, but I'm fairly obsessive about keeping the boat clean and I do hose them off occasionally. They seem to last about two or three seasons.

A word of caution: Be carefull about the bargain brands out there. I bought some cheap ones on-line (Can't recall the brand or web-site.) a couple years ago and regretted it. They were black and they transferred color onto the hull which took a lot of work to clean off.