by SimonW » Wed Jul 17, 2013 9:17 am
Something I had thought of, but yet another heavy chunk of weight and something to stow on a small boat with small cockpit lockers.
An alternative which some shrimper owners do is to rig up a permanently tied couple of lines and then attache two fenders in parallel under the boat ( think rope ladder ). Before the boat drys you lead the lines front and back and fasten to the handrail on each side per markings. As the boat drys she settles on the keelson and the fender either side. Ideally these correspond to having the fenders tucked in on the inboard side of the bilge runners and the diameter of the fenders is sufficient to keep the boat bolt upright.
It sounds fiddly, but once the lines are measured and loops tied it takes a couple of minutes to set up. Obviously it depends on the shape of the hull as to the fenders and distances, but you will have the fenders on board anyway, the lines are light and cheap and it involves no more modifications to the boat.
Simples