Bumpers/fenders on a 228?

Keeldad said:
Zoom in on the 2 aft fenders ( Ignore the foward-most one). One of the guys in my boatyard came up with this, Get a piece of PVC that fits the rod holders ( I think 1 1/2”) Cut it to length, drill a hole in it and run the line from the fender, adjust where you want it to fall and knot it off. If you want to get fancy, put a PVC cap on it ( and also notch the bottom to fit on the pin in the bottom of the holder so it doesn’t twist) and there you go! When underway, just pull them out and stow.
Click to expand...

Thinking out loud.

You could make the pvc longer and offset the hole so it can be flipped and the bumper can be higher or lower in relation to the rubrail/waterline?

I guess that only applies to some of us who live in areas with relatively small tide swings and lots of fixed docks.

Nice idea and it allows for better spacing along the straight portion of the gunnel!


Bloodweiser said:
miller lite on draft ?
Click to expand...

And High Life at the classier establishments ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bloodweiser and magicalbill
Thanks all, I'm learning. This forum rocks, I've been looking around, learned the difference between a 226 and a 228, got some advice on docking. Learned that backing up with the engine down on a 228 is not so much, tip it up.

I am a total newbie on a Grady White, I'm OK on a Triumph, I can run those out but my GW makes me nervous, I don't want to screw it up. I love all your help. Keep it coming. And if any of you are visiting Santa Cruz CA I will take you out to say thanks. I might be a n00b on the GW but I can put you on fish in the Monterey Bay.

Thank you for the help.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bloodweiser
luckydude said:
Hi all,

Brand new GW owner here, still trying to sort stuff. I'm new to fenders or whatever they are called, my first boat was a Triumph, they have a plastic hull so you just rammed into the dock and shrugged. You can patch that stuff up in 5 minutes, not as fragile as gelcoat.

I've already scraped up my 228 and had to repair so I'm trying to figure out bumpers. Specifically where to place them. I've tried to put them just above the water line, if you look here:

2023-11-04-10.08.14

www.mcvoy.com

you can see where I put them (if you are coming to this thread later, just go to http://www.mcvoy.com/lm/boat and spacebar through them, I'm gonna put a lot of pics of the 228 up so the number will change).

The ball bumper looks too low but when you push it in, it is above the water line.

So is that where you want them or am I doing it wrong? Sorry to be such a n00b, I just don't want to mess up my boat. I'm only a slight step above all those boater fails you see on youtube :)
Click to expand...

Took the boat out of Santa Cruz today, the fenders worked fine. Someone said you don't need the ball under the bow. Yeah, _you_ don't need the ball under the bow, but Mr Idiot here (that would be me) definitely needs the ball under the bow. Ask me how I know :)

The size seemed fine but I launch from floating docks, might be different for different docks.

Happy to report no gelcoat boo-boos.
 
luckydude said:
Took the boat out of Santa Cruz today, the fenders worked fine. Someone said you don't need the ball under the bow. Yeah, _you_ don't need the ball under the bow, but Mr Idiot here (that would be me) definitely needs the ball under the bow. Ask me how I know :)

The size seemed fine but I launch from floating docks, might be different for different docks.

Happy to report no gelcoat boo-boos.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good day..

Remember, vertical placement of fenders for floating docks, horizontal placement just under the rubrail to catch the pilings on fixed docks.

And don't forget the Miller Lite....(Draft as Bloodwiser suggests.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bloodweiser
luckydude said:
Took the boat out of Santa Cruz today, the fenders worked fine. Someone said you don't need the ball under the bow. Yeah, _you_ don't need the ball under the bow, but Mr Idiot here (that would be me) definitely needs the ball under the bow. Ask me how I know :)

The size seemed fine but I launch from floating docks, might be different for different docks.

Happy to report no gelcoat boo-boos.
Click to expand...
Did you fish?
 
Pighunter said:
Did you fish?
Click to expand...

Well, I tried. Let me remind you, I'm Mr Idiot (in oh so many ways). I get on the water, first time with the new electronics, and I can't figure out how to turn the transducers on. Get on the radio, ask around, some smug types told me not to worry about it, just go home. Very welcoming, everyone is a newbie at some point. I'll take my licks and pay my dues. Some guy asked what electronics, Garmin 8610, he says I have that one, go to 68 and I'll get you sorted. And he did.

Then I'm looking for my buddy, he wasn't where I thought he was, got coords from him and headed out.

Get there and want to start trolling for fish, my *brand new* high performance electric downrigger from Scotty isn't counting the feet as the line goes out. It powers up fine, it retrieves fine, just doesn't tell me how deep I am. OK, so my kid and I will stack on the other downrigger. Except he is sea sick (took the meds, they didn't work, I do the night before and in the morning, works great for me) so he doesn't want to fish. OK, I'll fish, let me put this fancy new fly by wire Yamaha 250 in troll mode. OK doke, 600RPM, that should be slow enough. No such luck, the boat is moving 3.5mph and my line is almost horizontal.

Dag nabbit, I am not going home with the skunk on after 3 months of lock down. Put some year old frozen squid on (the bait shop was closed when we got there) so squid is all I had. Now I'm jigging in 300 feet of water. My buddy got on the radio and said "you are not going to have any fun jigging at 300 feet". You know what, he's right.

So I motor in and try and find some rocks at 200 feet. All I found was sand and I have only caught 1 halibut in my life and it was by accident, I was targeting rockies and drifted over some sand.

At this point, I've tortured my kid enough and we headed in. We did manage to launch and dock without screwing up the gelcoat so some success? And got home (see my trailer questions thread) with the boat on the trailer. Some how.

So I've learned a bunch

- I need a kicker or I need to figure out the troll mode better. Does anyone know how slow that Yamaha will go? I have a 3 blade prop that the dealer picked out. I do not want to go to a slower prop, in fact, I'm considering a 4 blade prop because some youtuber compared them and he got better MPG with the 4 blade. I think he drives a Parker.

For kicker, I'm looking at Yamaha's 6HP. All I need is for it to move me at 3MPH or slower. I usually troll at about 2mph.

- I need to learn how to look at google maps in satellite mode and find the rocks. I also need to pick Alan Tani's brain and my other buddies' brain about locations.

- I need to spend some time learning my electronics. Barry programmed my MMSI into his radio and tried to do a DSC that was supposed to jump us both to channel 70 and it didn't, left us on the main channel and everyone started yelling at us again. Fun times.

- I need to find a quiet, no audience, harbor and practicing docking. Launching is easy even by myself but docking is hard in that delicate gelcoated boat. I was so spoiled by the Triumph, docking? Hold my beer, let me just ram the boat against the dock and tie off. Not so much with gelcoat, actually requires some skill. Have I mentioned I'm Mr Idiot? See, I told ya!

There is probably more but that's some homework for me. Boat is back to "Driveway Slayer".
 
Sounds like a decent trip. The more you go the more you learn the better you get.
 
Bloodweiser said:
Sounds like a decent trip. The more you go the more you learn the better you get.
Click to expand...

Indeed. Hauling around a boat that cost as much as a pimped out Tesla makes me nervous. But I'm getting better. Having a trailer that isn't a steaming pile of you know what would help.

I can see that I'll need to be bringing a kid along to help with docking but I'm gonna try and do it with the kid as backup. Maybe in a year or two I'll upgrade from Mr Idiot on Driveway Slayer to Mr FullFishBox on Gratitude :) One can hope.
 
Don’t worry, it gets easier! I’m about a month ahead of you learning the 228 and how it handles.

Last time I had a boat was when I was 16 and I used it daily never with a worry in mind. Fast forward 20 years and I am worrying about everything, but starting to get my feet underneath me, which you will too soon.

Try to narrow your focus down and attempt to master a few skills at a time. You have a new boat so have a lot of gizmos to fool around with. I’ve yet to play with any of my old equipment. I just turn on the GPS and depth finder which both seem to overlap in functionality but I don’t rely much on either. I have other electronics that I have yet to even look at but will eventually. It’s just not my focus right now

Try to figure out the docking on your own as I think it will force you to really get a feel for your boat and how she handles. Having someone grabbing a dock line is awesome and increases your margin of error but I think might reduce your mastery of it a bit.

Have you tried to anchor yet? Do you have a bow pulpit?
 
I am using bumpers from Hull Hugr, it can be installed easily using common tools. Keeps my boat from getting beat up at the dock, and it allowed me to eliminate a need for boat fenders. I bought two for the front and two for the rear of the boat.
 
oliver305 said:
I am using bumpers from Hull Hugr, it can be installed easily using common tools. Keeps my boat from getting beat up at the dock, and it allowed me to eliminate a need for boat fenders. I bought two for the front and two for the rear of the boat.
Click to expand...
Pictures?
 
Hull Hugr is a permanent mount to your home dock if you keep it on the water. Fenders are needed when visiting other docks. I'm set up to tie off vertical or horizontal if needed.

Here's my horizontal in use on Lake Erie. Dock I tie to, the post are outside the dock. Tying vertical wouldn't work here.

20200910_180111.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pighunter
You can tie them to the railing as you've done or get a quick disconnect to make removal fast and easy. You can tie them also to the cleats, there should be sufficient room for them as well as a line. "Fender Spikes" can be used as well in the rod holders in the gunnels. I have a pole on the starboard bow side and do what Pighunter has done in that spot. The blue fender you have is the right size. 1/2" lines and fender lines is suffcient.

Here is an example.
www.facebook.com

Fender Spike

Fender Spike. 255 likes. The Best Fender Hanger Money Can Buy!!
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
 
With a dock bumper that’s made to last for a very long time, you won’t have to worry about accidental damage to your boat. I think Dock Edge PVC Dock Bumper is a good choice. While it’s certainly durable and heavy-duty, it has enough flex to absorb shock upon impact if your boat ever collides with it.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.