As many of you have probably noticed, dinghies like to fight with dive platforms. Two boats moving about up and down, one much smaller than the other, and they just never synchronize.
Little fenders are hardly a solution. They're so small and light, they tend to get shoved out of the way too easily, or wind up sitting uselessly on top of dive platform or dinghy. Larger fenders work, but big boat fenders are cumbersome and are overkill much of the time.
I came across this solution today. The owner of this trawler slipped a couple of PVC pipes over his bow and stern lines, then tied his skiff across his transom. The PVC is rigid enough to hold the skiff about a foot off the dive platform. No fenders needed! It may cause some chafing and might scratch things up, but those problems are easily dealt with.
Just thought this might be useful to some here!
Little fenders are hardly a solution. They're so small and light, they tend to get shoved out of the way too easily, or wind up sitting uselessly on top of dive platform or dinghy. Larger fenders work, but big boat fenders are cumbersome and are overkill much of the time.
I came across this solution today. The owner of this trawler slipped a couple of PVC pipes over his bow and stern lines, then tied his skiff across his transom. The PVC is rigid enough to hold the skiff about a foot off the dive platform. No fenders needed! It may cause some chafing and might scratch things up, but those problems are easily dealt with.
Just thought this might be useful to some here!