Fenders for Locks?

44ft Marine Trader. What is the best size fenders for locks? Are lock walls ever corrugated so that a larger than normal fender is needed?

Price is of no concern; I live on the hook around people with big fancy boats and poor seamanship, so big expensive fenders are always floating by. Currently i have full sets of standard fenders in diameters of 10" & 12", and buoys in 20" & 27". (I just sold my collection of 17" buoys, but I'm sure more will float by ). Which size should i keep for locks?

As a veteran of locks (over 200 solo in 2022), with my previous boat the same size as yours, you want 3 large balls. I believe mine were 24" but will need to double check.

One goes close to the stern. One goes about 2/3 of the way to the bow. The last one is just under the bow rail to keep the bow from hitting the lock if the stern pivots on middle ball.

Ted

The big ball fenders give you more spacing if you have a place to store them.

Another question I have is what is the success rate of requesting which side of the lock you want? Specifically in the Okechobee Waterway because that is the one system I'll probably eventually have to transverse.

I have a fiberglass skiff that I unfortunately have to tow singlehanded. I just leave 12" standard fenders out on the aft starboard, and put the skiff on the hip when pulling or dropping anchor, and drop back when underway. I'm pretty quick with the manuever, but I'm not sure how workable that would be in a canal with notable current or wind. Other options would be hip tow the entire canal. Or worst option: bring up close behind on bridle for locks, but it would still be too free and cause problems IMO.

I believe mine were Polyform A-5. The larger balls work much better than cylinder style fenders. On lock wall where chunks of concrete are missing or the fender goes into a recess with a ladder, the ball will pop out as opposed to getting hung up. For a size perspective, below is my boat in the yard with the balls tied to the upper railing. The other fenders are Polyform F-8 for docking and rafting up.

Ted

The locks we have been through usually tell you which side to tie up on. We never requested anything different, so it may be that the lock master might let you choose but I don’t know. The usual side on the Erie, Oswego and TSW was the starboard side. But every now and then the lock master would specify port side. We haven’t done the Florida locks.

ERTF said:

Another question I have is what is the success rate of requesting which side of the lock you want? Specifically in the Okechobee Waterway because that is the one system I'll probably eventually have to transverse.

I have a fiberglass skiff that I unfortunately have to tow singlehanded. I just leave 12" standard fenders out on the aft starboard, and put the skiff on the hip when pulling or dropping anchor, and drop back when underway. I'm pretty quick with the manuever, but I'm not sure how workable that would be in a canal with notable current or wind. Other options would be hip tow the entire canal. Or worst option: bring up close behind on bridle for locks, but it would still be too free and cause problems IMO.

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I have a lot of experience with the Okeechobee waterway as I live in Fort Myers.

You will need to side tie the dinghy to the trawler. Some of the locks when flooding, will swirl current. This means that the water flows down one side from the doors and comes back up the other side.

In most cases on the Okeechobee, the operators want you to lock on the side they are on. Some don't care which side. Going East to West, 3 are on the port and 2 are on the starboard.

The Okeechobee locks flood by partially opening the upstream doors. So current in the chamber can be significant with large lifts (4 to 9'). In addition, there are no floating bollards, pipes in the walls, or cables attached at the top and bottom. Instead, a bow and stern line are either dropped to you or lines are attached only at the top, every 20' or so. You will be required to manage both lines to stay close to the wall. You need to be attentive going down as the slack is going away.

While I've not towed through a lock with a boat on the hip, it would be advisable to notify the lock tender of your intentions and be the last boat in the lock.

When locking up, if you have the option, tying off in the middle to back of the chamber is far less turbulent.

Ted

We use HTM-4 (13"x35") on the mid/aft and a 30" round near the front to allow for the curvature of the hull. We have to adjust the buoys up or down as we get to the top of the lock, but only ~6". We used to have covers but they got a mess and made it worse to clean.

We use balls in locks as well. I find they slide well and when they're not needed for a while they can be deflated to store more easily.

We use 2x 18" balls, 1 forward, 1 aft positioned just above the water. And then 3 or 4 smaller 12" balls just below the gunwale. That sits nicely against walls with our hull flare and keeps the boat far enough off the wall. And with high and low fenders there's no concern for hitting if the boat rolls a bit against the wall. And no need to adjust at the top of a lock, as if the upper fenders are above the wall, the lower fenders take over.

Polyform A5s are very heavy, almost 20-lbs, and a 27" diameter. We have one, wifey can't move it.

A4s, 20.5" diameter, under 10 lbs, are more easily managed... if that size will work for your boat.

-Chris

Just make sure that you can move the fenders to the opposite side quickly as you may not know until you are entering the lock. I kept fenders on both sides, but there was one we had to move over when required.
Also, we had a dinghy on rear davits, and I used a seat floatation cushion on the bow of it and one over the side that was aft. They both got used a few times.

We have done a lot of locking (~1,000) over the 30+ years.
IMO Everyone finds what works best for them so no hard & fast "rules".
When locking we generally try to have 2 cylinders / side plus one large ball towards bow on predominant locking side and 1 addnl cylinder as close to the stern as possible.
Our storage space is limited and is an important part of planning.
I use adjusters to allow quick / EZ movement and height adjustment. In general (not 100%) sailers tie knots and power boaters use adjusters. Sailors also employ fenderboards more often that power boaters. Hull shape is the primary difference.
I prefer cylinders with through holes / lines that allow me to easily deploy or store fenders horizontal as well as vertical.
Where we cruise (NE US / Canada canals & St Lawrence), most often boaters get to choose side for tie up. In some cases, eg Rideau Canal, lock master will direct position & order of loading. In certain locks the tie side is predetermined and usually published to allow prep / switching ahead of time. In those cases it is usually only for unbound traffic and due to turbulence from water entering the lock.
I have fender covers but don't use them when locking ( they will hold dirt and more likely scratch the hull) but use them when we are away from locks and/or do a lot of rafting.
My Bacchus website -Cruising Notes section has some tips for transiting NY Canals. No experience w Okeechobee other than having camped at a canal RV park.

Regarding the Okeechobee locks, I transited through there recently and all five locks gave me discretion as to which side I wanted. The deciding factor is most likely to be if there are other boats locking through with you or not. I took starboard ties at each one, and locked thru solo with no issues.

I second the buoy balls as the best type of fender for locks. Really the best type in general, IMO.

We used and liked some Aere inflatable fenders for locks. You can have really big ones and they deflate to take very little space. They proved to be surprisingly durable. Never did any in Florida but the St. Lawrence and Welland (50' lifts).

Side choice is mostly normal. Occasionally the lock master directs a specific side. Like OC Diver says we use three per side in the Erie Canal and on the OWW. 20” balls work for us with them placed vertically centered on the rub rails for maximum effect. Be careful of some locks the fenders can rise above the wall when fully up leading to “lock rash”. We keep our mid fender set lower than the rub rail just in case. Extra fenders are deflated flat and stowed in the ER.

The best fender we had on our former Long-Cours 62 was.... Quad tires !
Ok not allowed on French canal Except if they can't be removed from the boat .
We drilling two hole fit a chain of 6mm (or 8 mm ?) .
It is the best the large one may be 30cm width on the narrower part of our boat because it can absorb a deformation and no counter reaction like classic "balloon" do.
Our boat was 5.03m, 5.08m with the big rope around and the lock are...5.10m we do may be more 1500 lock and no comparison tires are the best solution.
Ok look poor but no problem for us

ERTF said:

44ft Marine Trader. What is the best size fenders for locks? Are lock walls ever corrugated so that a larger than normal fender is needed?

Price is of no concern; I live on the hook around people with big fancy boats and poor seamanship, so big expensive fenders are always floating by. Currently i have full sets of standard fenders in diameters of 10" & 12", and buoys in 20" & 27". (I just sold my collection of 17" buoys, but I'm sure more will float by ). Which size should i keep for locks?

Click to expand...

I use balls, they roll nicely and reset themselves

Comodave said:

The locks we have been through usually tell you which side to tie up on. We never requested anything different, so it may be that the lock master might let you choose but I don’t know. The usual side on the Erie, Oswego and TSW was the starboard side. But every now and then the lock master would specify port side. We haven’t done the Florida locks.

Click to expand...

I know on the NY locks, if you are the only boat or just a few. You can ask. They just open the valves opposite you to keep you against the wall whenever possible.
It never hurts to politely ask.

The NY locks occasionally will have a preferred side and will tell you, but most of the time they don't care. We almost always go port, a lot of people prefer starboard.

We moor our boat on fresh water in Portage Bay and go out in the salt often, so we go through the Ballard Locks at least a dozen times a year, sometimes significantly more. Those locks have concrete side walls. The small lock has floating shuttles on the walls you tie to just like a dock, and they go up and down with you. The large lock is done the old fashioned way: line with a loop on it on a capstan up at the top, and you slide up and down the wall (9.5 ft to 20+ ft depending on the tides).

For fenders, we use cylindrical double-eye type on most side locations. They are tapered enough to not get caught in the holes on the walls, but much more versatile for otherwise tying off on docks or rafting up. We also have one 18" ball fender, which goes up toward the bow because we have a bit of bow flare up there and don't want wall contact if the stern kicks out during locking. We have enough fenders to cover both sides entirely (see below), which is another reason to use the double-eye cylinders.

The locks tend to be a bit busy (major commercial corridor from Seattle out to Elliott Bay and Puget Sound), and the Corps of Engineers will not let you tie up wherever you want to. They point to a location and that's where you go. No alternatives.

If your boat is over 40 feet long and you are going into the large lock, you will very likely be on the wall. Otherwise, you'll probably be tied up to somebody else. If you are on the wall, you will almost certainly have up to three other boats rafted on to you, hence the need for fenders on both sides. I always leave the engines running when locking through, because "stuff happens" and you never know when you might need to make an emergency correction. I have seen some really crazy stuff in the locks over the years, but that is a topic for another day/thread. I'm sure the other PNW boaters here could contribute some Lock Follies entertainment and cautionary tales for Halloween.

We've taken our Fleming 55 from Le Havre (English Channel) to Paris (France) on the river Seine, twice, and three times in a previous 40' boat. The locks are large and used mainly by commercial traffic.

Talking with someone who had travelled the river many times, I was given six key points to bear in mind, all of which proved of great help and prevented our boats from being damaged:

• Use your normal cylinder fenders but with barge (fender) boards. Why? Two reasons. One, some corrugations are deep enough to swallow a ball fender, and two, if your boat moves when it's against the side, the ball can become jammed and rip. I made barge boards our of old scaffold planks, around 8' long, and stowed them on the inside of the stanchions, secured, and ready to lift and drop into place over the fenders, if we saw they'd be necessary. Quick and easy.
• Use boards on both sides of the boat. Why? Other vessels, leisure of commercial, may come alongside and you need maximum protection, in case. As water enters or exits, surging and boat movement can be significant.
• Have two warps ready at each point. One to secure, the other ready to hook on the next point as the level changes.
• If you have a place next to the lock wall, you will find that those who 'know locks' will come not be first, and will moor alongside you to avoid 'lock work', leaving you to do it all for them. We often followed this advice and came in when the lock was almost full. It made life so much easier!
• Commercial traffic doesn't really care for your boat and may well come alongside with no fenders, or dirty car tyres.
• After exiting the lock, have someone ready to clean the fenders and warps. They are likely to be filthy!

Think about the above, be prepared, and above all, have fun.

BTW, the river Seine is magnificent and a joy to experience.