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Rope FendersMake mine Manila

by Barbara MerryIllustrations by Benjamin Martinez

'--'"S,., orneitemslend themselveswellto m~'s ongoingattempts to"", upgrade them or make them more cost efficient. I think syn-

. thetic Manila rope, for example, stillmakes the grade. It isdurable and chafe-resistant, fairly comfortable in hand, and impervi-ous to rot. It is also inexpensive and has a nice, traditional look aboutit. But, on the other hand, the white plastic boat fenders that have re-placed traditional Manila rope fenders score low.These plastic fendersare so light in weight that they will roll up and out from between theboat and the dock-or, much worse, from between two boats-result-ing in dings, scuffed brightwork, and perhaps a fewpainfully pinchedfingers. Yes,I'll grant that these bladder-style fenders are less expensivethan a store-bought rope fender nowadays, but let's not forget that youcan make a traditional rope fender inexpensively yourself.

W, .'.".'" e'll begin with a small rope fender measuring 10" long by 3", wide. I admit that this isa little on the small side, but it's eas-

'. ier to manage for a first-time fender builder, since the longerstrands needed for larger fenders tangle more. For a larger fender, 12"long and 4"wide, follow these same directions, but use the amounts inparenthesis. Bigger fenders require larger rope and more of it.

Here's what you'll need:21' of Y2"Manila rope (29' of%" Manila rope)18' of smalls tuff, such as No. 21 tarred nylon (21~A sharp knifeSome plastic tape

--./ A small Swedish fid

If you'd like to make a white rope fender, I recommend using Wall'sPoly Plus rope, in the same sizesas above. Remember that making arope fender is also a good opportunity for recycling old rope.

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1. Middle a piece of W' (X") rope 14I(20') long, and form an eye bywrap-ping tape around it 2 Y2"(3 W') downfrom the bight. Measuring carefully,cut an additional eight pieces of rope9" (11") long. Tie these short lengthsof filler rope tightly around the mid-dle piece so that they liejust belowthe tape and give bulk to the fender.

. 3. Sit in a comfortable chair and firmlyclamp the fender between your kneeswith the strands coming at you out ofthe center. Arrange them so that theyare uniformly spaced and exit in afairly orderly fashion. Now pick anyone strand and place it outside andunder the strand to its immediateleft. Leave a loop in the strand thatyou are working on (labeled #1 in the

. drawing). Give the two strands agood, tight twist,sending the strandyou first worked on up toward you.The second strand should end up atthe base of the strand to its left. Donot leave a loop this time. Continuetwisting pairs around the center untilthere is only the first loop and oneloose strand remaining. Slip the left-over strand from the bottom upthrough the loop as shown.

2. Vnlay a few inches of the longlengths and wrap each of the sixresulting strands with tape to preventthem from unraveling. Now continueunlaying both pieces all the wayup tothe short, parceled-on filler pieces.Make sure the bottom lashing onthose filler pieces is about an inchawayfrom the ends and tight.A con-strictor knot, as shown in the sketch,works fine.

92 · ~oodenBoatl05

4. Tighten the loop around thestrand. YOUrwork should look like

. this: a nice, circular row of crownknots. What we're doing here iscovering the cut ends of the manillafiller ropes.

5. Knot another row of crown knots,taking care not to pull anyone

strand too tight, as it will causeyour work to become distorted.By the second (third) row,youwill have covered the ends ofthe fillers. Continue knottingup the fender, covering thefiller pieces. Youmay find thegoing easier ifyou lay the fenderacross your lap. Bynow,you willhave discovered how quickly the

strands tangle up. Tangles are aninherent part of the job, so have

patience and keep going, continu-ing up the fender and stopping aninch or two from the top. Then checkto make sure the entire piece of tapeis in viewand that the tops of thefiller ropes are evenly cut all the wayaround. Tailor the filler ropes, if nec-essary, by cutting down their tops andtrimming their edges, as shown. Thiswill produce a nice, rounded top tothe fender. Now,cut off the vinyl tapeand replace it with a good-lookingseizing of tarred nylon.

7. At this point,all we need to

do to finish the fender istuck in the loose strandsand cut them off. Usingthe Swedish fid, raise a

bight in the last row thatwasknotted. Run the strand that liesjust above the bight through the fid.Pull it snug, and remove the fid.Repeat this again in the next row ofknots below, tucking the same stranda second time. Then cut off thestrand close to the side of the fender.Do the same with each of the fiveremaining loose strands. Your tradi-tional rope fender is ready for use I.Barbara Merry is the author of The SplicingHandbook. She started tyingfancy knotsyears ago, and her expertise l£d her into doingnet workfor comm£rcialfishermen and falJri-eating ropeproducts for industrial applica-tions. She is currently a rigger working in thePoint Judith, Rhode Island, area.

6. Go back to knotting, and continueuntil the filler pieces are covered. Toclose up the top of the fender, keepgoing with about the same knot, butwith two strands. To start, take the sixstrands and make them into threepairs, then tie the knot (remember,in pairs) just as before, but arrange itso the ends go through their loopsfrom the top leading down. Make theknot of three pairs tight.

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