How to Tie a Rope to a Marine Fender

Tying boat fenders involves two processes:

Tying a rope to a fender (let’s call this a fender line);

Tying the fender line to your boat.

Prepackaged vinyl fenders sometimes come with the line already attached (tied or spliced) to one end of a fender. They’re ready for use where fenders hang vertically along the hull.

If you have to tie a line to a fender yourself, a good knot to use is the bowline—as it’s strong, creates a loop that will go through one eye of the fender, and can be untied if needed even when serious strain has been applied to the line. Once a line is securely attached to a fender, you’ll rarely be untying it.

To tie a fender line to a boat (which is done every time you dock), the clove hitch will be a good choice.

For many boats, you can attach a fender line to a cleat on your boat or on a dock (say, at a strategic and menacing dock corner). In this case, tie a simple cleat hitch that’s easy to put on and take off even with a significant load or when saltwater makes the line stiff.

Many powerboats also tie fender lines to their guard railing and the clove hitch is ideal because it can slide along the rail to adjust placement at the last minute if needed.

That said, to prevent damage to the overall railing, it’s best to tie fender lines to the bottom of stanchions where the railing is strongest with a lower leverage point (this applies to sailboats especially).

Sometimes you can tie a line to either end of a fender and use it horizontally. This will cover a broader section of the hull but it works best when fending off a protruding vertical piling, for example.