tie down abrasion to hull

[athibault]

Hi,
I am a new boat owner and trailered all of last year. It was not a good boating year and I probably only used my boat 10 times total. I am writing because I noticed when I was preparing my boat this summer that the fiberglass hull on both sides of the back of the boat had abrasion marks on it. It appears as though someone took sandpaper to the side of the hull. Has anyone heard of this happening before? The boat hull has notches in it and I am guessing it is from the tie down since it is on both sides of the boat and in the same place where I tie my boat down for trailering. The odd part is the other parts of the boat where the tie down hit is not affected. The tie downs I purchased look pretty standard and I got them from Home Depot. Any thoughts? Do they make covers to go over the tie downs to protect boats from abrasion? Thanks for any suggestions you may have.

 

[Expidia]

Re: tie down abrasion to hull

If you were to post pictures of your tie down set up and a pic of the tie down laid out it would be easier for others to recommend a solution.

My tie downs have a protective strip of material so the metal folding buckle can't touch the boats finish. But mine came from a marina dealer. I worried as soon as your post said Home Depot because they could be more appropriate for trucks, utility trailers etc.

I'm a stickler for keeping stuff pristine for resale value.
I even use small terry cloth towels around the wire that connects to my trailer out of my trunk where it would rub on my plastic bumper. I also use a towel as a cradle over the rubber parts of my transom protector where it cradles the plastic Mercury outboard casing. Even rubber feet will mar up the finish eventually.

Lets see some pics of your issue. The abrasion might not show up in a pic but where and how you are tieing down the boat will help along with what the tie downs look like since there are many styles.

If you are tieing down the sides it's hard not to hit the finish so try terry towels where they rub. You might want to switch to hooking them of the back of the boat.

Oh ya, welcome to iBoats. Great place to learn all about boating.

 

[cribber]

Re: tie down abrasion to hull

Abrasion marks on your hull can be from anything really.

For the best help and advice give as much info you know about your boat's make, engine, drive, etc... and pictures really help. There are some really knowledgeable and friendly folks in here willing to help ya out of a jam.

Anyhoo that's what I always try to do when I gotta problem with my boat.

 

[dingbat]

Re: tie down abrasion to hull

Pretty common problem with a pretty simple solution.

Twist the straps a time or two before tightening them down. No more flapping in the breeze.

I use 4 of the plastic pads that slip over the strap for where the strap makes actual contact with the hull.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: tie down abrasion to hull

Change from the one big strap over the boat and use the 2 strap setup to the transom...
http://www.iboats.com/Rod_Saver_Pad...32867515--**********.607602858--view_id.39496

 

[Blue Crabber]

Re: tie down abrasion to hull

Hi and welcome to iboats!

(As mentioned, pics are worth a thousand words! )

But if they are from the tie down straps that is common. Alot of it depends on your trailer setup. On my last boat this happened as well and i just got in the habbing of placing a small towel there to prevent it.

On my new boat, the trailer extends farther back so the straps don't touch the boat fiberglass at all!

In you case, you will proabaly just need to use a couple of rags/towels or something similiar.