GIANT FENDERS FOR NEW TUG

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21732, 14 March 1936, Page 25

GIANT FENDERS FOR NEW TUG

A LARGE UNDERTAKING

MANY MILES OF ROPE

Round the bows of the Auckland Harbour Board's new tug William C. Daldy is bent a notable fender. As befits a vessel that develops 1500 horsepower/ as compared with her predecessor's 900 horsepower, it is much bigger tha.n that which is used by the Te Awhina, though, in proportion to the size of the fcoat, It looks smaller. Actually, it is the biggest fender of its kind that- has yet been made in Auckland, but it will not be so for long, as the construction will commence soon on an even larger one for the new boat. The fender is just a gigantic pt6qe of knitting, but it fits so snugly in its place that few who see it realise just how big it is. The Te Awhina carries a fender 28 feet long and 10 feet 6 inches in girth at the middle, tapering away to a rounded point at each end; the William C. Daldy carries one 30 jeet long and 12 feet 6 inches maximum girth. Tne making of the William C. Daicty's fender was commenced simultaneously with the building of the vessel, and took nearly. &s long» tor it is a monotonous job, and the members of the harbourmaster's staff who were employed on it were not asked to "stick at it" for long spells. It was, for the most part, a task for their spare time, when tney were not busy assisting to berth big ships.

Making the Fender

The men started with a heavy chain, some 30 feet long, with two shorter pieces, each about six feet long, hanging from it about a quarter of its length from each ena. Round this chain they built up a cigar-shaped body with scraps Of old towing hawsers, binding each layer in place with lengths of lighter line or strips of Old canvas. Some of the rope stuffing had been similarly used before, in the Te Awhiha's bumpers, which, when worn out, had been opened Up and the con-: tents sorted, that which was still usable being kept, though a great deal had been rotted by constant wetting and drying. When the fender had been built up to the required bulk, it weighed well over two tons. Then it was wrapped in canvas and the tedious work began of putting on the rope cover that looks so much like knitting. This cover is of 2in coir rope. It starts from the end of the Isadevwhere * lew luxk& of the central chain are left projecting, and was put on spirally by taking an increasing number of half-hitches round the last spiral, and pulling each hitch as tight as possible. When he started the covering, the maker had a coil of rope 120 fathoms—72o feetlong. He had to pull the whole of this length of rope through each half-hitdh that he made. The amount of slack decreased by a few inches, of course, with each hali-hitch, but the number that can be made in such a length of rope is almost beyond counting. When the first coil was nearly usea up, another was spliced on, until 12 coils had been Used, their total length amounting to more than a mile and a half.

Two Years' Life

A crane was requisitioned to place the fender in.position on the William C. Daldy's bows, where it was lashed to ring-bolts, the two lengths of chain fastened to the centre core being used to support its middle section, With ordinary wear and tear, it should last about two years, though by the end of the first year it will probably show patches of "darning." When the tug undergoes her annual overhaul, the tender will be reversed, the part now against the ship being brought to the outside. On the Te Awhina, a mece of old motor-car tyre is put Over the stern to prevent it from cutting into the inner surface of the bumper, but the William C. Daldy has such rounded bows that this is not necessary. Between their ordinary jobs, which now include the repair of two bumpers. EiaT on the William C. Daldy and that on the Te Awhina, the harbourmaster's staff will be engaged on their master' piece, the William C, Daldy's spare bumper, which is to be 36ft long and 15ft in girth—6f.t longer and 2ft 6in greater in girth than the present one. When completed, it will weigh three tons, and more than two miles of rope will have gone into its covering.