Mooring whips...Advice needed

[garysanfran]

I will be installing these on a 27' aluminum dock to accommodate a 20'-24' I/O like a Cobalt bowrider. There are wooden removable platform boards on the surface so the mounts would have to be mounted to the alum. frame with the brackets bolted vertically to the outside.

Size of whips? Roller tips? Brands? Would West Marine be a good source?

Thanks for any help you can provide...

[camp guy]

Look up the whips in any marine catalog and my suggestion is to go a size over what they recommend. Boat length and weight are factors to help decide what size whip. Roller tips are good. West Marine would be a good source. Actually, if you buy the whips at the Lake, most of the full-service marinas sell them and could offer some hints along the way. Don't skimp, buy the best, after all, it is your boat/investment you are trying to protect. As far as fastening the whip bases to the aluminum dock, I suggest making sure that you put a backing board as an extra load bearing surface to help spread the pressure.

Good luck.

[BlackcatBoater]

Call watermark. They set up my dock and lift and are awesome to deal with. They can probably recommend and install them. I've found local marinas don't like dealing with moorings and docks too much.

[sluggo]

Depending on what type of seasonal aluminum dock you have there are a few mounting options. The shoremaster dock has a quick connect system so you can have special Q.C. brackets made so you can easily install the application to the side rail of the dock. Some of the docks it is best to plate the side of the dock with a flat piece of aluminum and drill and direct mount the application. Its best to get a set of whips with an adjustable base that way you can mount on top of the dock or the side. The fixed bases only work well on top of the dock in my experience. The monarch whips have the adjustable bases and Center Harbor Dock & Pier sell them in there Superdock store. Depending on what type of conditions you have where you are is also important. If you are windy and get a lot of push you might have to anchor the dock so the boat doesn't pull it around and that can be done with a screw anchor application. I would call the guys down to Superdocks and tell them what you need and what conditions your dealing with and they will tell you what you will need and pricing to complete your application.

[diprna]

We use whips on our boat in Meredith Bay and someone on this forum wisely suggested we use snubbers. That was very helpful advice.