# Homemade Mooring Whips Idea



## basstender10.6 (Jul 15, 2012)

I keep my boats on a big lake with large waves from the wind and heavy boat traffic. On my larger boat which is 23' feet I use mooring whips to keep the boat away from the dock. I also have a basstender 10.6 which bounces around alot at the dock. I was thinking of making mooring whips because they cost around $250. 
Here are my ideas:
1. Using thin PVC pipe about 10 feet long and attaching a rope to the end of it and then to the boat.
2. Using copper pipe, which is much thicker, but will get very hot in the sun.
Thats about it for my ideas but I have a feeling I can get something to work.


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## 200racing (Jul 15, 2012)

you dont want thin wall it buckles easily. i recommend 3/4'' schedule 40. 1'' would require a 20' piece to give a good amount of flex


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## PSG-1 (Jul 16, 2012)

A buddy of mine lives over on the ICW, and he has mooring whips on his dock...the real kind made out of fiberglass. I mentioned to him that I was thinking about making a set for my dock, out of PVC pipe. 

He said he'd already tried that, and it doesn't work, the UV light breaks down the PVC pipe, and the PVC pipe will kink and bend under load.

Perhaps the gray PVC (like they use for electrical conduit) would work, it's designed for exposure to UV, and it seems to be more flexible than white PVC....when I was a kid, I made a crude bow out of a piece of 3/4 gray PVC and string, it had a 20 pound pull. Shot the heck out of it, and never kinked or broke it.

You may also be able to get a little more strength by putting a smaller diameter pipe inside of a larger one.


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## River (Jul 16, 2012)

https://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2593185/Mooring_whips_or_Stowaway_Hold

Im not quite sure if I copied this right or not. We vacation at Lake gaston and I made a set of these. Boat was at tied at the dock for 2 weeks last summer and never touched it. I took my own cleats and installed them, removed them when we left. ( rental house) taking them back this yeay. Sorry no pics of my boat, lost cell phone . They work great. Cost less than $2o bucks. Hope this helps......River


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## PSG-1 (Jul 16, 2012)

That's the first time I've seen whips like this....but it looks like they would definitely work! The only thing I would recommend would be to put a tennis ball on the end of each whip where it contacts the boat, to prevent it from rubbing. But other than that, it appears to be an effective, low-cost design.


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## basstender10.6 (Jul 16, 2012)

River said:


> https://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2593185/Mooring_whips_or_Stowaway_Hold
> 
> Im not quite sure if I copied this right or not. We vacation at Lake gaston and I made a set of these. Boat was at tied at the dock for 2 weeks last summer and never touched it. I took my own cleats and installed them, removed them when we left. ( rental house) taking them back this yeay. Sorry no pics of my boat, lost cell phone . They work great. Cost less than $2o bucks. Hope this helps......River


I actually read that thread before posting here. The only problem with a design like that for me is that my boat is too low to the water and actually goea under the dock insted of banging against it.


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## earl60446 (Jul 16, 2012)

I don't believe pvc or copper would work for the mooring whips first mentioned. You would need fiberglass rods or some kind of fishing rod type material. Maybe find a couple old big saltwater rods, strip em down and use them. The second idea certainly looks workable, functional and cheap. I don't keep my boat on the water but sometimes leave it tied up to a dock for a week when on vacation, hard to get fenders to stay in position. I might make some of those for myself.

My last vacation, I was able to tie my fenders to my assigned dock at Chief Lake Lodge, went fishing on 2 different mornings, left the fenders at the dock. When I came back, someone else (big fancy bass boats) was using my dock and fenders. Soooo happy it worked out for them, not worth getting upset about though, I'm on vacation. :roll: [-X 

Tim


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## basstender10.6 (Jul 16, 2012)

The idea of using old fishing rods might work. I just cant bear spending $200 + for the "economy" mooring whips


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## Sharpix (Jul 16, 2012)

Theres an alternative to bare PVC: The newer plastic water pipes, made of polypropilene and polyethilene. They are way more flexible and capable or withstand more "push-pull" from the waves than the more "static" PVC. Use ticker tubes, perhaps 3" if available.

Building:
Make 2 triangles. one for each end of the boat, front and back.
Make a squashed triangle, very wide with little height. The height should be the space you need between the boat and dock.
Using the larger side of the triangle towards the boat, attach the larger side corners on your boat, and the remaining corner on the dock.


Two ends keep holding the boat from the cleats, and the remaining end on the dock.
That way you ensure the proper holding force, preventing skewing the triangles and the boat will remain parallel to the dock. Always.

Thank me everytime your boat stays neat and safe


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## earl60446 (Jul 17, 2012)

basstender10.6 said:


> The idea of using old fishing rods might work. I just cant bear spending $200 + for the "economy" mooring whips



Here is a site that has "fiberglass whip poles", looks to be exactly what one would need, cost is right too, under ten bucks. Plus some other gear you could possibly use.
https://aditudegear.com/gear.html

Tim


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## iwantcoins (Jun 29, 2014)

I made my own Dock mooring Whip here is my how to video on it
How to Make your own Dock Whipping System - Cheap | Dock Socks | 

https://youtu.be/zrYdD0JmIco


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## PATRIOT (Jun 29, 2014)

First time seeing this setup . . . but the OP seems waaaay to complicated and has no lateral bracing to boot. Sure wouldn't want all that structure hanging over my plastic boat (if I owned one). Seems like a pair of shock-mount rods directly from a dock cleat to a boat cleat would be a better way to go. May fabricate a "dock standoff" for my tin just for grins, since I never leave her docked for more than launch/recovery time.


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