Boat owners often ask how dock bumpers differ from fenders. Fenders hang from the boat and move with it, while dock bumpers are fastened to the dock and stay in one place. Both sit between the hull and the dock so that the two never touch directly.
Dock bumpers come in four main types.
Edge strips run along the face of the dock and are usually vinyl or rubber profiles that screw onto the outer board, handling light contact as a boat comes alongside.
Corner bumpers wrap around the outside corners of the dock. Corners are where boats hit most often during turns, so these pieces are usually made thicker than standard edge strips.
Piling bumpers are long pads mounted on the posts of a boat slip, where they protect the hull when wind or wakes push the boat sideways in the slip.
Roller or wheel bumpers have a wheel that turns on contact, so a boat that touches the corner rolls along it instead of rubbing against it.
The size of the bumper depends on the boat. A heavier boat pushes harder against the dock and needs a thicker profile. Height matters too, since the bumper has to cover the spot where the rub rail meets the dock.
On a fixed pier, that spot moves up and down with the tide, so a tall strip or several rows are needed to cover the whole range. On a floating dock, the dock and the boat rise and fall together, so the contact point stays at about the same height and one row of bumpers usually covers it.
Florida sun breaks down cheap foam and soft plastics fairly quickly, while marine-grade vinyl and UV-stable rubber hold up much longer. Stainless steel screws keep rust from staining the dock and the hull.
Supreme Floating Docks builds floating docks and accessories for homes and marinas across South Florida and plans bumper and cleat placement as part of each dock layout.
