Frequently Asked Questions

We highly recommend all clients insure their FAB Dock docking system. Most insurance providers are happy to insure your FAB Dock as part of your boat insurance policy without any trouble. Your FAB Dock will come with its own serial number which you can provide to your insurer when requested. If you have any further questions on insurance please contact us.

We are proud to offer a 3-year warranty on the workmanship and general materials, with all electrical components covered under a 12-month warranty period. Should you like to see a copy of our warranty terms, please contact us.

Docking Made Easy – With a FAB Dock, you simply point the bow of the boat between the two yellow markers to safely and slowly bump your way into the dock. No need for fenders or to jump off the side of your vessel to quickly secure a line. Docking can now be done single handed.

An exciting benefit of owning a FAB Dock is that is it a transportable docking solution. The FAB Dock comes packed in a convenient box meaning if you need to relocate your boat or move home / marina, you can simply roll up your FAB Dock and take it with you.

We are regularly asked why we utilise a 12-volt system running from the boat, verse a 240-volt or 110-volt shore powered system. There are numerous reasons, however in our experience the top two are:

1. Limited space on pontoons / jetties for the storage of a shore powered solution.
2. Safety is compromised by having 240 or 110 volt cables running through the water – many reputable marinas have gone as far to ban dry docking solutions with this type of power source.

One of the amazing highlights of a FAB Dock dry docking solution is that we have worked hard to ensure we offer an economical system that is of the highest quality. The innovative design of the FAB Dock aids the berthing process and prevents any marks or damage to your boat from pontoons or marinas. It reduces the stress to your pontoon, acting as a buffer from any bumps and knocks your boat might inflict.

The FAB Dock is easily self-maintained or for a small fee our experienced team can arrange a six or twelve month cleaning service.

Owning a FAB Dock removes the regular requirement to haul your boat out of the water to re-coat your anti-foul, replace your anodes and clean legs, shafts and propellers. By removing the requirement for ongoing anti-foul you will save an average of 10% on your fuel costs.

To understand just how affordable a FAB Dock is, simply calculate how much you have or will spend on keeping your boat growth-free over a 3-year period – experience has shown us that you will find the FAB Dock has practically paid for itself in this time.

FAB Docks can cater for the propulsion drive of any vessel. With jet drives, outboards and stern drives being the easiest and catered for in our Universal Range. Shaft and pod drives require a custom built FAB Dock with specially designed and reinforced pockets to cater for the shaft, propeller and rudder, or pod.

The FAB Dock is designed so that when you drive in, the running gear will always be behind the drop point, therefore making it (almost) impossible to chew up the floor. The drop point is the part of the FAB Dock where the rear section deflates and sinks underwater to allow your boat to enter and exit your FAB Dock and is always designed to be placed in front of the running gear of the boat.

The pump assembly is mounted on the floor of the FAB Dock, under the deepest part of the boat. This ensures that all the water within the FAB Dock will be extracted from the FAB Dock. This includes any water that may find its way into your FAB Dock from rain, boat wash or perhaps when you wash your boat or flush your motors.

The pumping system is controlled by a revolutionary, patented water sensing module that constantly monitors your FAB Dock for any signs of water. This little piece of genius, called the FAB Dock IQ, will go as far as telling you the voltage of your battery and the power draw of your FAB Dock pumps, as well as diagnose an issue if your pumps stop working.

One of the many benefits of a FAB Dock is the fact that it is powered by 12-volt. This means that you do not require shore power as your FAB Dock can be powered by the sun, via your boat’s house, or second battery. A FAB Dock can therefore also be used on swing, pole or buoy moorings. Should your battery get too low for any reason, your FAB Dock IQ will turn the water pumps off at a predetermined voltage level, always leaving you with enough battery power to start your boat.

FAB Docks purpose is to keep your boat clean and dry, preventing marine growth, reduce maintenance and running costs. Osmosis is a concern found in some fiberglass vessels where waterproofing is compromised and blistering occurs due to weather and moisture penetration of the hull’s materials.

FAB Dock does not cause Osmosis whilst your vessel is stored in the dock, however we do not profess to prevent Osmosis. Since your boat will be in water when it is being used it may be vulnerable to Osmosis. Whilst there are a number of gel coat protective products on the market that can assist in making your vessel more waterproof, we always recommend that each boat owner seeks external advise on the maintenance of your gel coat from an experienced professional.

Every waterway in the world is different so there is no definitive answer to this one. Tides, currents, water and air temperature, humidity, salt levels, amount of sunlight, water clarity, etc will all have an effect on how quickly you will get growth inside your FAB Dock if you leave it open for an extended period of time. You could test it in your own location, if you are happy to be scraping and cleaning the inside of your FAB Dock when you realise at what point you now have barnacles and other sea growth on the inside of your nice clean FAB Dock.

My own boat and FAB Dock lives in a very high growth area on the Gold Coast, Australia. I give myself five days maximum. If I know that I will be out of my FAB Dock for longer than that, I will inflate the rear section so that my FAB Dock is now closed and the trapped water is now contained with no flow. The oxygen will soon disappear from this body of water and no growth will occur. A FAB Dock will be fine to leave in this state for a few months. Eventually, some slime will begin to appear, but that is easy enough to clean off when you are ready to place your boat back in your FAB Dock.

If you are going to have your boat out of your FAB Dock for more than a few months, you might want to remove your FAB Dock from the water and store it on land somewhere. It is not a difficult task and your local FAB Dock dealer will be able to guide you through this or do it for you for a small fee.

Unfortunately, there is no easy, quick fix. Elbow grease is the only safe way to get your FAB Dock back to its original clean condition. Scrubbing brushes, brooms and smooth-edged plastic scrapers and some good ole fashioned blood, sweat (and I am sure) tears. For most people, they will only make that mistake once.

Dumping chlorine into your FAB Dock in the hope that it will kill all that nice fresh marine growth and that it will somehow miraculously disappear is actually the worst possible idea.  For starters, it is not great for the environment and we all know that you bought your FAB Dock in the first place to save our marine habitat from the perils of toxic antifoul and bottom paint. It is also not good for your FAB Dock material. Everything in life has its kryptonite and for your FAB Dock, it is chlorine. It can handle gasoline, diesel, antifoul paints, normal boat washes and virtually anything that you can find on your boat or at your marina; but not chlorine. So please do not clean your FAB Dock with chlorine.

Even though a FAB Dock is the most ingenious dry docking system ever invented, its real benefit comes through its simplicity. Our whole team has spent over ten years perfecting every minute detail, yet have managed to maintain this simplicity. It is a classic case of form and function.

If a customer follows this principle in operating their FAB Dock, they will never have any problems. Like all things when operating your vessel; take it slow and think about everything in a calm and logical manner.

Exiting your FAB Dock: for fear of stating the obvious, make sure the rear section of your FAB Dock has deflated properly and the floor has fallen away from every obstacle on the rear of your boat, stern drives, skegs, transducers, trim tabs etc. Then ease your boat out. Either with a manual push or a quick tap in reverse gear. If either of these methods results in a sudden stop, or no backward progression, then something is wrong and no amount of horsepower will solve your problem in a positive way. Check for ropes, shore power cords, FAB Dock connector cable, FAB Dock air hose or some part of your FAB Dock caught somewhere on the boat. The common male response is to apply more power. Horsepower will solve everything! Yes, it might eventually get you out of your FAB Dock, but at what cost? Stop, relax, check and poke around the floor at the transom with your (non-sharp) boat hook or broom handle. You will quickly find your answer and you will be on your way with no damage to your boat or your FAB Dock and have a great day on the water.

When you exit your FAB Dock the water flow from your propellers is working for you. As you reverse your boat, the water flow is from the rear of your boat to the front of your boat, effectively pushing the floor of your FAB Dock away from your propellers. However, the reverse is true when you are entering your FAB Dock. Your propellers are now dragging water from front to back and trying to suck the floor of your FAB Dock into your propellers. Fortunately, we catered for this when we designed your FAB Dock and drop point is positioned so that the rear section of the floor is as far away from your propellers as is practical. Custom built FAB Docks are designed so that the boat will stop at the front tube before your propeller can go over the floor and Universal FAB Docks have a harness system that does the same job.

So the only way that you hit the floor with your propellers and do any damage is if you have too much power applied when you are already three quarters of your way into your FAB Dock.