About Chafe-Pro®
Chafe-Pro® began as FJORD Nautical Instruments, a company originally founded as a partnership in 1967 by Gail & Capt. Edward Ratigan, PhD, to manufacture their self-designed compact nautical range-finding analog calculator. The calculator was primarily used for navigating the coasts and rivers of Southeast Asia where visual navigational aids were often limited.
In 1991, FJORD developed the Chafe-Pro® concept for protecting marine lines from chafe abrasion and in 1995 was awarded a US patent for their innovative and unique design with wrap-around-closing feature (i.e. the hook & loop).
FJORD was incorporated in the state of North Carolina as a small business entity in 1997 and to this day all Chafe-Pro® products are still manufactured in the state under their US & EU registered* trade name – Chafe-Pro®.
Gail, a veteran of many small boat ocean crossings, and Ed, who is an unlimited master mariner-oceans in the Merchant Marine and a former US Navy signalman and reserve line officer, turned the business over in 2010 to their son Michael, who himself made his first ocean crossing under sail at the age of seven, currently reside in North Carolina.
Since Chafe-Pro®’s inception in 1991, we have continued to improve our product line. To that end we have been successful; today Chafe-Pro® is regarded as the best chafing gear offered to the global market.
We attribute that success to our customers, we have listened to suggestions; many of which have been incorporated into the product line. Chafe-Pro®’s experienced design & manufacturing team have an excellent reputation for quickly responding to customers’ requests for special applications.
FJORD, Inc. guarantees that Chafe-Pro® will outlast and outperform all removable anti-chafe protection devices, when tested under the same conditions.
