Knock knock. Who's there? Halyards.

[jssailem]

@jwing What about the SCREEEEECH of the gulls flying overhead? Or the THUMP THUMP THUMP ROAR ROAR ROAR THUMP THUMP of power boats turning over their engines at 4 in the morning so that they can get to their favorite fishing hole at first light?

I can take all of that... But the TWANG TWANG TWANG of halyards flapping in the breeze is like the teacher drawing her nails across the chalk board.
Drives me to want to drink.

 

[RussC]

The biggest reason for us to NOT stay over in a marina is due to all the annoying boaters complaining about loose halyards and the like. we find a quiet cove and toss anchor. it's a wonderful song to hear our own halyards gently slapping as we drift off to sleep like babies in a crib.

 

[Will Gilmore]

This is a Youtube sleep video.

I don't know what others think, but this is not what I think of when I think of annoying halyard slap.

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[jwing]

...we find a quiet cove and toss anchor. it's a wonderful song to hear our own halyards gently slapping as we drift off to sleep like babies in a crib.

Way back, in the days of music CDs, my girl friend joined me and 2 buddies on the last week of a long charter. We were anchored in a great spot, she and I retired to the aft cabin to get re-acquainted. The buddies stayed in the cockpit to finish their evening of drinking. Courteously, one of them turned the music's volume up a bit to afford us a bit of privacy to express ourselves down below. Hours after she and I were satiated for the night, neither one of us could sleep, because my friends were playing the same CD over and over and ... Finally she says to me, "I like Jimmy Buffett OK, but not all night long, could you get them to change the CD?" That was a reasonable request, but I explained how both these guys loved JB and probably never get a chance to hang together and just play this album over and over, and I didn't have the heart to ruin their night. So another hour goes by, I can't stand it anymore, go up to offer to change the CD. Turns out they are both passed out and I would've had to throw them overboard to wake them.

Since then, I cannot bear to hear more than one Jimmy Buffett song per day. So anybody playing a Jimmy Buffett album within earshot is WAY more annoying than halyards.

 

[sailortype]

the bungee cord thing is just plain silly. How does 6\8\10" of bungee a few feet above the deck stop halyard slap..? the top 2/3 of the halyard does not even know you did that and is still slapping. And yes to damage to your halyards and mast surface.

 

[jssailem]

@sailortype The bungee is placed between the shroud/stay and the halyard about 1.2 to 1.7 meters above the deck. This is enough to pull th halyard away from the mast. Stop the banging and not damage anything. You could also use a length of cord to do the same thing.
Just stop the banging in my head.

 

[h2o_snow]

I clip them to my shrouds when we are staying on board. Problem solved with a few carabiners.

In our little day marina, I don't worry about it when the boat is unoccupied.

 

[stickinthemud57]

OK, I am ready for the ensuing ridicule, so here it goes...

Why wouldn't just leaving your halyards slack be an easy remedy for halyard slap?

 

[JamesG161]

Nothing to make a noise with In-Mast Furling.
Jim...

 

[Scott T-Bird]

OK, I am ready for the ensuing ridicule, so here it goes...

Why wouldn't just leaving your halyards slack be an easy remedy for halyard slap?

That works until you find out that your slack halyard tangles on something that you can't release.

 

[Will Gilmore]

That works until you find out that your slack halyard tangles on something that you can't release.

...and that slack halyard bangs slower, but louder with more wear at the sheaves. It will work in a moderate breeze, but not when the wind comes up.

 

[jssailem]

The problem is the wind. You have no problem if halyard are slack or tight when it is calm.

Slack and 20 knots of wind you’ll find the lines blowing in the wind. If near the mast they will slap it, providing that thwack ringing sound that will wake the dead, especially if they are in the V-berth.

Resolution is to move free halyards away from the mast. That way, when the wind blows, you’ll only hear that wind song made as it whistles through the rigging.

 

[MikeHoncho]

I have a binge on a ball thingy that I wrap around my lazy jack then around my halyard. Tighten the halyard and Bobs your uncle. I

 

[stickinthemud57]

OK, cool.

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Halyard.

Halyard who?

Hal yer damn rope is makin' noise. Could you please tie it off?

 

[MikeHoncho]

What I really need is a fix ( until I pull the mast) for the multiple wires I have run inside my mask that gently taps at night.

 

[Thaniel]

Anyone else notice this thread is from 2018? Still relevant but funny it's from so long ago.

 

[Will Gilmore]

Anyone else notice this thread is from 2018? Still relevant but funny it's from so long ago.

Yup! No need to start from scratch.
And... to tie it in with another recent set of posts:

The hidden cost of “don’t reinvent the wheel”

-Will

 

[Timm R Oday25]

I attached a stainless cleat horizontally to our starboard spreader. Now I simply flip the halyards into the hook and cleat them off at the mast base

 

[JBP-PA]

I love the sound of slapping halyards, except not on my boat where it annoys the heck out of me,

After trying many different methods, my current approach is that I sewed a loop of webbing on my mainsail cover with a tiny carabiner. When putting the sail cover on, I clip the carabiner on the halyard which holds it off the mast. It is impossible to forget to release it because it is connected to the still cover.
With bungees, I frequently forgot to pocket the bungee before going forward to put the sail away, necessitating a return to the cabin. With the halyard reattached off to the side, I sometimes forgot to reconnect it when prepping the sail, necessitating a second trip to the mast at the last second. The second best solution I've tried is a small carabiner attached to the shroud with a bit of line, it was simple and easy to attach and small enough to leave on the shroud, but I still sometimes forget to release it when prepping the sail.

 

[danb2k]

I use a sail tie: one loop around the halyard(s), with the other end tied to the small cleat on the shroud.