My hunter 420 passage has a bad creaking sounds in aft cabin.

[Douglas Ronne]

In even a gentle roll, the shelf behind the bed in the aft cabin rubs the fiberglass and creaks really badly. I've noticed where the shelf was joined in the middle it has separated. I tried to clamp it together, this did not help.

Has anyone else experienced this and more importantly fixed it?

Thank you,
Douglas

 

[Terry Cox]

The port side cabinet in the aft cabin does creak at times when the boat moves about in moderate to rough seas. It is basically where the wood rubs against the FRP hull. Not a bother here, but if you were to spray some dry lube in that area it should stop it. I might give it a try one of these days. Try this product: SailKote High-Performance Dry Lubricant, 8 oz. | West Marine

 

[Douglas Ronne]

The port side cabinet in the aft cabin does creak at times when the boat moves about in moderate to rough seas. It is basically where the wood rubs against the FRP hull. Not a bother here, but if you were to spray some dry lube in that area it should stop it. I might give it a try one of these days. Try this product: SailKote High-Performance Dry Lubricant, 8 oz. | West Marine

Thanks, I will try some dry lube! I am also going to try to tighten the shelf back together and bond it with a bolted/ fiberglassed board so it doesn't move so much.

 

[jssailem]

Could you secure the cabinet to the hull? Tab the wood to the hull with fiberglass. Why is the design such that the cabinet is moving against the hull. That confuses me. Is the cabinet on a separate interior pan and just hanging over beyond the interior pan? Free floating cabinets is a no no in boat design. Any thing floating/suspended in a boat will eventually fail in time from motion fatigue.

 

[Douglas Ronne]

In my boat it is a shelf, not a cabinet, and it is sandwiches between the hull bottom and deck. It goes all the way across the back, will take a couple of pictures later. I expect the sandwiching is failing, so yeah maybe some fiberglass is the way to go.

 

[jssailem]

Check out BoatworksToday. Andy does some neat tabbing on his Bertram transom.

 

[Rich Stidger]

Find the rubbing piece of wood and sand it so that it doesn't rub. This is the only method that I have found to work.

 

[Terry Cox]

Has anyone else experienced this and more importantly fixed it?

Hi Douglas, your post title states 420 Passage. Is that correct or is it a Passage 42? If a 420, I'm not familiar with its aft cabin construction so my earlier reply might not be correct. What is your boat's production year?

 

[Douglas Ronne]

Hi Douglas, your post title states 420 Passage. Is that correct or is it a Passage 42? If a 420, I'm not familiar with its aft cabin construction so my earlier reply might not be correct. What is your boat's production year?

It is a 2002 hunter 420 passage which is a center cockpit 42' boat. There was initially a hunter 450 passage and then they put the 420 passage out.

https://sbo.sailboatowners.com/downloads/Hunter_420_24889595.pdf has a picture of the aft cabin and you can see the shelf in the back. I will try to get some pictures tomorrow and some blow-ups of the shelf through the lazarette.

 

[Douglas Ronne]

Find the rubbing piece of wood and sand it so that it doesn't rub. This is the only method that I have found to work.

Thanks, it seems hard to access, I am not sure how to find it unfortunately. I know the general area and will keep an ear out!

 

[Rich Stidger]

Thanks, it seems hard to access, I am not sure how to find it unfortunately. I know the general area and will keep an ear out!

When it is creaking, follow your ears and lightly touch potential offending pieces of wood. You should be able to feel the vibrations. There may be several wood parts that are rubbing. Locate, remove, sand to create an air gap, and re-assemble.
Then enjoy the quiet.....

 

[Douglas Ronne]

This is the shelf and you can see a gap between them here:

The shelf was attached in the middle.

The creaking comes from the port corner:

But based on the conversation I took a look at where it attached in the rear lazarette:

And when you zoom in above the plywood that is the shelf protruding through, you can see the fiberglass pulling away. I think I'll grind it out then re-glass it.

 

[jssailem]

Certainly could not hurt. The thing no one tells you when you buy a fiberglass boat, they are constantly flexing as they react to the wind and water. You are identifying a normal result of boat age. I suspect you will resolve the issue. Be prepared for another such opportunity to appear about the same time you start to relax. The boat is just the way I want it....

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

@jssailem
Last line too funny

 

[Douglas Ronne]

So I glad in a filet below the shelf in the lazarette and that seems to have fixed it! Been through several rolly nights with no creaking.

Now if I could just stop the slap of the waves on the hull!

 

[jssailem]

Nice followup Douglas.