Noisy sailboat

[Revv up]

At a cabin for a week with my boat at the dock, storm blew through and the neighbour came over and complained about the rope slapping inside the mast..... sheesh if only that was my biggest problem...

I tightened up the offending halyards but it still made noise through the night, I could step and I step the mast every day but dont want to... Any quick solutions other than telling the guy I’m looking for a Halmark card for him apologizing for my noisy boat?

 

[shemandr]

For the internal slapping you could try shoving a noodle up there. If you have enough halyard so that you can bring the internal part of the halyard out of the mast, you can use three zip ties at a few stations along the halyard. They will dampen the motion of the internal part of the halyard. You may have to drop the mast to do that.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Can internal halyards be that noisy?! A nice card should be enough. Unless it's the external line. I fasten mine to the toerail.

 

[shemandr]

On my Mark 25 they were noisy - slapping around inside the mast as the boat rocked at anchor. To me it was more of a problem when aboard and trying to sleep. I don't think someone off the boat would notice very much but maybe the guy has good hearing.

 

[Hayden Watson]

If the problem is internal slapping and not on the outside, you might find that a completely slack halyard will make less noise. If that does not work you might think about putting a small eye in the bitter end of halyards and tying on an 1/8" messenger line that you pull through when off the boat.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

I always thought that noise part of the charm of a marina but everyone is different. Just loosen the internal halyard.

 

[Will Gilmore]

So, why do you think your internal halyard does that? Is there wind blowing inside the mast or is it slapping with the rocking of the boat? Is the sail side exposed when the sail is furled and the vibrations are traveling to the internal portion or is the entire halyard internal, even at the track? If you can figure out what is causing it to slap, maybe you can stop the wind from getting inside or pad the halyard with a bit of yarn half way up.

Slacking sounds like it would work except at the top where the weight of the halyard might be enough to hold it just right enough to slap.

Maybe pull the halyard nearly all the way out, like when the sail is raised, and whip a bit of foam insulation around the line, just at the sheeve. Then it would hold it just off the mast walls near the top of the mast, when the sail is lowered.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Tally Ho]

I have a spinnaker halyard that slaps against the outside of the mast...and I tied that over to a sHorus to keep it off the mast.

my main sail halyard is tied off on a shroud too.

never had an issue with internal halyards.

Greg

 

[Revv up]

So, why do you think your internal halyard does that? Is there wind blowing inside the mast or is it slapping with the rocking of the boat? Is the sail side exposed when the sail is furled and the vibrations are traveling to the internal portion or is the entire halyard internal, even at the track? If you can figure out what is causing it to slap, maybe you can stop the wind from getting inside or pad the halyard with a bit of yarn half way up.

Slacking sounds like it would work except at the top where the weight of the halyard might be enough to hold it just right enough to slap.

Maybe pull the halyard nearly all the way out, like when the sail is raised, and whip a bit of foam insulation around the line, just at the sheeve. Then it would hold it just off the mast walls near the top of the mast, when the sail is lowered.

-Will (Dragonfly)

The halyards are inside the mast and the waves are causing the boat to roll, there’s enough space inside the mast that they rattle, I’ve tried pulling them tight last night but it was still noisy, I tried bungees today but results were about the same as tied tight. Leaving them loose won’t work because they just slap on the outside of the mast instead..

If I was at home I’d take the base of the mast off and try to get some pool noodles stuffed up there.

 

[jssailem]

I have halyards running 40 plus fee through my mast. I have been on board when the wind blew 40-63 knots at night. Not once was there any slapping. That is because the halyards outside the mast were lead to the bow or to the boom end and then drawn up snug. When I had a line that ran down the outside of the mast attached to the goose neck it banged in 10knits of breeze. You got to move the lines on the outside a distance from the mast then draw them up snug.

 

[Revv up]

I have halyards running 40 plus fee through my mast. I have been on board when the wind blew 40-63 knots at night. Not once was there any slapping. That is because the halyards outside the mast were lead to the bow or to the boom end and then drawn up snug. When I had a line that ran down the outside of the mast attached to the goose neck it banged in 10knits of breeze. You got to move the lines on the outside a distance from the mast then draw them up snug.

That’s how I have it but it still slaps inside the mast.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Are you sure it’s the halyards slapping inside the mast, and not the wires? It should be possible to get enough tension on the halyards that they don’t move much.

 

[jssailem]

If your halyards are tight inside and the outside lines are stretched away from the mast then David is probably correct. An antenna or electric cable in the mast is the likely suspect.

 

[Hayden Watson]

On my previous boat, a Catalina 25, I had terrible wire slapping. when the mast was down, I pulled the wires out with a messenger attached and bundled the wires together with large nylon wire tie and left the tailes on. I installed three in each location with tails in all directions. They worked like springs to hold the wire bundle away from the sides of the mast. It worked decently but I eventually put a conduit inside to completely eliminate the problem.

 

[Revv up]

Are you sure it’s the halyards slapping inside the mast, and not the wires? It should be possible to get enough tension on the halyards that they don’t move much.

I’m positive it’s the halyards inside the mast

 

[Benny17441]

It is basic dock courtesy to dampen boat noises as much as practically possible. It is quite ok if someone comes one time and complains about a noise you may have been unaware of. the best thing to do is to ask for their advice and get them involved in attempts to quiet the noise down. Once they see that all reasonably possible may have been done they will be satisfied. The worst thing is for them to get a feeling they are being blown off.

 

[Joe Blizzard]

I’m positive it’s the halyards inside the mast

Why is that? No wires? Wires already in conduit?

 

[Hayden Watson]

One sure way to tell if it is wire or halyard is by pitch change with tension. the halyard slap will change in pitch and frequency as you increase or decrease the tension on the line. Wires slapping in the mast will not.

 

[LloydB]

A thought came to mind remembering the video of the guy that put water bags off the mast to get under a bridge. So this is just some random thought and take it for what it's worth just wondering if it would work. How about if you put your topping lift or an outrigger on one side in order to lay the mast just a couple feet over so that the halyards are laying on the bottom side of the slope of the leaning mast. That might work as a temporary solution it ought to decreased the frequency of the slapping by one half if nothing else. I'm sure it would look odd and the boat would not be level however if you're not there to listen to the comments or walk crooked why worry.

 

[Serenity on Hudson]

I always pull the halyards from the mast with a bungee to the stays. When I asked my neighbor that sometimes sleeps on board if there was any noise with the bungee he replied that he missed the slapping and asked me to let it rip. Other neighbors said use the bungee. Majority rules.