Am I being unreasonable to expect halyards to not be clanking away in the marina?

[Cin70]

Just that really . . .

 

[john_morris_uk]

Just that really . . .

I don't think it's reasonable to allow your halyards to slat against the mast. The owners must be people who never sleep aboard...

 

[Robert Wilson]

Bad form, completely.
If one is going to own a boat then one should learn how to use and manage one's craft.

I would be mortified if my halyards clanked and clattered. It doesn't take a great deal of intelligence or effort to prevent them creating a noise - an annoying noise at that.

Some dinghy parks can sound like an unsynchronised orchestra.

Bah, humbug! :disgust:

I am now getting-down from my high horse.....

 

[pmagowan]

Mu problem is the topping lift. If you have a steady breeze it starts to vibrate at a frequency that has the whole boat humming. It is very weird!

 

[Tranona]

Mu problem is the topping lift. If you have a steady breeze it starts to vibrate at a frequency that has the whole boat humming. It is very weird!

Try a bit of spiral cable tidy round it. That might change the harmonic.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Mu problem is the topping lift. If you have a steady breeze it starts to vibrate at a frequency that has the whole boat humming. It is very weird!

I bring the main halyard to the back end of the boom and the answer to the humming problem is to twist it round the topping lift a few times before bracing it up neatly. The spiral thus formed acts as a vortex shedder and no more humming.

Otherwise tie a towel to it to damp it.

The spiral wound main halyard trick is neater though...!

 

[Carmel2]

In mast gubbins clattering around with the sail out is the worst... Builders foam...

 

[vyv_cox]

We keep our motorsailer in UK at Pwllheli marina. There is a specific instruction in the rules and regs that halyards must not be allowed to frap. No idea what would happen to transgressors but a good initiative.

 

[AndrewB]

Mu problem is the topping lift. If you have a steady breeze it starts to vibrate at a frequency that has the whole boat humming. It is very weird!

Mine also does this. What stops it is to let the mainsheet off a tiny amount.

 

[Sandy]

There is a specific instruction in the rules and regs that halyards must not be allowed to frap. No idea what would happen to transgressors but a good initiative.

Clearly a keel hauling offence.

 

[colind3782]

A friend on the next mooring won't hesitate to go aboard an unattended boat and sort out any noisy halyards.

 

[shan]

A friend on the next mooring won't hesitate to go aboard an unattended boat and sort out any noisy halyards.

I have the same view.

 

[GHA]

Maybe not unreasonable but definitely unrealistic

 

[john_morris_uk]

Mine also does this. What stops it is to let the mainsheet off a tiny amount.

Just alters the note on our boat.

Maybe not unreasonable but definitely unrealistic

I beg to differ. Why shouldn’t one expect basic seamanship from other boat owners?

 

[TQA]

I have been known to climb aboard a clanking boat with a yard of string clenched between my teeth.

Anything for a quiet night.

 

[GHA]

I beg to differ. Why shouldn’t one expect basic seamanship from other boat owners?

You can certainly expect it (reasonable) but that doesn't mean you'll get it back in the real world (realistic).

 

[Yngmar]

I'm very sensitive to sounds on _our_ boat and so everything is silenced (we're liveaboard cruisers). But if someone else neglects their boat, I just feel a bit sad for the thing wearing away for no reason. The cacophony of other people's halyards clanking away in the night, rodkickers creaking, unfendered hulls crunching into pontoons and so on doesn't keep me from sleeping and everywhere we've been it's been like that.

A poorly furled jib being flogged to death in a gale does keep me from sleeping, and on a few occasions I've gone and climbed aboard the boat to tame it, usually with help from other sleep deprived liveaboards. Except once, where to my surprise the owner and family were happily sitting below watching telly while this happened and didn't give a damn. Luckily it was downwind of us, so most of the noise was carried away along with the dacron.

On the other hand, my boat is my home and if I catch you on it fiddling with my stuff, you better look very innocent and rapidly explain that you only had the best intentions, because you probably woke me up with your stomping around up on deck. I'm a bit grumpy when woken up and may be wielding a stainless steel flagpole that, uhm, just needs putting away somewhere. :suspicion:

 

[phodger]

I regularly clamber on to other boats. I check first if anyone is on board. If they are, I politely ask if they can fix the noise. I always use the excuse that my wife can't sleep with the noise and if my wife can't sleep then neither can I. They are usually sympathetic. If no one is on board, I'll go armed with a bit of bailer twine (from hay bails) to tie up the offending halyard or I'll move it to stop it clanking. It's amazing how many people on other boats say "Thank god for that. It's been really annoying".

 

[Norman_E]

I know an Australian who's comment on Frapping Halyards was that in his home club transgressors are told once. For second offenders someone goes on board, unclips the offending halyard and hauls it to the masthead. There are no third offenders.

As for humming topping lifts, I thought that was my problem one year after I removed and moused almost everything else. In fact the problem was a tight mousing line inside the boom. The wind blew though the boom creating an unearthly noise. The solution was to slacken the line. If you have a rigid vang, allowing it to support the boom and keeping the topping lift just tight but not under load usually cures the hum, because only a rope under tension really vibrates strongly.

 

[[3889]]

We keep our motorsailer in UK at Pwllheli marina. There is a specific instruction in the rules and regs that halyards must not be allowed to frap. No idea what would happen to transgressors but a good initiative.

I thought frapping was the act of securing the halyard so it doesn't clatter, not the clattering itself.