Is ther a way to stop (or reduce) the noise from my fenders?

Thepipdoc

Thepipdoc

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 Jun 2009
Messages
937
Location
Torquay, Devon/River Dart
Visit site
As the title suggests, I have a problem with the squelling noise being emitted from my fenders. Every other boat around me seems to have silent fenders, but mine are anything but silent. Is there something I can do to reduce the noise i.e increase the air pressure or put more less fenders out etc?
 
You dont describe the noise so one has to make a few assumptions. It could be the rope rather than the fender or the fender on the jetty but why not try an old trick of washing up liquid over the offending part as it acts as a tempory lubricant and rempves the noise for some time at least.

Works well on noisye ropes and ropes through fairleads that can keep you awake at night
 
I had a problem with a 'creaky' fender one night. Usually the normal boat and marina noises don't bother me but this time it was particularly loud. In the end I got up and tied an old nappie around the offending fender and got a good night's sleep.

MAy look better if you get some fender socks though!
 
Powersalt said:
You dont describe the noise so one has to make a few assumptions. It could be the rope rather than the fender or the fender on the jetty but why not try an old trick of washing up liquid over the offending part as it acts as a tempory lubricant and rempves the noise for some time at least.

Works well on noisye ropes and ropes through fairleads that can keep you awake at night
Click to expand...

Tried Fairy liquid and guess what..... it works!
Thanks for the tip.
 
Slack off your lines a bit, set up the springs to hold you clear of the jetty/ pontoon/ dock/ other boat or whatever. It is simple & just commonsense seamanship. Only if there is no tide and an onshore breeze should there ever be any problem, and then fender socks (or cheap stockingette roll) will stop the noise.

Why squirt detergent into the sea? It will not do any good to the things that live there.
 
Searush said:
Slack off your lines a bit, set up the springs to hold you clear of the jetty/ pontoon/ dock/ other boat or whatever. It is simple & just commonsense seamanship. Only if there is no tide and an onshore breeze should there ever be any problem, and then fender socks (or cheap stockingette roll) will stop the noise.

Why squirt detergent into the sea? It will not do any good to the things that live there.
Click to expand...


i would not think a small bit of bio liquid on a rope or fender would do to much harm and its a good idea. why do you question his commonsense ??
 
Searush said:
<snip>

It is simple & just commonsense seamanship.

<snip>

Why squirt detergent into the sea? It will not do any good to the things that live there.
Click to expand...

I wasn't going to post, but couldn't leave it. Why do you make post with comments like these ? Seriously ?

Trolling ?

Winding up ?

Or can you just not help being unpleasant ?

Some of your posts are OK and i try to forget your more unpleasant ones, than you post more of these... Doh!
 
Searush said:
Only if there is no tide and an onshore breeze should there ever be any problem...
Click to expand...
There are plenty of other circumstances in which fenders squeak no matter how slack your "lines" (yuck! I hate that word!) may be.

A net long-term solution is a "fender blanket" -- a strip of canvas slightly wider than the height of a fender, hanging down from the bases of the guardrail stanchions, between the hull and the fenders.
 
Here is a short term solution I once used (an old t-shirt)

IMG_2908.jpg
 
why not tie the fenders to the jetty.
(obv. dont leave them behind you you leave.)
dont do this if their is a lot of rise and fall of the water.
 
Last edited:
Searush said:
Slack off your lines a bit, set up the springs to hold you clear of the jetty/ pontoon/ dock/ other boat or whatever. It is simple & just commonsense seamanship. Only if there is no tide and an onshore breeze should there ever be any problem, and then fender socks (or cheap stockingette roll) will stop the noise.

Why squirt detergent into the sea? It will not do any good to the things that live there.
Click to expand...

Commonsense seamanship? A few months ago I was watching a raggie mooring on a pontoon near me - not, I hasten to add, in my current home marina - and the skipper put his springs onto a sheet winch to get them as tight as a drum. I looked at mine, set to allow the fenders neither to touch the topsides nor the dock - except with the wind onshore - and sadly concluded that I must have been doing it wrong for years. :D
 
Last edited:
So a sailor has been seen making a mistake with his springs ( winching them tight; a less extreme example would be OK, as springs should be tighter than breast lines ) - no mobo has ever made a mistake, of course.

There are times when one is being blown onto a wall, pontoon or other boat when the fenders will squeak no matter what one does with the lines ( Poole Town Quay for example is very prone to this ).

The traditional answer was to use washing up liquid, but there are good reasons not to do this; for one, it needs a lot of regular re-application, and much more importantly, it turns into a type of 'grinding paste' !

If say you have a white boat and try this when alongside a coloured one ( inc' gelcoat ) you'll end up with the colour transferred to your topsides, requiring a lot of effort to remove and get back to an even colour.

Fender socks or a temporary version therof like the T shirt illustrated, would seem a lot better answer.
 
So a sailor has been seen making a mistake with his springs ( winching them tight; a less extreme example would be OK, as springs should be tighter than breast lines ) - no mobo has ever made a mistake, of course.
Click to expand...

Not at all. I make mistakes all the time. See, for example, the thread I started a couple of days ago entitled "D'oh" for one of my more recent - if trivial - mistakes. I only mentioned this was a raggie to avoid a load of posts on the subject of mobo owners not knowing anything and, er, because, in this case, it was and he didn't half winch them tight; all the while telling his crew that they weren't tight enough and to lay into the winch with a bit more vigour. :D
 
I'm confused.

OP asks for advice, & gets several different options suggested. All of which answer his question, lots of learning points too, well, at least I have learned something new.

How does the thread then turn into a pi$$ing contest between power & sail? :confused:

So it goes.
 
benjenbav,

yonks ago when I didn't know better, I read a Robert Ludlum novel about spying which to a young berk seemed quite plausible, with all sorts of clandestine techniques described.

Then at the very end when all is resolved, the hero buys a big yacht to sail off into the sunset with the tottie.

It says something on the lines of " once he was satisfied the mooring lines were securely winched bar taut " !

Cue throwing book into File 13, thinking if I ever take up spying I'd probably best not use this as a manual...
 
Seajet said:
benjenbav,

yonks ago when I didn't know better, I read a Robert Ludlum novel about spying which to a young berk seemed quite plausible, with all sorts of clandestine techniques described.

Then at the very end when all is resolved, the hero buys a big yacht to sail off into the sunset with the tottie.

It says something on the lines of " once he was satisfied the mooring lines were securely winched bar taut " !

Cue throwing book into File 13, thinking if I ever take up spying I'd probably best not use this as a manual...
Click to expand...

Well, I try to live and learn. I've been sailing since I was a small boy but it was only when I bought my first "big" boat (a 27' Jeanneau) that I was confronted with a problem about what to do with a sail that needed to stay on the forestay when I wasn't sailing. I arranged it so that there was the most beautiful blue and white stripy effect when the sail was furled and was sitting admiring my handiwork when a passerby (from these fora actually) said, "I think you'll find it works better if you roll it the other way so that the blue sacrificial strip is rolled round the outside of the white bit." I felt a bit of a fool briefly, but was glad someone had said something rather than letting me find out the hard way.

With this in mind I nearly went over to have a quiet word with the chap winching his springs so taut, just to say it might work better doing it this way rather than that way. But his crew were his teenage sons and I didn't want to embarrass him, so I left it and haven't seen him since.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top