Noisy gooseneck

DannyB

DannyB

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 Jun 2007
Messages
7,649
Location
Scotland UK
Visit site
I'm sitting in the cabin listening to my gooseneck creaking and grinding, bloody thing kept me awake all last night. I've tried oil, PTFE spray, but nothing seems to keep it quiet for long. I recently changed the triangular bit that connects the boom to the mast, and fitted a gas strut to the kicker at the same time. I don't remember the gooseneck making a noise like this before that, could it have something to do with the gas strut? To be honest I'm not sure if the noise is coming from the gooseneck or the heel of the kicker, or both, but it resonates through the mast,AND It's DRIVING Me Crazy.

Please somebody tell me there is a solution!
 
Have you got room to fit plastic washers between the various bits of alloy. Mine was worn so there was space, with your new bit there may not be. Don't use stainless steel washers as they are harder than the alloy and so the alloy will wear. Possibly will still need some lube as well. Tying the boom end over to the toerail or whatever so that its movement is limited should also help.
 
check for any other metal to metal contact. E,g, Blocks secured via a shackle. It's often one bit of metal rubbing on another and god only knows how many of them there are.

As Sods law says that it will only do this when you're asleep I would suggest disconnecting as much as possible to try and isolate the source. so if only the gooseneck is left connected and moving then you know it's the gooseneck. If the gooseneck is quiet you can slowly work back through all the other likely candidates.
 
I have already fitted PTFE washers when I replaced the triangular bit, what worries me, is that the new bit is not alloy, I was told Seldon have changed to a cast stainless material, I'm wondering if that is the problem. I'm going to get the old bit bored out and bushed, then change it back.
 
DannyB said:
I have already fitted PTFE washers when I replaced the triangular bit, what worries me, is that the new bit is not alloy, I was told Seldon have changed to a cast stainless material, I'm wondering if that is the problem. I'm going to get the old bit bored out and bushed, then change it back.
Click to expand...

Easy way is to drop boom on deck so it won't move. Make sure clew outhaul is slack to prevent strain on sail.

Nick
 
nickbailhache said:
Easy way is to drop boom on deck so it won't move. Make sure clew outhaul is slack to prevent strain on sail.

Nick
Click to expand...

Outhaul is slack, dropping boom on deck is a nonstarter, but what I have done is horse up the kicker and main sheet until they are fiddle string tight, then lash the end of the boom to the centre of the spray hood to stop it moving. Result is silence, but I don't like leaving the boat like this, if the wind gets up it might damage the spray hood.
 
We have a short rigging wire strop with a snapshackle on one end, and the other end secured to the backstay for just this problem. It works, though you have to remember to unshackle the boom if you want to go sailing...
 
macd said:
It might be worth tying the end of the boom to a toe-rail, then tensioning it the other way with the mainsheet traveller.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what we do - except without an alloy toe rail we use the offside mid mooring cleat which isn't used on the berth. Unlike the OPs current temporary arrangement, I prefer to leave the boat with this permanently rigged to avoid boom movement in winter gales - the mooring cleat being well strong enough to take any strain
Coincidentally also keeps boom north of the solar panels which helps keep batteries charged
 
dunedin said:
That's exactly what we do - except without an alloy toe rail we use the offside mid mooring cleat which isn't used on the berth. Unlike the OPs current temporary arrangement, I prefer to leave the boat with this permanently rigged to avoid boom movement in winter gales - the mooring cleat being well strong enough to take any strain
....
Click to expand...
I hate seeing booms swinging from side to side, the sound the OP was hearing was the sound of the gooseneck wearing away!
A bit of ptfe grease helps a lot if you can keep it in the bearing and off the sails etc.
 
I have this problem with our year 2000 Selden boom with cast fittings. I replaced the gooseneck washers with nylon, which helped, but now the noise comes from the bottom of the strut, but I have currently run out of washers. A temporary measure is to raise the boom slightly on the topping-lift, thus taking the weight off the strut. It is sometimes necessary to tansfer the weight to the parked main halyard to stop the noise from the topping-lift in the wind. PTFE and oils seem remarkably ineffective, though a period of rain this year did seem to help.
 
I drilled out the aluminium gooseneck fitting and inserted a plastic bush made from domestic water pipe. It was too large to fit the drilled hole but slitting it twice allowed it to fit. I made up a few spares, but that was five years ago and I have never fitted them. The gooseneck makes absolutely no noise, but I always brace the boom to the genoa track anyway.
 
DannyB said:
I'm sitting in the cabin listening to my gooseneck creaking and grinding, bloody thing kept me awake all last night. I've tried oil, PTFE spray, but nothing seems to keep it quiet for long. I recently changed the triangular bit that connects the boom to the mast, and fitted a gas strut to the kicker at the same time. I don't remember the gooseneck making a noise like this before that, could it have something to do with the gas strut? To be honest I'm not sure if the noise is coming from the gooseneck or the heel of the kicker, or both, but it resonates through the mast,AND It's DRIVING Me Crazy.

Please somebody tell me there is a solution!
Click to expand...

Same with us, plus the slapping of some loose string inside the boom. I find that the solution is a couple of large gin & tonics, followed preferably by a good meal and bottle of wine. Or two.
Sleep becomes very possible.
Peter
 
I've always braced the boom between the sheet and a line clipped to the grab rail on the coach house roof. In last winds, the tension from the gas strut is enough to stop any rattles but if the wind gets up, I put a bit of tension on the topping lift. Then I have to wrap a bit of line round the topping lift to damp the hum. Then you have to remember to remove all the bits of string before sailing.
 
dunedin said:
That's exactly what we do - except without an alloy toe rail we use the offside mid mooring cleat which isn't used on the berth. Unlike the OPs current temporary arrangement, I prefer to leave the boat with this permanently rigged to avoid boom movement in winter gales - the mooring cleat being well strong enough to take any strain
Click to expand...

This. Also if I know I'm not going to sail for a while, I put the (normally unused) topping lift on to lift the boom, which decompresses the gas spring in the rod kicker - makes it last longer, says the manual.

I also made up a piece of bungee cord with hooks to go around the boom and hold the outhaul - keeps it from spanking the boom in windy conditions.
 
On my boat the noise was actually generated by the strut, and not the gooseneck itself after I bushed the cast aluminium parts with phosphor bronze. The cure is to brace the boom by pulling it well off the centre line with a short rope from boom end to toe rail then using the topping lift and main sheet in opposition to keep it from moving about.
 
After hours trying to quieten the gooseneck I found it was the nylon slides creaking. Silicon soon sorted them out.
 
One noise that I thought was coming from the gooseneck was actually originating from the bottom shackle on my mainsheet pulleys as it rattled around in the traveller shackle. I have wedged a couple of bits of plastic tubing under the pulley shackle to keep it up in place. This has also cut down the chance of the shackle not moving properly on a gybe.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top