Noisy Halyards

Master_and_Commander

Master_and_Commander

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I am curious......
Am I the only person in the world who actually likes the sound of halyards tapping on the mast in the breeze?
Everyone I know who sails with me hates it, and one person (who shall remain nameless) frapped some poor sods' halyard with wet string tied in about 50 different vareties of knot!
I love the sound, it sends me to sleep.
Please reasssure me, does anyone out there like it too?

/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
I know a man who claims to unreeve noisy halyards.

You would have liked my last berth. I had a neighbour whose halyards [or it might have been a cable] tapped on the inside of his mast and he could not do anything to stop it. I made several pyjama-clad trips to his boat to try and stop it but to no avail.
 
Naw - it's a real irritant. Falls into the same category as a braking dog. Talking of which a few years ago when overnighting in Ardglass marina in comes a type of pilot cutter with four blokes and a dog. Blokes disappear (to pub?) leaving dog on board which starts barking at about 2200. At 0030 I went and untied the dog and took it up to the marina office/showers and retied it to the front doors so when blokes came back they would find it. Slept really peacefully and no sign of blokes or dog next morning but boat still there. I think I did the right thing .... poor dog.
 
A bit of ambivalence here....

I certainly prefer, quite strongly, to have own halyards secured so they don't wake us up/prevent from getting to sleep, for the resonance inside an alu mast is loud and strong.

On the other hand, secure on a mooring, I find the sound of another's halyards frapping - at some distance - quite evocative. Also, if the frequency increases enough to wake me, that has always been a cue to get up, pull on the wellies, and go have a 'looksee' at the increasing wind, the security of the mooring lines, and anything else that's going on in the vicinity.

And grin conspiratorially at the other 3 or 4 skippers also peeing over the side in the drizzle of the half-dark.....

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
"Falls into the same category as a braking dog."

Err, pardon? Is it the squeal of the dog's brakes that bother you?


Back to the halyards - Other peoples' don't stress me, they are relatively muted. But then I don't go in marinas so the other boats are not generally that numerous or close. Another bonus from avoiding marina charges!

However, my own drive me crackers; you fix them and then the wind strength changes & they start again! They echo round the boat!
 
I tensioned them so much I was in danger of bending his mast! It probably was a cable. I suppose I could have emptied an aerosol of expanding foam into his mast but that would not have been a very kind thing to do.

I always spend some time ensuring my halyards don't tap but when I turn in there is usually one tapping slightly, not enough for anyone else to hear but I hear it when I get into bed. It always stops when I go on deck with a torch and peer up the mast, then restarts when I get back into bed /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
When I started dinghy sailing as a small boy, the vast majority of masts were wooden and the gentle halyard against mast noise in the dinghy park, or on the pontoon was one of those Pavlovian things that told me it was going to be a good day.(A forget about school day /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

I'm not quite so enamoured of the 'ting ting ting' that alloy masts emit, but its still a noise that evokes a good feeling, and I have no trouble sleeping.

Tim
 
[ QUOTE ]
when I get into bed. It always stops when I go on deck with a torch and peer up the mast, then restarts when I get back into bed

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought only mine did that /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I completely dismantled a rattly cooker one night .One bit at a time then returning to my sleeping bag after each bit removed thinking "thats sorted the b ugger." /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
For me it's an issue of good seamanship. A halliard rattling on the mast is a halliard subject to wear and tear.

And as they keep people awake, then even if I liked the noise good manners would make me tie them back. I wouldn't inflict loud music on neighbouring boats late at night; why should I inflict loud (and irritating) halliard noise?

The good old principle of "Do as you would be done by" rules!
 
I hate any mast / halyard noise. I always tie up my halyards when I arrive in harbour (after I have secured the boat and stopped the engine / stowed sails!)

I have been known to visit other boats berthed nearby in the night and resecure their halyards using whatever is to hand to stop their noise.

Also I detest the noise from wind generators, squeaking dinghies and pontoons on piles!

I am a Grumpy sod! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
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