Silence those dock lines and cleats!

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Andrew E

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Currently berthed in a certain marina where a certain fast ferry passes every 20 minutes throwing up a large swell, resulting in boats being violently rocked around in their berths. I don't mind too much during the day, but at night, sleeping without ear plugs is a struggle *shhh, don't mention that in the marina marketing material* ;) ;) . The marina tell us to report when the motion is too violent, but other than this certain fast ferry slowing down at Bythe (like every other ship has to do) then not alot can be done...

Anyway...

At the moment I've got oversized snubbers on my dock lines, but still getting that horrible creaking sound from the dock cleats. A sound which is enough to drive a sane man mad at 5am. My dock lines aren't particularly taut, so I'm struggling to work out what I can do as I'm unable to slacken my lines too much or my boat will end up hitting the pontoon when the wake hits.

One of the liveaboards seems to have towels wrapped around the cleats. I've also thought about experimenting with different types of rope or different types of mooring compensator. I've even read suggestions about putting fairy liquid and wax around the cleats :ambivalence:

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated thanks! :encouragement:
 
I've spent longer than I'd like to admit huddled on the foredeck in my PJs at 5am trying various methods of silencing lines. Always seems worse in calm weather when there is no background noise.

A bad combination is using an old, thin, stiff, salty, three strand rope, and having it go through a fairlead and then some distance to the cleat. There is sufficient stretch to produce movement and noise at the fairlead.
Fatter and softer lines with more direct routes seem to help. Plastic bags trapped within fairleads can help too.
Will be interesting to hear other people's suggestions.
 
This was discussed before and someone advised that they use washing up liquid and it stopped the squeaking, probably diluted a bit and then poured over the offending line/cleat.
 
I do think the bow and stern fairleads make it worse, however my midships cleat doesn't have a fairlead and it's the worst offender. I do wish I could slacken my spring, but the boat would end up getting to close to the pontoon for comfort. I will try the plastic bag around the fairleads shortly and let you know.
 
St Peter Port can be like that on a bad day until the sill uncovers. I have some nylon plaited lines with snubbers, which I sometimes use by doubling up on the main lines, which I slacken a bit first. They don't seem to make any noise.
 
One thing you can try is a short length of dyneema, from cleat, through fairlead, the nylon warp is tied to that, so all stretch is outboard and there is much less movement of the bits onboard.
Also wax where anything rubs.
Another trick is to hang some weight on the middle of the springs. Bit of chain or your anchor angel.
Also, can the springs be made longer? take them along the pontoon further?
 
I've found that large 16mm three-strand polyester creaks less than braided polyester. For springs, the longer the better, as the natural catenary absorbs some of the motion, rather than the stretch of the rope. Separate lines for each function is essential, so there are fewer rubbing points, as is making sure of a smooth run, even if that means avoiding a fairlead.
But having said all that, there's no absolute solution, rope will creak in certain circumstances.
 
homer said:
I find that does work - temporarily at least.
Click to expand...

When I stayed in Hasler for a week, before they fixed the wave barrier (I'm assuming they have fixed it) I used rags around the lines, plus my winter snubbers. This worked but it didn't silence the fenders. Those I tamed with fairy liquid.
 
lw395 said:
One thing you can try is a short length of dyneema, from cleat, through fairlead, the nylon warp is tied to that, so all stretch is outboard and there is much less movement of the bits onboard.
Click to expand...
Yep, works very well.
I can vouch for 5mm D12 max marlow which was done as a test but stood up to all that a winter living aboard alongside in Dartmouth could do (which was substantial!) and lasted with barely visible chaff.
 
Make sure your mooring cleats aren't creaking because the bolts aren't tight enough and they can move a bit.

My springs were creaking because the angle they come off the toerail causes the rope to rub on the toerail (my boat does not have fairleads, instead a wide toerail with the cleats on top of it). I've fixed this by hanging a small fender between the hull and the line, which not only pushes the angle out far enough to stop the creaking (and wear of the rail), but also absorbs shock loads when the springs tighten up - no additional snubber needed.

For the rest, I have mooring compensators, which come in many different shapes and sizes, from big steel springs (spotted on many boats in Dieppe, which has a lot of swell in the marina, plus a big ferry) to small rubber S-shaped ones that you put in series. The standard kinky looking black ones did work brilliantly for one season, but all of them were torn out at both ends after a couple winter storms. I fixed that by drilling a 10mm hole through the ends and putting a Dyneema loop with a diamond knot in, which effectively makes them like these ones - much easier to insert and more durable:

sergeizjuganov_mg_0115_H4zOWDTd.jpg


I've also got one of the below Italian "Inmare" brand ones, which came with a big box of boaty parts I bought on eBay. It's a bit trickier to install (you put a bowline through each end), but works exceptionally well:

nereide%20web-600x600.JPG


Sleep well ;-)
 
Plastic bag job works well , although over the years I learn to sleep through the noise , what that's wake me up is other people haryards .
It's not the first time I gone and sorted it out .
 
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