The vaguest question in the world...

[andrewhopkins]

Out o the boat on Wednesday, sailing up Soton water and everything feels fine except a noise.

An intermittent banging when any swell/wave hits the boat comes from below the hull of the cockpit.

Steering feels fine and i couldnt hear it when i went in the back cabins, engine, etc.

Only two things cross my mind:

1. The rudder has up/down play in it and is shifting in the sea (very worrying)

2. There is a lobster pot around the keel and the bouy is banging against the hull

I'm getting a diver to have a look, any other suggestions ?

 

[tony_brighton]

How much for the diver? Some places will do a real cheap lift out and drop straight back in - might be more productive.

 

[vyv_cox]

Most rudders seem to have some axial play, mine moves about half an inch vertically if lifted. This takes a lot of effort, as it weighs about a hundredweight. Even in water I doubt if there are many rudders that will lift under the influence of a wave.

I would be looking for something internal before beginning to look beneath the hull. One time we were awake half the night believing a pot marker or something was banging on the hull. In the morning we found a small extension loudspeaker was dangling on its cable alongside the chart table.

 

[Charieis]

I had similar concerns in the middle of the channel once. I could feel it in the cockpit floor and down the backstay. After half an hour's frantic searching, it turned out to be the anchor bumping against the hull in the anchor locker at the bows! It was only moving a few millimetres, but sound and vibration get transmitted in the most unlikely fashion. There is a strong tendency to get paranoid so far from land and go through all the possibilities like yourself, but fortunately my problem was trivial!

 

[Guest]

Cost of a diver and thoughts on your problem

A friend of mine hired one in Cowes last week. £30 for the splash and inspection, more for any work needed. That might work out cheaper than a lift and hold.

If you couldn't hear the noise when you went below then it is unlikely to be anything attached to the hull beause in my experience that kind of noise tends to be amplified by the insides. So I'd guess that you've got something loose in a locker or the like.

Chris Enstone, Rival Spirit

 

[andrewhopkins]

£50 inc scrub

Ours is charging £50 to have a look and scrub the bottom which doesnt sound bad to me.

Got to be cheaper than a lift out ???

 

[ChrisJ]

stress making noises...

Moored up in the Newtown River last year. On the next buoy is a large raft with hut on it. Before settling down for the night I plan to wake with the change of tide, in order to check that the way our yacht swung was about the same as the raft.
02:00 wake up as planned. Slack water. Nothing swung as yet, but all looks OK.
02:30 fallen asleep when there is an enormous bang.
I rush up the steps from below, and look over the stern (where the raft would be if we had swung) - no problems.
Look over the bow - no problems. Still attached to the buoy. Look all around no problems, nothing out of the ordinary anywhere.
5 minutes later, back down below, my 10 year old son says "Sorry Dad, I fell out of my bunk".

Cheers, Chris

 

[jollyjacktar]

Similar Problem

I had a similar problem. Found out that it was only a mermaid seeking permission to come aboard.

 

[andrewhopkins]

You we\'re right...

Went out yesterday and discovered someone had not put one of the holding pins into the anchor and it was banging about.

 

[steve_cronin]

Sharpen up your wits Andrew dear boy!...

.. If you had actually DRANK that second bottle of Veuve Clicquot instead of forgetting that you hung it over the side to cool last weekend, you wouldn't be talking about spending this weekend's booze money on divers! Pull it up and save me some!

Steve Cronin

 

[andrewhopkins]

Done that...

Sailing in Thailand and i'd purchased A LOT of Singha and Singha Gold. I got the latter as I thought 6% was a bit much at 11am so i planned to drink gold until 4ish and then move on to the real stuff.

However, it tastes disgusting. They obviously use chemical to strip out the alcohol so it never got drunk.

So there I am near Phuket with the last 5-6 cans of Singha in a bag over the side attached to a rope.

Forget all about it and moter off and the bag splits and we lose all of them leaving a boat full of Singha Gold.

I wasnt very popular.