Mast noises at anchor

[oceandiamond]

Hi Guys

Imagine the scene. you're safely anchored, all halyards and sheats tied down, when suddenly with every pitch and yawl you hear a clanking from above decks. you bury your head but it refuses to go away. You scamper on top in your undies but all is tied down. You then realize the irritating noise seems to becoming from within then mast.

Has anyone ever found a solution to this ??

[rxc]

Hi there. It would be helpful if you could give us all a bit more info. What type of boat do you have? What type of mast/sail (in-mast furler or conventional)? Any unusual conditions about the boat, such as added equipment up/on the mast? Etc. As least give us a hint - we have all probably had this sort of situation at one time or another.

[oceandiamond]

Oops you;re right

Ocean Diamond is a 2000 Jeanneau SO 40 with a conventional main sail. No additional equipment other than lazy jacks.

[hoppy]

Wear pyjamas and then you don't need to do it in your undies

I get the same problem at times and it seems to vary each night. I tend to find that the most common irritating noise comes from the boom moving around which is easily fixed, but it is not the only problem.

[Don Reaves]

My last boat had this problem. It was due to the fact that wires had been run in the mast without conduits. When the boat rocked, even gently, the wires would slap on the mast walls, making an irritating noise.

I have no idea whether this might be your problem, of course. My Jeanneau has conduits for wiring, and doesn't have this problem.

Don

[sitara]

If the conduits themselves in the mast come loose, or are not attached properly to begin with, they can bang around in the mast. My so36i has the conduit formed (extruded) as part of the mast so cannot come loose.

[oceandiamond]

Hi Don
That exactly describes the noise and when I peered into the mast I noticed the wires. Did you ever resolve the problem ?

[Don Reaves]

I tried a couple of things that eventually helped. The one that worked was to attach plastic tie-wraps to the VHF cable in groups of four, with the tails out, forming a kind of stand-off. I did this every 8 feet or so when I replaced the cable when the old one began to corrode. I suspect this would only work if there were only one cable causing the problem.

Before I did this, I tried jamming in some wadded up trash bags (all tied on a string so I could remove them). That didn't really help because I wasn't able to get them far enough up the mast, and this was on a 30 foot boat.

I considered drilling holes in the mast and using them to loop a string around the wires, pulling them against the side with the hole, but the cable tie trick seemed to work, and I wasn't confident that I could make it work. Note that this boat had only external halyards, so I was not concerned about hindering the movement of ropes in the mast.

Don

[sailbleu]

Indeed , the conduits can get loose. I had the problem whyle trying to get some more cables through the mast.
But it's still horizontal , so it was easy to fix it.
If the rattling disturbs you that much you should consider taking the mast down when on the hard.
Also gives you a chance to do all the things you've always wanted to do on the mast.
The ty-wrap trick only works when no conduits are used. Like the radar cable for instance.

As a comfort , try an inmast and you'll get another idea of the concept 'rattling '.

Regards

[kirbs]

Hello .I had the same problem. The cure was to run the VHF and mast head light cables up foam insulation used for insulating copper water pipes.The good thing is the insulating tubing is cheap,,The bad thing is the mast has to come down to fit it.But it does work.

[electricmonk]

Agreed, how hard can it be to make a mast that doesn't rattle in the wind!

This will sound mad but trust me it worked on my 37 and still works on my 43.

Release the vang. Release the topping lift. Take the main sheet traveller to an extreme port or starboard position, tie a line from a boom tang to a centre cleat on the other side - hope that makes sense. tension the main-sheet to stop the boom swinging but not tight like a bow string, just enough to compress the vang a little.

Apply some light machine oil to the boom and vang goose-neck pins.

If that doesn't work try rum or whiskey.

[oceandiamond]

thank you

will let you know how it goes