There is a special place in hell for SOB's that do not secure their halyards

[charliehows]

There is no special place in hell required; the good lord created a special place by bereaving the living thus targeted of the simple ability to tolerate small discomforts and then imbuing them with the desire to sit on their fat arses on a boat in a marina...

[Uncle Bob]

I thought hell was the name of a marina somewhere. Apparently I am wrong.

[sailorboy1]

Interesting to me that there is a lot more support of going over and doing something about some boat’s banging halyards than years ago when I did a similar thread.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Interesting to me that there is a lot more support of going over and doing something about some boat’s banging halyards than years ago when I did a similar thread.

Different personalities, different groupthink.


The answer-drift even on objective questions of fact is considerable over a span of years. I remember reading a ten year old discussion at Scubaboard regarding the alloys used in steel dive tanks, and the consensus answer then presented is now widely believed to be patently false. In that case, things have improved, because I checked the references, and confirmed it.


As for this thread, well, it's a stunning example of the discourse following the September that Never Ended. I remember what it was like online before then.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by mhorwitz

Wow! For those who castigated me for providing a simple fix to a negligent boat owners lines, I guess you’re all selfish paranoid unneighborly neighbors. All I can say is I’m glad you’re not near me. If my halyards were banging in the wind and bothering my neighbor, I’d hope he or she would remedy the annoyance in a non destructive way. No skin off my back. There are many more sinister remedies to this issue that could be implemented to an absentee boat owner who has no regard for the peace and contentment of their neighbors. Good grief folks, we’re all just looking for piece and contentment. No pirates here.

Well, since I am the one who disagrees with going aboard another's boat without permission, I guess I'll just have to wear it that you think we are "selfish, paranoid, unneighborly neighbors." To me, disagreeing is not castigation. Personally, I think your accusation is offensive.

However, please note, we do not spend much time in marinas, as we live primarily anchored out, and are not in the US.

The point really is that the people with more experience can help the ones with less to frap their halyards effectively, and since you want people to feel free to come aboard your boat to put things right if something were neglected, you should let your neighbors know.

And yes, it is wrong to board someone else's boat without permission. It may be that the culture of that is changing, now, in the US. Just because something is popular does not mean it is right.

[sailorboy1]

Lots of times to get the chance to talk to, or get permission, from the banging halyard boats occurs at best once/month.

[billcrowley]

Always conscientious about "the Devil's tattoo", I have long made it a habit to eliminate rattling halyards when possible. But when we acquired a 1980 Newport 30 in 2016, I couldn't stop the racket. A little research revealed that these boats had the VHF antenna wire & mast electrical wires run inside a length of 1" Schedule 40 PVC water pipe, which was rivited inside the mast with pop rivets about every two feet. Over the years, many of these rivets failed, leaving the tubing rattling around inside the mast with every ripple on the water below. The "experts" I asked said, "Re-rivet the tubing", but I chose to get rid of it (and a lot of weight aloft!) when I had the mast on the hard for painting last spring, replacing it with foam water pipe insulation for 1" pipe - a bit of a chore to pull the wires through, but now I have a quiet mast and happy marina neighbors!

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Well, since I am the one who disagrees with going aboard another's boat without permission, I guess I'll just have to wear it that you think we are "selfish, paranoid, unneighborly neighbors." To me, disagreeing is not castigation. Personally, I think your accusation is offensive.

However, please note, we do not spend much time in marinas, as we live primarily anchored out, and are not in the US.

The point really is that the people with more experience can help the ones with less to frap their halyards effectively, and since you want people to feel free to come aboard your boat to put things right if something were neglected, you should let your neighbors know.

And yes, it is wrong to board someone else's boat without permission. It may be that the culture of that is changing, now, in the US. Just because something is popular does not mean it is right.

Cate, what seems reasonable is sink their boat. That is about as reasonable as some responses. I'd have to wonder how some of the responses would feel if they left their boat with a slapping halyard unintentionally and similar action was take. I don't happen to object to the sound. It is almost like white sound for sleeping.

[Sailorkev]

I was new to big boat ownership when I learned the lesson. I left my halyards to bang into my mast and one of my neighbors came aboard and tied them up properly. I noted that they were no longer chafing the anodize off my mast (and they were quieter). I was grateful. If your noisy neighbor ever does notice his halyard tied up, you can say you were worried about wear on his mast and didn't want any more damage done.

Aside from that, clanking halyards was something I always liked, next to squawking seagulls and that fishy salt smell around the marina.

[campbdon]

Being neither a brain scientist nor a rocket surgeon I came across a method years ago. Attach the halyard to one of the lifelines and tension it up. No more clang.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by campbdon

Being neither a brain scientist nor a rocket surgeon I came across a method years ago. Attach the halyard to one of the lifelines and tension it up. No more clang.

Welcome to the machine, campbdon.

[JoeRobertJr]

Wow! Look at the join dates of the last two posters, which were also very first posts ever. Can that be right?

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by campbdon

Being neither a brain scientist nor a rocket surgeon I came across a method years ago. Attach the halyard to one of the lifelines and tension it up. No more clang.

It can be that simple if it’s an internal halyard. If it’s an external halyard then the section coming down from the turning block is a bit more tricky to secure so it doesn’t bang. Hence the bungy tie-off that people have mentioned.

BTW, I absolutely hate to see halyards clipped to lifelines. If nothing else, it looks like sh*t. We have three forward halyards and they each have their own webbing strop attached to pad eyes or cleats. Near the mast we have two dyneema loops for those halyards when we want to clear the bow for sails, but they rest against parts of the standing rigging there so we only use them temporarily.

[Kd9truck]

It seems most remove halyards and lines and tension them to something away from the mast. I offer that if you put a 2 feet of slack in the line the wind will blow said line/halyard off the mast. No removal/disconnect necessary.
It is the tension placed into the system that creates recoil, tension is one of the many things that reduce the life of the running rigging. Tension stretches the rope, most, virtually all sheets/line/halyard/rope have a Dynamic quality, an elastic quality hence the recoil. When you tension these things you create load, a continuous load stretches rope out, removing the stretch is like removing the ropes ability to absorb shock..that’s bad
Shock loads are what break things, when your not expecting, when one thing breaks it transfers the load to something else. Sorry one of my occupations was to test rope.
Try loosened lines when your messing about on anchor, on hard, on mooring, or at dock, it’s not for everybody (somebody’s gotta buy new rope).
Cheers

[Knots]

Originally Posted by lo2jones

There is a marina I know where the harbor master ties them up with some strong red ribbon. If he has to do it more than twice, the third time he cuts the halyard.

Best so far.