Bow noise

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Vermeerbergeb jan

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Apr 11, 2020
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Hi, as ex-sailers we just bought a Swift Trawler 50 but we are surprised about the noise the waves makes against the bow when we are on anker (tok-tok/bonk-bonk/clotch-clotch...:lol:)

Any solutions??
 
Congrats on the new boat!



I have exactly this issue because of the shape of my hull at the bow. It can be even more annoying if you're in a harbor and a floating beer bottle gets stuck there in the middle of the night! My solution has been earplugs while sleeping.


I've read of one other solution that reportedly works on a Greenline 33, but it seems a bit ugly and too much of a nuisance for me. If you can picture a long, rectangular piece of water-proof sail cloth (or similar), with grommets and lines on each end... One end is tied to the bow rails on one side and the other end is maneuvered under the bow and up the other side...and tied tightly the bow rails there. This is supposed to stop (or reduce) the waves slapping under the curve of the hull.
 
Spray rails make it worse. I have just become use to it. If things are rough we sleep in the salon
 
I have seen one report with pics of an owner that glasses in the fwd portion of the chine around the water line. That seems the only real solution to help it without deploying all sorts of gadgets (swim noodles, cloth coverings, etc) that provide limited relief.
 
That drives us crazy too. Big reason we always went up there and listened when checking out prospective boats. Typically full displacement boats don't have it or it is minimal. Some people use foam floating pool noodles to mitigate it a little. Some add additional sound proofing to the cabin sides. Or ear plugs. Some just don't mind it. You might consult the boat maker for ideas.

We prefer aft cabin or mid-cabin boats as a general rule. I don't like being shoehorned into the bow, in a non-v-berth nor the multiple steps to accommodate the angle of the bow.
 
I love that sound. Lets me know what the wind is doing by the sound and frequency.
I miss that as I now have an aft cabin boat.
When the wind pipes up we can't tell the difference.
 
My boat has pretty bad chine slap as well. Fortunately, it's fairly rare that we're anchored somewhere with enough chop to make it bad (6 inches or so and it starts to get loud) and also have someone trying to sleep in the forward cabin. We can hear it in the aft cabin (particularly if the door is open), but it's not enough to intrude on sleeping back there.

For the most part, it's the price you pay for having a boat that can plane (although some designs are louder than others).
 
My boat does it BAD. It is the nature of a planing hull. Hard chine with a spray rail that diverts the bow wave outward to get a bit more lift and control the spray. Pretty necessary when running 15-20-25kts. Downside is it makes a "corner" that traps even the smallest waves or even wavelets. Even worse on mine as it is a lightly built cold-molded hull. Rings like a friggin bell.

Once it was so bad I rigged a monkey line to the anchor line and a stern cleat so the boat hung ass-too. Not a fun or even safe situation depending on where you are, but at least we got some sleep.

I always try to find an absolutely slick anchorage, but that is not always possible.
 
Ski in NC said:
Once it was so bad I rigged a monkey line to the anchor line and a stern cleat so the boat hung ass-too.
Click to expand...


Yes! This is is something I try to think about even when laying alongside in some marinas having a bit of exposure to the weather. I've even been known to turn the boat around if I find I tied up facing the "wrong" direction.
 
You'll get used to it. I was surprised by the noise when we first got one of our previous boats with a mid-ship master. Would I ever be able to sleep with it?

After a week, I did not pay attention anymore. Had the boat for 10 years-never gave it a second thought.

No issues with our current boat (52 GB). Hull is overbuilt, no chines/spray rails.
 
Bacchus said:
I have seen one report with pics of an owner that glasses in the fwd portion of the chine around the water line. That seems the only real solution to help it without deploying all sorts of gadgets (swim noodles, cloth coverings, etc) that provide limited relief.
Click to expand...

I filled mine in. Problem mostly solved.

Ted
 
Many years ago I was at a boat yard in Portland, OR. They had a ~55' boat under plastic and were grinding on the hull. I peeked in to see what they were doing and they were grinding off the hard chine up near the bow. Then they were going to fill it in with some kind of filler and gelcoat over it.

Owner didn't like the slap of the waves.
 
Keep in mind, if you expect the hull to plane, filling the chines will hurt performance. If you don't actually plan to run much above hull speed, then go for it.
 
Nice and quiet at anchor with a displacement hull.

The problem is that few people give this a consideration when selecting a boat.

A heavy tarp with strong grommets may be the easiest solution. The tarp can also be used for an emergency repair to slow a leak if the hull is damaged.
 
From listening to a few who have tried noodles, tarps, etc. it appears that then you get the noise of the tarp rustling in the wind and the wavelets slapping against it, or the noodles hitting the side of the boat. Some people are just more sensitive to noise, and some boats are better at generating it.

I've been thinking about this more lately, as our next boat may be what Ann calls a "Camping Boat" something for short cruises, but with a little speed to it. Which likely dictates a planing boat with a bow stateroom. Anchoring being our prime motivation for cruising, it's a potential issue. May have to go the ear plug route, but that makes me uncomfortable in another way from a safety standpoint. That's boating for you, one compromise after another...
 
My parents had a hundred year-old school clock in our house when I was growing up. We didn’t hear it ticking. Friends would visit us and ask how we could stand listening to that noise maker all the time! Drove them crazy. We didn’t hear it! My wife and I currently have that clock in our house...along with six others. We don’t hear them. Should one of our clocks stop, I’ll hear it! I believe after a while we become desensitized to sound in our environment. Live with the wave slap. It’ll probably disappear from your senses.
 
Our boat has some slap in certain conditions. Rarely much of an issue as it is a sound that puts me to sleep. OTOH, the burgee flagging in the breeze transmits vibrations through the boat of the boat that drive me crazy. Many a time I've gotten up and gone up the bow stark naked to remove the burgee from the bow pulpit.


Our last sailboat had a wonderful aft cabin. However, when the current and wind were contrary, the boat would ride bow to the current and stern to the wind. The wavelets would really slap against underside of the hull as it rose from the water. Right below our heads. Ear plugs were the answer there.
 
Line the hull with foam, like commercial boats. Properly done, it eliminates almost all slapping sounds.
 
You can predict by looking at the relationship of chine commencement to waterline if there will be chine slap. A Dyna owner on my marina was driven out of the fwd cabin by the noise. From memory "Mystery" a Beneteau S/T owner experienced it too, but it may have been in a Mainship,not his Swift Trawler.
 
There are damping treatments that can be applied to the inside of the hull in the vicinity of the chine/spray rails that will reduce wave slap. Typically a variation of whats commonly called a "Navy Damping Tile"
Typically installed below the waterline a foot or so and a couple feet above from the crash bulkhead to the turn of the chine or forward cabin aft bulkhead.
It's difficult to determine how effective this might be on hulls cored above the waterline as the treatment is on the inner "skin" and the impact is on the outer "skin," but this can be effective in wave slap noise.
The best place to reduce noise is at the source.

:socool:
 
As discussed, this is a problem on many boats, based on design of the hull bow area, particularly on planing or semi-displacement hulls. Many Nordic Tugs have this annoying issue and we call it "bow slap".

After much discussion among NT owners, it appears that the there are only 2 "solutions" to lessen the noise. One is the Pool noodle thing, but it must be designed to properly "fit" the area in question. If the noodle does not fit into the space and stay in place, it won't do much good. They are a pain to deploy, must be stored when wet, and for some "look a bit silly" when at anchor. The second and only truly effective method is to change the fibreglass configuration (external) at the bow area to eliminate the issue. Several Tug owners have done this (many at the yard in Anacortes, WA.) and have reported good results with no noticeable effect on boat performance. Now, Tugs are usually operated at hull speed, so for those of you who plane all the time, I can't reliably say about that although no one reported problems when "running" the boat to WOT for a few minutes.

This info comes from much discussion on NT owner forums. Personally, I wear ear plugs, move to the salon, or am also getting used to it. We tried the floating noodle thing, but found it to be too much trouble with little effect, but admittedly, we did not "go the whole distance" with all the lines needed to obtain the best "fit".
 
My wife calls it "lappy, lappy." It is the sound of a happy boat. I mostly don't hear it, except when it stops or changes. Then I get up in the middle of the night to check out if the tide or wind has changed.

Complaining about the sound of waves when sleeping on a recreational boat might be one of those darned first world problems. Poor little rich kids.:)
 
Marco nailed it. I sleep like a baby with "Lappy Lappy."
 
Bow noise? Yes. Whenever I bow, I hear a creaking noise in my lower back.

Wait, what?! Oh, the bow of a BOAT. Nevermind...

(Sorry, couldn't resist!)

:blush:
 
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