If you're on a mooring or at anchor, the boat will normally line up with the wind, which generally means it's also lined up with the waves. So whatever waves there are will be taken on the point of the bow rather than slapping into the side of the boat. However we have had plenty of instances where the current held the boat at an angle or even broadside to the wind (always fairly light in these cases) so you can get a bit of wave slap against the side of the hull. But wave slap has never been very noticeable inside our GB, either in the forward or aft cabins (we've slept in both). We use a pair of very long snubbers on our anchor chain so there is no strain on the chain coming in over the pulpit, so the chain never moves in the bow roller no matter how much the boat moves around. So no crunching or creaking noises from that source.
And as Keith said, if the wind and waves kick up at night, the sound of the waves against the hull is going to be the last thing you'll be concerned about.
Generally, the loudest sound inside our boat after we've turned in for the night is the sort of hollow slurping sound of the waves passing by the through-hull for the aft head sink. It's right at the waterline so it doesn't take much disturbance of the water to cause ripples and waves to cover and uncover it. But it's not very loud and since we know what it is, we ignore it to the point of not really hearing it at all.
We've had a few guests stay in the forward cabin, most recently our friends from France who were with us for a week and a half and who had never done this type of boating before.* Both of them said their nights in the forward cabin were some of the most restful and best sleep nights they'd ever had.
-- Edited by Marin on Saturday 19th of December 2009 07:02:44 PM
