Wave slap

We purchased a Mainship 400 T, two years ago and find that the wave slap, at anchor, is terrible. We are considering a change of boats and we're curious if the Rumrunners and Pilots are quieter?

Hello Capt Bill,

There a re ways to reduce wave slap if you have access to the waterline area in the forward cabin. There are damping products you can apply at the chine and just above and below the waterline that can reduce the "empty drum" sound of wave slap.

Some of us like it, others like yourself don't

all my boats have had hard chines that catch the waves and slap, always liked the noise.... any thoughts on floating a soft boom around the bow to break the waves?

Or maybe consider a caravan

I have seen pool noodles used to reduce slap noise

sleeping up front on most boats is noisey.

Ear plugs would be cheaper than changing boats.


Yes, sometimes that slap is annoying, sometimes it doesn't happen. Sometimes it even happens in a marina slip. You might try running a fan or quiet music to cover up the sound.


We've gotten used to it.

A friend on a '77 mainship 34' filled the chine with foam and glassed over it for the 8' long section or so that creates the slap. He said performance of the boat was unaffected since the boat never goes over displacement speeds anyway. I got used to it on my old boat, current boat has no hard chine, so no noise.

Many (maybe even most) boats do it. When we got our new Navigator two years ago, I thought I would never get used to it. After a while, I did. Still, if you haven't gotten used to it in two years, that suck a little. Good luck.

WesK said:

Ear plugs would be cheaper than changing boats.


Yes, sometimes that slap is annoying, sometimes it doesn't happen. Sometimes it even happens in a marina slip. You might try running a fan or quiet music to cover up the sound.


We've gotten used to it.

Click to expand...

Like Wes, I've gotten used to it over the years. Very rarely is it bothersome to me. Ear plugs would work as well.

Wave slap is less annoying that a spouse that snores. Changing a boat is slightly less expensive that changing a spouse so there are normally other ways to deal with the issue.

OTOH, if you want a new boat anyway then use wave slap as a great excuse to shopping!

Captbill said:

We purchased a Mainship 400 T, two years ago and find that the wave slap, at anchor, is terrible. We are considering a change of boats and we're curious if the Rumrunners and Pilots are quieter?

Click to expand...

Forward master berth?

Yeah, that'll happen. Many boats, not just those models of Mainship.

-Chris

We have a 2000 30' Mainship Pilot. We just recently had it in Marathon Key, Fl in some pretty windy weather on the hook. We experienced very little wave slap. She's one of the quietest boats I've ever slept on.

I am hoping that present or past owners of the Rum Runner or Pilot will respond. This is not my first or second or third, etc. boat but it is the noisiest by far. Still looking for the perfect boat.

Have a 2004 Pilothouse Sedan and there is a bit of slap. Not sure how it compares to other boats though as I have only owned a 22' Bayliner with a cuddly cabin. We had slap on that boat as well. I think it might be an occupational hazard for most boaters.

Never could sleep trapped down below in a fwd cabin.
One of the reasons we got what we have is the upstairs main cabin.
No noise, plenty of light and an abundance of fresh air.
A REAL walk around king size bed is an added bonus.

Thanks, everyone for your replies. I am not thinking of getting another boat because of the noise. I am considering downsizing and looking for something a little quieter. We did get used to the noise.

Aft cabin!!

Sealife said:

A friend on a '77 mainship 34' filled the chine with foam and glassed over it for the 8' long section or so that creates the slap. He said performance of the boat was unaffected since the boat never goes over displacement speeds anyway. I got used to it on my old boat, current boat has no hard chine, so no noise.

Click to expand...

Scott, you beat me to it. I was also going to suggest the filling and glassing at the chine line. If you will look carefully at the bow section of a hard chine boat, most are slightly turned down to keep the spray down. That hollow section is what causes most of the noise. There is a trade off here. Filling the chine will make for a much wetter ride.

The Mainship Pilot series is much more like a lobster hull with no hard chine at the bow. I had a Pilot 34. You can still get slapping against the hull. They do, however, have a very wet ride. To knock down most of the spray I installed two 13' sections of the Smart Rail System on the waterline. One on the starboard, one port. They didn't increase the noise very much.

My Blackfin had a very wet ride, so I installed two Spray rails at the bow. Worked like a charm. Some may have noticed in my video of running the Blackfin there was zero spray coming aboard.

Earbuds with your favorite tunes

Rear stateroom solves chine slap sleep disturbance.

Captbill said:

I am hoping that present or past owners of the Rum Runner or Pilot will respond. This is not my first or second or third, etc. boat but it is the noisiest by far. Still looking for the perfect boat.

Click to expand...

I will be the first to admit, I missed the point of the thread. Sorry.

Moonstruck said:

The Mainship Pilot series is much more like a lobster hull with no hard chine at the bow. I had a Pilot 34. You can still get slapping against the hull. They do, however, have a very wet ride. To knock down most of the spray I installed two 13' sections of the Smart Rail System on the waterline. One on the starboard, one port. They didn't increase the noise very much.

Click to expand...

Don,
Did the rails knock down the spray enough to justify the expense and trouble of installing them?

Not terribly expensive at all, 18' length $250 or less

Rigid Vinyl Rub Rail: 2 1 16 x 1 7 16 Rigid Spray Rail @ tacomarine.com

kwmeyer13 said:

Don,
Did the rails knock down the spray enough to justify the expense and trouble of installing them?

Click to expand...

Last weekend we were tied up to a fuel dock in a small shrimp town in our 31' Mainship Sedan Bridge. It was really calm but when we went to bed in the V birth, we heard what sounded like very large bubbles. It was actually kind of annoying just because it almost made you laugh. Funny noise. The next morning when it was light out, i went outside and saw that it was just the way the very small ripples in the water were catching the chine. That's the only time we've heard it. Other than that, we don't mind the noises.