Sound like rain coming from the hull

[chris31519]

I've spoken to a lot of people and never got a clear answer on this one. On my first trip to Turkey a awoke to a loud sound that could have been heavy rain or someone frying bacon. I've since had that many times of a variety of different boats and locations. Some say it's fish or shellfish, others an interaction with the hull and the water. It's too constant and close to be marine life in my view, I was thinking it might be some surface effect like microscopic bubbles forming and bursting (it sounds like that - as though the boat were in a glass of champagne). Perhaps someone on this forum has the answer?

[Faster]

We hear it in the Caribbean too... and have always been told it's marine life on the bottom. Remember sound travels very well through water so "nearby" isn't necessarily "right there".

[Vasco]

The dreaded pistol shrimp again. There's been many threads on this. Have a look at the video.

YouTube - Pistol Shrimp

[chris31519]

Holy cow, that's pretty amazing! And I have my answer finally, what a great forum!

[Faster]

Originally Posted by Vasco

The dreaded pistol shrimp again. There's been many threads on this. Have a look at the video.

YouTube - Pistol Shrimp

Thanks for that, Rick... great!

[bobmcgov]

We heard that too! In Marina del Rey and Avalon. I was below in a second, tearing aside cushions and hatches, looking for the leak. Very disconcerting! Finally we were able to convince ourselves it was critters or kelp bubbles or something. But for a while, it was panic time.

Thanks for the video: that is truly awesome stuff.

[WanderingStar]

I can hear fish croaking when I'm down below at anchor. It's a very consistent noise that I first thought was mechanical.

[bacampbe]

Shortly after taking delivery on Dancing Days, a friend and myself were hearing this strange clicking and thumping sounds. We were concerned something horrible was going wrong with the boat. One of our marina neighbors suggested that it was fish. We figured we would flush them out by starting the motor. I started it, then ran the prop just a second in each directions.

We were startled by a good size turtle that came out from under the boat at much greater speed than one expects out of a turtle. Fortunately, he had no sign of injury, so I guess he was well clear of the prop.

In retrospect, we should have kept him around--he might have done a good job of keeping our bottom clean.

[AdamLein]

I've never heard such a sound while in the boat, but my bottom is quite clean (mm, so clean). However I have noticed that in the morning if the tide is low as I walk past the pilings in the marina, the barnacles produce a crackling sound not unlike bacon frying or light rain. I would not call it loud, but then I am not in a sounding box to which the barnacles are acoustically coupled.

They actually seem to be sensitive to sunlight and air movement, because they respond even if I'm at a distance and I just let my shadow fall on the piling, or if I sneak up and then blow on them.

Anyway, if you have barnacles on your hull, maybe it's the same thing?

[davidpm]

Same thing happened to us in the keys while we were living aboard our 22' oday about 30 years ago.
The guy on the neighbor boat said it was "fiberglass worms". They always like to pick on the new kid.