Singing ships????
 

So, I took my Mac 22 out for her first sail. Just under main alone. Had a great time. Set up was easy and got her out without problems. Winds were fairly light for only having the main up but fun none the less Sailed to the other end of the lake and turned around. When I turned though something strange happened. I went from a starboard beam reach turned and went to a port beam reach. While on starboard it was quiet and normal. However once on port, it started singing, for lack of a better word. There was what sounded like a neighbor's lawnmower coming up from beneath. I tried adjusting the swing keel but that didn't fix it. Can't figure it out for the life of me. Any ideas as to what could be causing this? I checked under the boat but didn't see anything unusual. The shrouds and stays weren't vibrating nor was the mast.



Oh, and my first sail was great, gonna try again this next weekend weather permitting. Spent today rewiring the boat and adding a compass and level. Got her cleaned up a good bit and I'm going to attempt to drill some holes in some stainless steel mast caps I got. I'm going to plug both ends of the mast to keep wasps out. And I'm going to have to find the missing batten for the main. I have it somewhere but didn't know what it was at the time. It's the upper most batten.

Re: Singing ships????
 

It’s the hum of the swing keel cable. Perfectly normal. I owned a Venture 222 as my first boat. Congrats on the first sail. They are great boats to learn on imho.

Re: Singing ships????
 

Re: Singing ships????
 

Is there a way to quiet it? It was fairly loud to be honest. I've been on other swing keel boats and never heard it before. I tried loosening the cable all the way but it still did it.
Thanks Ken, I found the boat to be very forgiving and surprisingly responsive. I could make small adjustments to the sail and get an immediate response, I played with the sail and where I sat in the cockpit. Each thing changed the handling just a little bit.
I thought it was the rigging at first but when I reached up and grabbed them the noise continued. I know I was nowhere near top speed as I only had the main out and the winds were not that strong.


Oh, one other thing that I discovered. The rudder floats. If I didn't have a pin to hold the rudder in I would have lost it completely. It actually bent the pin I was using. Next time out I'm going to try putting a couple of washers under the pin to take up the slack. If it doesn't have a chance to jump then it can't build the speed and force necessary to bend or break the pin.

Re: Singing ships????
 

Re: Singing ships????
 

It's not the harmonica I'm worried about. It's my singing....:laugh

Re: Singing ships????
 

Lots of boats have a "sweet spot" where the boat vibrates at a harmonic frequency. It sings. I've often thought that it is when the boat is really moving, like Titus said. Sometimes you can feel it and not hear it. At any rate, I usually like it.

In my current boat it drove me crazy. It was going on all the time ... well, a lot of the time. I took the prop off and had it checked for pitch at Bay Propeller in Alameda. They said it was way off. It came back shinny and new looking, and I put it back on the boat. Hum gone. Actually every once and a while it comes back for short periods and very much less noisy. Now I like it!!

Re: Singing ships????
 

That does make sense. The keel is awfully rough so that could contribute to the singing. Without the ability to lift her and drop her keel I can't do anything about it. I'm not about to risk a 500lb keel falling on me out where I live. I'd never get out from under it and no one is here to worry about me either. I'll play with it a bit more and see if I can't figure out the range on where she does this. I was going fairly slowly so that could be why she's sing all those bass notes.

Re: Singing ships????
 

Lots of boats hum, its a resonant frequency. Generally nothing to worry about. Some times going faster or slower will eliminate the hum.

Re: Singing ships????
 

I hear you, if I would have tried to harmonize....

....I would have had the coast guard all over me