A simple way to mute that midnight noise
Issue 57 : Nov/Dec 2007
Nothing spoils a good night’s sleep more than the occasional rattling of cabinet sliding doors — usually in the galley or head enclosure. This annoyance is right up there with slatting halyards and the dinghy nudging up against the transom at slack tide: bonk!
For relief, I’ve stuck wadded-up paper towels and clothespins between the offending doors as well as pages torn from magazines (but not Good Old Boat, of course), handkerchiefs, and old gloves — anything to silence the plywood chatter that stalks our dreams. But none of my clever and not-so-clever improvements has been appreciated as much as the little wedge of scrap teak that now hangs from a leather shoelace ready to do its job.
The wedge is 3 inches long by 1 inch wide and tapers from 1⁄8 to 1⁄2 inch. The shoelace is led through holes in the thick end of the wedge and cabinet framing above. Stopper knots hold it all in place.
Richard Smith is a contributing editor with Good Old Boat. He has owned and built several boats, including an Atkin Red Onion sloop, a 30-foot Alan Pape steel cutter outfitted from a bare hull, an Atalanta 26, five dinghies, and an Ericson Cruising 31.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
