Anchor Rope Noise - Creak, Creak

[hybris1]

I anchored last weekend in rougher conditions than normal. It was blowing about 15 knots with plenty of rocking and swaying. During the night the most annoying thing was the creaking from the anchor line over the bow. It was pretty loud and I was surprised the kids got any sleep. The wind caused the boat to sway back and forth so the line would tighten and loosen. My boat has a plastic roller mounted between stainless runners. Is this common or do I have the wrong type of rope? Is there a way I can reduce the noise? I obviously don't want 100% chain.

[seapuppy]

well....I don't know what kind of rode you have....if it's 3 strand...some people will install rubber snubbers to the rode thus letting the snubber take up the slack...others in larger boats will install a line from port cleat to the other side on the bow and kinda tie the rode into this bridle....thus the rode rides on the bridle .....other than that..not much else you can do about it....

SP

[shrew]

Lines creaking, halyards clanging, water slapping the hull, the occasional wave banging on a reversed chine........it's like a white noise machine that tells me I'm boating.

I believe what you're hearing is simply the line stretching. snubbers are great when you have an all chain rode, because the snubbers decribed by SP will be made of line and will also stretch. This reduces the banging you would get when an all chain rode comes on tension. however, I think you'd simply be swapping which lines on your boat are stretching and 'creaking'.

I wonder if a Kellet (Anchor tender) would reduce this issue?

[hybris1]

Don't get me wrong, boat noises are music. I spent a lot of time on a sailboat as a child. This creak however is very loud. Not too bad back in the mid birth but very loud in the v birth. I can live/sleep with it but I was just curious if there was anything I could do.