I'm posting this blog entry at the suggestion of my marina neighbor Shannon after I spent half an hour going around the docks tying off flapping halyards. Walk around almost any boat yard or marina and you are sure to hear the rhythmic ting, ting, ting of rope frapping against the mast. As the wind picks up as it has today this cacophony only gets worse. It irks me that perfectly sane people let ropes bang against the mast like they do,not only is the noise extremely annoying but it wears out the rope and strips the anodizing of the spar and I hate to see that. All that is needed is a bungee cord to pull the offending halyard away from the mast, I tie mine off to a convenient shroud. It only takes a moment and your neighbor who is trying to get some sleep below will thank you for it.
Dear Mark,
Thanks for the wealth of infomation you post on your blog.
English not being my first language, nautical terms can be quite confusing, but I am pretty sure you make a slight mistake in the above entry. "Frapping" is the actual proces of lashing a flapping line, and a line (and not a rope) that goes ting, ting, ting is not frapping.
All the best,
Martin
Posted by: Martin | April 28, 2013 at 05:50 AM
Frapping is perfectly good nautical term and most sailors, in Britain at least will understand the term.
Posted by: Mark | May 08, 2013 at 07:29 PM