Allan Cay - Noises Off

When I first moved into my house I used to get a little freaked out by the sounds the house would make as it "settled". Now that we are living on the boat it seems that everything makes noise -- the slap of the waves on the hull, the whistle of the wind through the rigging, and the creak of the boom when we are being rocked by the waves. These are the sounds you get used to, and by now Kevin and I can sleep straight through this cacophony of normal boat noises. But when there is an unfamiliar sound, no matter how faint, it always wakes me up. Like several months ago when I heard the whisper of a whirring noise coming from the wall of the forward compartment. Turns out the genset oil pump switch has been bumped and the pump was trying to pump all the oil out of our generator! Luckily it was plugged up so no oil escaped, but left unnoticed it would've burned out the pump. Or like last night, when the wind was howling and out of nowhere we hear this awful clicking noise on the hull right next to the bed. It sounded ominous and I was afraid maybe the lifelines had been torn loose by the wind (gusting 25+ knots). But when we investigated, it was just a towel that had been hung out to dry and forgotten. It had busted loose and the clothespins were clacking against the hull. Anyway, no matter what you have to find out what's making the noise and reassure yourself whether it's a "normal" noise or a sound that's warning you about something amiss. As I sit here typing I can hear an unidentified squeak that wasn't there yesterday. Better go investigate...