Bulkhead creak.

[Indefatiguable]

Hey folks,

1st off, since I last posted here it's been a heck of a summer. Successful splash, 29 million things broken, 28.9 million things fixed, two totally separate waterspout, new tattoos, and almost 600 miles under the keel along with so much time swimming and ... tbh fixing stuff .. at so many cool anchorages. Now on to the question:

In decent+ swells, the bulkhead my pillow is against creaks. Sometimes I swear I feel it kind of scootch a tiny bit in an imperceptible direction (up?). It's not the main bulkhead, but the one that branches off the main one to wrap around and form the head.

When I dig into this, what am I looking for? Anything besides the obvious like rotten wood or busted tabbing? I don't see how it could be doing what it's doing without hull flex, but maybe midnight in rough seas isn't the clearest time to think. 90% of me thinks it's that one beer I lost that one time, but the other 90% knows I drank it and I need to check on this bulkhead.

Thanks in advance, and best wishes.

[Don C L]

What kind of boat and where is the bulkhead exactly? Is this in the v-berth? Can you see the tabbing on the bulkhead? Is it when going upwind? On a certain tack?
I have seen the bottom of more modern, flatter hulls flex so perhaps the movement is coming from below and not from the side.

[sv_isara]

Your fingers can detect movements in the hundredths of inches (less for those trained).

Press your fingers against different cracks/corners/joins as the boat rocks and creaks to see if you can feel movement.

As to how concerning that is, I'll pass that on to someone else

[Tin Tin]

Don't know what boat you have but if it is merely the wooden wall laminate rubbing at the floor join for example this can be remedied with Teflon/UHMW tape, the stuff cabinet makers use to stop squeaky drawers.

[tkeithlu]

If it is the bulkhead against the hull, it is worthy of concern. While the hull overall will flex (there are no truly rigid bodies), the designer meant that junction to be rigid. Given enough time, that means fatigue in the fiberglass. I like the "feel it" idea - never heard that, but it's true also for feeling "round" and "flat."

So, do chase it down. With a little luck it'll turn out to be trivial, but in the worst case scenario, you are in a seaway and the bulkhead stops squeaking and starts breaking loose.

[JPA Cate]

What kind of boat is it?

(Some are more renowned for hull flexing than others.)

Ann