Want more sound

I have tinnitus. Too many years racing motorcycles, shooting skeet, and working with power tools have permanently damaged my hearing.

I love the sound of a well tuned engine. I can't hear them as clearly as I once could. My concern is for the operator of the boat and for the image of boating.

I don't mind a bit when the poker run starts just off my dock every year. Some of my neighbors don't like it and the Mayor lives right down the block. If the boats don't keep the noise down they might loose the poker run, that would be a shame.

Why anyone wants to make more noise than they have to is beyond me.

It's been my experience that people that run loud exhaust systems are wanna be racers. I've got no respect for poseurs.

If someone wants to damage their hearing, that's their call. Doing it while bothering other people is just a little bit self centered. Not pissing other people off while you enjoy your hobby is just good manners. Running down the inlet pulling a wake and rattling the windows as you go by is bad manners and childish.

I stated a fact, I got attacked personally. That was childish too.

 

First off, sorry to hear about yout tinnitus.

Secondly, you were not personally attacked by anything I wrote.

Thirdly, have absolutely no idea how I operate my boats. You jumped to a conclusion because of my opinion that noise control advocates are running around trying to control everything from my boats to my lawnmower. Not all performance boaters are "wanna be racers" the same as not all sailboated are "wanna be Americas Cup racers"

I don't particularly enjoy the whine of a leaf blower or edger but I'm not about to go around making a stink out of them with my neighbors everytime they happen to fire them up. I can put up with it for the relatively short time they are operating around my enviroment. That was the point I was trying (obviously unsuccessfully) with my wording of my previous post (prolonged exposure)

 

Hey, I didn't say that YOU made a personal attack, only that one was made. I should have made that clear. My error.

I never presumed anything about how you operate your boat. I made a general statement.

I got the point about prolonged exposure, it does not apply to those on shore. I stated that my concern is for the boater that exposes them self to the excess noise.

I live on the waterfront, I've seen and heard boaters do the things that I described. I never said that you did them, if you took that personally I am sorry. That was not my intent.

I started building race engines over 30 years ago, I know that noise does not equal power. While it is true that highly tuned engines make more noise than lower performance engines, the reverse is not true. Just because an engine is louder does not mean that it is making more power. 100 HP Civic DX's can be modified to make more noise than a Viper, they have 100HP. Add the spoiler, body kit, and graphics and you have a wanna be racer. Same goes for 600cc sport bikes and many "performance" boats (both power and sail). If you want to go fast, it is in your best interest not to draw attention to yourself. I have to assume that having a louder exhaust than necessary is to draw attention rather than go fast.

If a boat goes by my dock and it is so loud that it interferes with normal conversation on the dock, the sound level at the dock is over 80-85 db. That makes the sound level at the boat much higher. There is no performance reason to make that much noise. The boat would go just as fast 10-15 db quieter.

The question remains, why make more noise than you have to?

 

Well this started as a good thread to read.


I want to have the loud exhaust sound too. Nothing sounds better then a slightly modified V8, its music to my ears. However as the big cry baby here stated ,sometimes its too loud. Here is a thought, I wonder if adding more water ports to the exhaust would lower the sound more.


oh sorry I guess this post was getting things back on track with the original question

 

US law requires either mufflers, bellow the waterline exhaust or some other kind of silencing system within three miles of the shore. The legal and polite way to do it is to use one of the systems that bypass the silencing system on demand. They can be either electric, manual or vacuum operated. Basically it's two diverter valves with a flap that directs the exhaust to the muffler or the straight pipes.

 

Nice list, I'll have to see where my hovercraft falls. The higher pitch of the blades seems to be the most offensive part.

 

Same reason I like building potato guns and setting off fireworks, I guess. It's all part of the fun.

 

Wish there was a way we could shut those f*&#ing leaves up!

 

I think it is important to understand that the decibel scale is logarithmic. That means that a difference of 3 Db means double the volume, 6 Db four times the volume. The difference between leaves 15 and a conversation 50 is in the order of 35. That is 2048 times louder.

 

Nope. The 3 dB rule indicates a doubling of sound power, not volume. Volume is measured in sones, which are a direct measure of loudness as opposed to decibels, which measure intensity or power.

So an increase of 10 dB roughly corresponds to a doubling of loudness, not 3 dB as stated.

Ask me, a drag racer, why I know so much about perceived loudness!