THE PBO SOLUTION

Any type of insulation will help to deaden sound, but the PBO reader can find inexpensive solutions quite easily. Noisy bow thruster? Just lag the tunnel with a dense soundproofing material, as found from Halyard Marine or Advanced Acoustics, or use some acoustic plywood as a floorboard. Robbins Timber stock these, as do non-marine companies such as Specialised Panel Products and Welshbased Winwood Products.

Foam linings will reduce the sound of slap and chuckle at the waterline.

Using 3M insulating tape on tanks can stop them resonating so much, and you can beef up the engine spaces with another thin layer of dense soundproofing, or add more partitions below the floor.

Dutch motorboat builders Linsenn put heavy acoustic mats inside the bilge directly above the propellers: this dampens any resonance from the pressure changes as the blades rotate.

cancelling noise paths: here are some extra soundproofing layers each side of extra plywood partitions to ‘eggbox’ the engine and gearbox area. this kills off sound that could transmit through an otherwise open bilge

Strips of metal tape, like this one from 3M, can be crisscrossed over metal tanks, and act like placing a hand permanently on a drum skin. note the extra insulation to prevent big temperature differences between the tank and the bunk, which would cause condensation

the builders of fast sportsboats have been using the skisuit material, thinsulate, as an acoustic barrier as it shaves a great deal of weight from the engine room