Suspect Tabbing?
A 39B we took a 39 (Same Hull) 40,000 Miles + around the south pacific. Great sailing boats.
I almost have the wiring done on my 1972 Ericson 46.
Pneuma the 39, did't make all that much noise when sailing, a little here and there, but not all that much. Wouldn't have kept me awake offshore in any case. (The olive oil in the galley stores rolling back and forth was much worse, as were the plates in the plate holder ticking back that forth. Those refrences are to give you an idea of noise level.)
The early boats are notorious (39's and 46's included) for having the tabbing poorly attached. If you want to see how poorly go here.
www.svpneuma.com click on any of the tabbing links etc.... (My site, my boat...) It was early in the build process of FRP boats, and there was quite a lot that they didn't know, or hadn't worked out yet. One of the things being that Polyester doesn't bond to cured polyester very well. Also they tended to have really large gaps between the bulkheads and the hull +4 inches in some cases, which creates some really strange situations with the tabbing being bonded to itself through the gap.......
I have been involved in three retabbing projects on 39's and one complete retabbing project on a 46.
So here is the offer. Aiki (The 46), is just about rewired, 4 wires left. From the web site you can see what we have done etc. If you want to look at how it all goes together, and you can come this weekend, (Before I start headliner next week), you can take a look at what we did, and the before and after photos, I also have a few tips for deciding if the tabbing has failed on the head bulkheads. Since you would only have to drive to Alameda, it might find it worth the trip to come and look at what it looks like with nothing on it.
Guy Stevens,
Slave and Captain of
SV AIKI
Ericson 46