Not liking being moored, dirty boat.

[Hughesfamily]

Our sailboat has been tied to a buoy for just over 3 weeks now. We paddle out to it often to check her etc. We spent one night on her so far while tied. The bugs are crazy and goose poop is now a thing lol.

I just want to put her back on the trailer and bring her home.....

The other vessels around us are just covered. I spend the first 30min splashing water on her and cleaning. Are there any tips to help us?

[deblen]

Originally Posted by Hughesfamily

Our sailboat has been tied to a buoy for just over 3 weeks now. We paddle out to it often to check her etc. We spent one night on her so far while tied. The bugs are crazy and goose poop is now a thing lol.

I just want to put her back on the trailer and bring her home.....

The other vessels around us are just covered. I spend the first 30min splashing water on her and cleaning. Are there any tips to help us?

Canada Geese are really tasty.....


Just about every kind of "decoy/scarecrow" has been tried locally & elsewhere.
Some work for a while-but geese are smart.
Try to string rope,etc. to block their "runway". Geese require quite a distance to takeoff & they avoid small areas. A dummy dead goose/gull,that flaps in wind,may help.


Gauzy,home curtain material(Walmart) draped over hatch,etc. will block no-seeums.

Cheers/Len

[Hughesfamily]

Thanks Len
We wouldn’t of thought of that. You gave me a few ideas to limit a STOL goose. LOL
The evidence is very well placed; surely not just dropped from above.

[JPA Cate]

fish line for small fish, from mast to backstay, about 6-8" above the boom, will help if they're camping on the boom. Also, from mast to capshroud a similar distance above the spreader--cormorants, shags, and eagles don't like it. Similarly, line across the cockpit at 2 ft. intervals, athwartships. Can also do fwd, to discourage them up there. It is hard for them to see, and they choose to avoid it after encountering it. This is what the Aussies do against sulfur crested cocatoos and shags. Seems to work well.



Ann

[sailorboy1]

birds just like some boats more than others, especially if it is the only one out there

[Kettlewell]

Our big problem is cormorants, and their poop is just nasty! We also have ospreys that want to land on the mast tops. I haul to the mastheads fiberglass rods covered with zip ties sticking in all directions. Spreaders are protected by light lines running back and forth to stays from mast. Decks get protected by loose ropes hung for and aft so they swing in the wind and just clear the decks and cabin tops. I also have a loose line like this that runs just above the furled sail on the boom. Nothing works 100%, but these things help.

[rognvald]

When we were in Miami for 10 years, we had friends whose boats were on moorings at the Coconut Gove Sailing Club. The blackbirds/grackles in the area would eat purple berries and the devastation to the boats for the majority of the year was legendary. The only way to stop the damage was to have a custom cover for the deck and cockpit made from a light canvas and that seemed to do the trick. As slips/moorings become fewer and more expensive, we must learn to adapt to changing conditions.
Rognvald

[Reeve21]

Our problem birds are cormorants, ospreys and crows.

We string parachute cord across the deck and dodger.

This stops them from using our boat as a platform for eating and what happens after they eat. It does not stop the random "fly by" droppings.

Those plastic spikes on top of spreaders and radar domes seem pretty effective.

Never had much luck with a fake owl.

Once found a half eaten fish head baked on top of the dodger, that was fun.

The goal is to make your boat less attractive then the nearby boats. Many people in our cove do nothing at all and rarely visit their boat on its mooring. They really have a problem.

[emilecantin]

When travelling along the US East Coast I saw a lot of these things in places people didn't want birds: https://www.birdbgone.com/repeller-360/

[Hughesfamily]

Thanks for all the suggestions, really appreciate it. I will be hauling some extra bits to the vessel this weekend.

[marcjsmith]

rubber snake, plastic owl on a halyard. I'm at a dock and I can go weeks with only few deposits or after 7 days it'll look like i was carpet bombed. no rhyme or reason it seems, at least nothing I can corelate it with...

[Knotical]

We usually tie string flags all over the deck and it has worked, it is a lot of work to tie and untie but worth it.

I have seen boaters hang yellow inflatable balls with red eyes, old cassette tape (I tried that - didn’t work), stuff toys, loose strings from lifelines and spreaders, and strings made of old CDs - I want to try the CDs as they flap around in wind and are also reflective.

[NorthCoastJoe]

Make a boom tent to cover the aft section and a line from the mast to the bow to toss a second tarp over. I have a Macgregor 25 and it worked for me. If you have wind there use cam straps to tie it down not Bungee cords.

[Don C L]

You're lucky it's only birds. I had a pair of sea lions take a liking to my sailboat when it was anchored once. They leave a very nice greasy, oily, scummy mess behind.

Hanging strips of aluminum foil may help, or a plastic owl. I see others trying that.

[Madehn]

i have had pretty good luck with old CDs in a chain of two or three-- they sway and twirl in the wind and seem to do a pretty good job of discouraging the birds. have an osprey that likes to perch on my mast top and drop half eaten fish down to the deck-- only thing that worked there was bird spikes on the top of the mast. Masthead vhf antenna helped as well. A small electric pressure washer takes up almost no room and can be a godsend when cleaning up turns hours into quick minutes. best of luck