No-see-um and Mosquito Repellent (Florida)?

[FSMike]

Coils for mosquitos, Skin So Soft mixed 50-50 with water and put in a spray bottle for sand gnats/no-see-ums.
Works for me.

[RaymondR]

This threads a bit old but anyway.

I use a mixture of baby oil and a eucalyptus based antiseptic about 4 parts to 1 in a supermarket spray bottle for both mozzies and no-see-ums. Works well for keeping the little beggars away and if they have already had a bit of a chew on you it will take the itch out. A side benefit is that it appears to do my old scaly dry skin good.

Inside the boat I keep one of those electrical candle things going when I am in creeks or rivers or near mangrove shores. I make them out of 5 watt resisters in series so they only cost a few bucks a piece and don't smell. Don't know what is in the vapor they give off but the itchy bites sure don't like it. Photo could be available if you want to build some.

[Nicholson58]

I always thought the smokey mosquito coils were voodoo when I was a kid. We ran in them in Canadian fly-in fishing camps and found them both effective and entertaining. Fun to watch the little buggers spin in and crash at the bridge table. They twitch for a couple minutes and then - - -------- flat line. Baby oil is good on the water. Very little is necessary to keep them from biting.

[Piton]

We've encountered no-see-ums (no see ums/no see ems ) pretty much everywhere up and down through the Caribbean chain over the last few years of our live aboard travels, and of course in Florida and Texas, they (and their bigger brother, the mozzie) are pretty ubiquitous.

For the first few months it seemed like we were in our attempts to keep them away. Worst occasion was pulling into Rum Cay a couple of years ago having just transited up from Mayaguana. Literally, within 2 seconds of hitting the pontoon to tie up I noticed my bare arms and legs had turned a deep shade of no see um black; I was covered with them . We were vacuuming them out of various nooks and crannies in the boat for weeks afterwards, anyone been there?

Anyway, digressed a bit there.....

Over the next few months we got serious about trying out various products, all worked to varying degrees, all had varying ingredients some good some bad some, well mainly water! Then we found these babies: The Solid Bar Company Bug Bars. Produced in the Virgin Islands by ex-sailors so they have good green ocean friendly ethic, so chemical-free, biodegradable, recyclable blah blah blah.......but the main things is they worked for us AND the kids and stuck with them ever since, so just saying and recommending.

Fair winds (and no bites to all)

[exMaggieDrum]

Practical Sailor, latest edition, has an article on using catnip oil spray (from pet stores) for biting flies, but it does not work on skeeters or no-see-ums. I hate them all so may get some. Biting flies are very aggressive and hurt like the dickens.