How to get rid of bugs and spiders?

[sailcruiser]

I use a combination of diatomaceous earth and starbrite's spider away ( non toxic smells like spearmint.). They're never completely gone but reduced greatly. Wear a respirator puffing DE into corners. It's a lung irritant.

SC


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[cruisersfarm]

Originally Posted by autumnbreeze27

In the late afternoon you can see spider webs trailing from all of our standing rigging, and we sail a lot. Mexican spiders, they only bite the wife so far.

It depends where the boat is kept overnight, when the spiders set their traps.

If it's well off land overnight, there are no flies and no food for the spiders.

Has nothing to do with sailing.

Just where the boat is stored when it's feeding time for spiders.

[Comix Bay]

Okay, here is one that we have tried and it worked in our brick house and motorhome. Get Horse Chestnuts in or out of the husk, spread a few in each cabin, salon or engine compartment. No more spiders. No guarantee or warrantee. Good luck with the GF.

Ted
Comox, BC

[ztsf]

We stick the little fabric softener drier sheets in our drawers and cabinets. Bugs don't seem to like them, and the drawers smell good. Can't remember seeing any bug in a drawer after starting that. But the trick is trying to keep them from getting aboard in the first place.

[first wind]

Originally Posted by Blair1

Hello Everyone, I hope you're all well and surviving the winter.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get keep spiders and other bugs off a sailboat - inside and out? My girlfriend has a really bad bug phobia, to put it mildly, and to keep us both sane and happy, I need to figure out a way to deal with this issue or I won't be sailing much this coming summer. She can't see or be near them.

To give you and idea of what I'm dealing with, she once jumped out of a moving car while driving because a spider came down in front of her face. She also screamed and left the room when we watched Harry Potter because she saw a spider on the TV, then had night terrors all night. Funny enough, she is okay with flying bugs, just not the ones that crawl.

I have ordered a new companion way screen and hatch cover. I'm also going to try to seal all through hulls. Do you have any other suggestions? I don't want to use too harsh of chemicals in fear of breathing them in.

Thank you. I greatly appreciate any feedback.

Blair

humans have been trying to get rid of bugs for centuries. it can't be done. the best that has been achieved is to control their populations. antarctica, as far as i know, is the only place on this planet without bugs....and when i say bugs i am not including things like crabs and lobsters although they are also arthropods.

if you just wanted to get rid of bugs, i'd say get more spiders, very beneficial animals. without them, we would be overrun with bugs.

reading your post, though, i don't think that trying to succeed in completely getting rid of every bug that might be in her proximity is a viable answer.

if she is actually willing to jump out of a moving car, risking her very life, because there was a spider on the window, i think counselling is a better answer. phobias can be cured.

let's say you were able to do the impossible and get rid of every arthropod on your boat, what are you going to do when you are sailing out in the middle of a big body of water and she jumps overboard because a ballooning spider lands on the deck of your boat?

(yes, spiders do balloon using parachutes made of webbing. they have even been found on high altitude weather balloons.)

a phobia that serious about something so ubiquitous on this planet is dangerous to have on board a sailboat.

[CarinaPDX]

Before I went cruising, while still in Portland, the exterior of Carina had spiders hidden (and not so hidden) on the deck and in the rigging. Once I started cruising they quickly disappeared and stayed away for 16 years. But as soon as I returned to the US east coast they quickly colonized. The lesson: go cruising and life is better. Returning sucks. Also, North America is full of spiders.

My personal choice of toxins is Home Defense spray. I spray it on the mooring lines and fenders to keep the lovelies from climbing aboard. It lasts a long time. When tied at the headwalk it was less effective as the spiders absailed down from the cottonwood trees on the shore - so I moved out a few slips. In the fall I spray around the hatches or else they absail into the interior. I didn't do that last year and had two occasions of spiders suddenly appearing in front of me. Of course either screening or closing the hatches works as well. I will be experimenting with tea tree oil below decks.

In the late summer the marina is overrun with large spiders. To keep the population down, and minimize the number wanting to warm up below once the fall chill shows up, I hunt the ones aboard just after dark with Home Defense and a powerful flashlight. Spraying kills them and the residue deals with hatchlings and new colonizers.

I do try to keep the spray away from the water - it is not nice to marine life.

Better living through chemistry...

Greg

[bletso]

I really don't mind the odd spider or cricket as they like to eat the other nasties. I really don't like roaches of any kind and mud daubers, (they have bad temperaments and can put their nests in very hard to reach places)

Ddabs, thanks for the boric acid recipe.

[hamburking]

I'd recommend therapy. Jumping out of a moving car? Really? Will she jump overboard?

Have you tried reading Charlotte's Web?

You might just need a whole new GF.
Much easier to replace than a diesel, I'm sure.
You can get them online, but they are never as good as the pictures. Best to shop locally. Try the marine shop or a bar. Sometimes you can pick one up at a supermarket very reasonably. Also, nothing wrong with an older, used GF, but I'd avoid anything from the 70's, unless you remember the 70's.

Back to spiders.

My boat was totally loaded with spiders. Big fat, juicy ones. It was amazing to watch the diesel or the outboard (for the dinghy, but kept on the rail) when started, as all the spiders came running out. In the evening, after sunset, the spiders took over. My kids freaked. But I gave them each a fly swatter, and it became a game. They would kill dozens. The next morning I would clean up the splattered remains.

My solution? Every time I saw one, I would grab it (pinch between finger and thumb) and toss it overboard. I also scrubbed many nooks and crannies where they had setup their homes. Every day I would go around with a rag and wipe away any and all webs. If you are staying on board, after a few days of diligent spider patrol, you won't see but a few. Unfortunately, whenever you leave the boat, they will quickly repopulate.

Maybe take her out sailing in some really big waves...and she'll be so seasick she won't care about spiders anymore?

[SaltyMetals]

I had a boat in fresh water for many years and had to promise my daughter i would clear away the spiders before she would come aboard. Now that I have had a boat for a few years in the sea i dont get any spiders at all. Occasionally mozzies. Sometimes flies if it is near a fish-farm, but never spiders. Is the bug problem predominantly a fresh water problem?

[Ribbit]

Get a cheap steam cleaner. Not a hand spray gun type, one like a small canister cleaner so it holds more water, enough for about 45 minutes of steam at over 200 deg F.

It'll clear the boat of them, their eggs, molds and spores, plus you can do the cushions. You will have a nice sparkly clean boat at the end of 45 minutes.

Can use it on deck too.

No chemicals needed, just water.

[Lizzy Belle]

Originally Posted by SaltyMetals

Is the bug problem predominantly a fresh water problem?

From personal experience: nope. Was on salt water for over a year, and had plenty of spiders and other little critters.

Right now I'm right smack in the city - very few spiders (brackish tidal water, tho I'm pretty sure it has to do with loads of concrete and no trees etc). Before I was 'in nature' and with an amazing view came an equally amazing assortment of spiders and even creepy crawlers I'd never seen before. Or after, for that matter.

[markpierce]

Never had an insect inboard except for the occasional fly or mosquito. Washing the boat's exterior takes care of spider webs. Not much help, am I.

[PuttingDoctor]

Originally Posted by Blair1

Hello Everyone, I hope you're all well and surviving the winter.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get keep spiders and other bugs off a sailboat - inside and out? My girlfriend has a really bad bug phobia, to put it mildly, and to keep us both sane and happy, I need to figure out a way to deal with this issue or I won't be sailing much this coming summer. She can't see or be near them.

To give you and idea of what I'm dealing with, she once jumped out of a moving car while driving because a spider came down in front of her face. She also screamed and left the room when we watched Harry Potter because she saw a spider on the TV, then had night terrors all night. Funny enough, she is okay with flying bugs, just not the ones that crawl.

I have ordered a new companion way screen and hatch cover. I'm also going to try to seal all through hulls. Do you have any other suggestions? I don't want to use too harsh of chemicals in fear of breathing them in.

Thank you. I greatly appreciate any feedback.

Blair

So Blair... Nobody has asked where you are berthed. I see you're from Toronto, is the boat in Lake Ontario? Or elsewhere?

If you're in the north then winter storage prep is key to controlling what you find in the spring.

As many have suggested perhaps professional help is in order.... For you GF, and the initial clearing of the boat this spring.

Of note is that spiders do not groom. So any toxin laid is generally ineffective unless they ingest it second hand via a bug that did.

[Steve Bean]

I strongly urge you to get an experienced, professional counselor to deal with the phobia. It can be done. If this person will jump out of a moving car, she could cause an accident that could kill or maim several people. She could be sued for damages. Please take care of this ASAP.

[captain58sailin]

I have not read through all of the posts, but if you want to go non toxic, there is bay leaves for spiders, and boric acid powder for everything else. I ran across this cure on facebook, I cannot vouch for it's effectiveness, but I am going to give it a try on my place in Belize.
https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.co...36242469765365