Simple solution effective so far.

[Sweet Chariot]

Hi there.

On one of my recent visits to my boat I found her absolutely covered in bird droppings. The clean up with scrubbing brush and buckets of water took nearly 3 hours to do alone.

Next visit I returned with pressure washer, anti-bird netting from the local hardware store (Bunnings), and a plastic owl from boating equipment retailer, BCF.

The photos show how clean she was after an absence of about 2 weeks.

So far so good. I am pleased with the results.

Steve

www.sweetchariot.blog.com

[Wotname]

I wish you the very best of luck SC.

I have been fighting a loosing war with the ocean rats for a couple of years now. Oh, I win the occasional battle but every time I think I have the upper hand, they out smart me. Perhaps not out smart, they just stay away until they have worked out the weakness of my current strategy and swop on it and exploit the weakness.

At one stage, I thought I had them beat. Boat all covered up with netting and all - took an hour to set it up and another hour to remove it. Two hours out of the day's sail .

Left the boat for 2 or 3 weeks and they found a way to enter the netting and then moved as the netting kept away other predators. Those couple of weeks were enough to build a nest and lay eggs.... Grr.

I suggest you keep moving the owl around as often as possible as they soon realize it isn't a threat if it doesn't move and they seem to take great pride of sitting on it's head!

One idea I haven't tried is to get a store dummy dressed up and leave it in the cockpit!

Again good luck and let us know if something works!

[Mr B]

CD;s dangling on a string,

Little plastic snakes tied to the mast, but you need to hang them so they move,

$2-00 shops have them, They are about 600 mm long,

[Sweet Chariot]

Has a long term problem with birds in the eaves until I put a rubber snake up there. Haven't had one since and it has been years. Going to get some for the boat too.

Steve

[zeehag]

cds hanging on a string adversely affect people near the boat being strung up like a garbage dump--bright lights can hurt vision while in an anchorage or underway. the flashing lights fromthe cds as hesun hits them can cause visual disturbance headdacches in other humans.
is easier and much more neighbor friendly to merely string some monofilament over the areas the birdees like to sit. they will stop sitting there.
the owl will work until the birdees see it is not moving, then wont work anymore.
i like the net--but is difficult to use boat with net hanging everywhere-- will it tangle in a good high wind lightning storm??? strategically placed, i can see the good of that---for areas my gato cannot reach.....
there are no birds on my boat when bubba is lying on the deck, which is usual occurrence

[Hydra]

When my boat was on a mooring, I prevented seagulls from standing on deck by laying lengths of black string low over the deck between the mast and the bow & stern pulpits. Those birds don't like to have something over their heads. It only took a few minutes to install and remove before going sailing.

I don't know if it would work for other bird species.

Alain

[saltshaker]

That guy on Miami Vice used to keep an alligator on board.

[onestepcsy37]

cd's worked perfectly for me, and were the cheapest solution. for some reason the birds preferred my boat to all others in the anchorage.

i bought a couple of boxes of cd's at a dollar store and a a length of line. tied the cd's on at about one foot intervals, then hoisted it up with the topping lift. never had a problem again. and, it made it easy to find my boat in the dark....

[briesey]

Yep CD's work well, both boats either side of me cop the lot, I think the movement and reflection in the sun keep em away....

[zeehag]

the reflecting shiney strobe effect from the cds will give many humans migraine headaches. use with caution. some folks could be upset with ye.

[Tingum]

I have to share a good story: Once upon a time when I was running a marina in Fla I had an older but very enthusiastic security guard. One afternoon I heard a series of shots followed by screaming and sirens. Running over to one of our furthest docks I saw "Bill" with his 9mm out surrounded by a column of shooting water, sparks flying and a group of our local men in blue. A rubber rattle snake (used to scare gullys) had blown off a customers bimini top and landed on the dock. Bill had killed it, along with the water and electric to the entire dock!!