Repelling Insects

[Summitfun]

Jcapo has my secret. Hang some fabric softener dryer sheets around your cabin. It will make the boat smell better & disude the mozzies. Citronella candles on deck help too.

[bobconnie]

Go boating now, Haveing spent a misspent youth as a sailor, Ive had experinces with houses of Ill repute In most countrys of the world !! Im sorry you grew up with no help in this area !! Im sorta proud of my misspent youth !! I feel it's one of the reasons Ive lived so long and am so healthy!!!

[clockwork orange]

When I lived in Taiwan i read somewhere that if you ate a lot of garlic the mozzies wouldn't bother you, it worked for me, i was the only one in the office that they didn't bother. There is a company that makes 12v bug zappers, you can find them online, i don't know how well they work. I will probably try one this summer as its hard to find anything that works inside the cabin, citronella and sprays are not supposed to be use indoors.

Steve.

[Tx J]

Some of our coastal Texas mozzies might be stopped with a 20mm Bofors AA cannon...

[Outwest34au]

Equal parts of methylated spirits, olive oil and Dettol in a spray bottle works OK also on the skin.
Thanks for the tip on the fabric softener sheets.

[CarlF]

We've used Thermacell for the last few years. Absolutely magic as long as there's no significant wind. Easily protects the whole cockpit. No real smell. Nothing on your skin. Works on no-see-ums as well as mosquitoes.

In light wind we put it under the dodger and it still works pretty well.

http://www.amazon.com/ThermaCELL-MR-...AS5FAAX96DMWAF

[Tellie]

Be prepared. I used to think anchoring far offshore would help but Swamp Angles have their own LRRP patrols. They are at the worse during dusk and dawn. I have my sleeping quarters well prepared before hand with good no-seeum netting and wind scoops if AC is not available, 12Volt fans if needed as well, and the bunk door closed tight before I retire, only to open long enough to enter and close it immediately behind me. I can deal with a few errant ones before I head off to sleep but there is nothing worse for a good nights sleep than that incessant Bzzzzzzz around your ears.

[JPA Cate]

When we were in the Solomons, we used a double bed size mosquito net that was soaked in a solution of Permethrins & water, we fixed it so it covered our 36 footer's cockpit. It worked very well, and as an added bonus, flies that got on it dropped to the deck, dead as the proverbial doornails. In the Sollies, the flies are a big nuisance, but the danger is from malarial mosquitoes, so we learned to be extremely careful. But screening will keep out mosquitoes, and you get your cockpit back once it is enclosed. We made but have not yet needed one for this boat, that attaches with velcro around the sides and back of the awning, with old rope to hold the deck part down, and sealed.

For keeping out no-see-ums who can come through regular screening, we spray the exterior with long lasting cockroach surface spray. They don't come through, but I don't know how it works...perhaps they don't like the smell.

Good luck with it.

Ann

[RaymondR]

Using yeast/brewers yeast/marmite/vegemite to repel mossies is a myth. I've just done a google search and there was not one item that supported the claim that yeast is effective

A nice evenly spread of about 1/4" thick marmite or vegemite over all the exposed areas of skin would probably work.

I use the little 12V zapper gadgets I build out of three 5 watt resisters in series on a piece of circuit board with the cut off cap wired to the underside. The one I am using at the moment has been going for about 8 years or so and cost about five dollars. You can buy them at the chandlers but they cost a lot more and only take the little biscuits whereas the home made one takes the little bottles with the ceramic candle evaporator and you can muck about with the series resistance to slow down the evaporation for the small volume of a boat. I don't think these things repel the little beggars but it kills the hell out of them.

I keep a spray bottle of baby oil and eucalyptus disinfectant in my dingy rather than repellent as I don't like spraying myself with chemicals. Works well and my scaly old skin stays old but less scaly after a few applications. Mozzy coils work well if you can stand the fumes even in the cockpit and I usually burn one if going up a river or creek or want to sit in the cockpit and fall into the grip of the grape on balmy evenings.

[Safari38LH]

Originally Posted by CarlF

We've used Thermacell for the last few years. Absolutely magic as long as there's no significant wind. Easily protects the whole cockpit. No real smell. Nothing on your skin. Works on no-see-ums as well as mosquitoes.

In light wind we put it under the dodger and it still works pretty well.

http://www.amazon.com/ThermaCELL-MR-...AS5FAAX96DMWAF

We tried this last year in Nova Scotia and it worked very well. We had the unit without a lamp.

[jwing]

My favorite method is fans. A comfortable, cooling breeze for people = unnavigable torrent for mosquitoes.

[zeehag]

mexican skeeters LOVE wind and they do not speak english,. citronella oil on wood works for short time...2 days.... candles add heat....lol we dont DO that here...
autan which is sold online and in mexican tiendas is only thing i have found that keeps delishuss old me safe from dengue infection secondary to skeeter bites.
comes in sensitive skin and normal..... i will be ordering cases of the sensitive skin kind for my own use....i already have many bottles of the regular.

oh yes..they also LOVE garlic and chile....lol

[mikereed100]

In Alaska we wrapped chicken wire around the cockpit. It allowed plenty of ventilation and kept all but the smallest of the skeeters out.

[mausgras]

Originally Posted by jwing

My favorite method is fans. A comfortable, cooling breeze for people = unnavigable torrent for mosquitoes.

You beat me too it. I don't know about those mexican mossies but a good fan keeps their Asian cousins grounded

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Canuck_123]

Originally Posted by Lepke

Screens, of course.
Currently on the Columbia River, I run 2 bug zapper lights, one on the bow and one on the stern. I got them on ebay for about $75 each. At high bug times, these seem to draw the bugs just to the light. So when on deck they just seem to fly by people on deck on their way to the zapper. When mosquitos are out, there is a specific bait that goes in the light base. Often, after running all night, there will be a small pile of dead bugs under the lights. However, if the constant zapping sound bothers you, this may not be your solution. I have a larger inverter and battery bank, so can run the lights and other items at anchor.
Lepke

Bug zappers (if set up outside) are horrible inventions since they kill bugs indiscriminately. You end up killing a lot of insects that feed off of other insects, including mosquitos!