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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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BIRD POOP RUINING DECK

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gerdo
Navigator

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107 Posts

Initially Posted - 06/17/2003 : 08:21:38

I am getting straifed by starlings. Any ideas how to keep birds from targeting my boat?

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MikeM
1st Mate

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72 Posts

Response Posted - 06/17/2003 : 08:49:32

I have a plastic owl that seems to work. I move it to different locations everytime I go to the boat. I also have a rubber snake but I think the birds have caught on to it.

Mike M
Marblehead, MA
C25 #1212

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 06/17/2003 : 15:18:02

At my marina, the swallows wreak the most havoc. These very bold, daring birds will sh*t on anything including rubber snakes and plastic owls.

From what I gather, it appears that birds prefer to crap in a place that has been established as the communal head. This means that a crap covered boat attracts even more crap, because it has been deemed a "Safe Sh*tting Zone" by the birds.

So once a bird leaves a mess on your boat, the droppings attract two of his friends who will come and sh*t on your boat, which in turn attracts four of their friends to come and sh*t, then eight...and so on,...and so on,...because a bird is attracted to the line of sh*t under the lifelines like a walleye is to a big, juicy nightcrawler.

The solution I have found is rather simple...Don't let the birds establish a roost on your boat.

To accomplish this, I sail my boat often and keep it clean. I get compliments all the time about my clean boat, and surprisingly, most people think I spend every waking moment keeping it that way, but the fact of the matter is, I spend less time cleaning it than most everyone else. My routine is to simply and quickly hose the boat off after I've finished sailing for the day so the next morning when I arrive it is clean, dry, and ready to go.

Yes, I do get the occasional bird mess which I will simply spot clean, but my routine is far easier and less time consuming than what most others do. Like the weekend warrior who arrives with guests in tow, to his sh*t covered boat on a Saturday morning and before anyone boards, he must get on his hands and knees to scrub the hardened, baked-on mess that is staining his decks. Then, while the the guests are waiting for the boat to dry, the owner changes his sweat soaked shirt. This is not how I want to start my sailing day.

<img src="http://www.catalina25-250.org/c25sm.gif" border=0>Don Lucier<img src="http://www.catalina25-250.org/c25sm.gif" border=0>
<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b2d904b3127cce9f7cd9ffdf1d0000003010" border=0>
North Star SR/FK

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Bruce Baker
Captain

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USA
402 Posts

Response Posted - 06/17/2003 : 15:42:32

I have found my plastic owl to be entirely ineffective. I read somewhere that hanging old CD's on the boat will scare birds away. That sounds reasonable to me. Wineries have the same problem with birds (worse, actually) and they use bright spangles of mylar to keep the birds away.

The damned things have been nesting in my mainsail, so I've taken to wrapping an extra line around the sail cover to keep them out. They ought to learn that they ought not mess with boats that go out every week. There are plenty of boats that never go out to nest on!

Bruce Baker
Falls Church, VA
"Yee Ha" 3573
'83SR/SK

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 06/17/2003 : 20:01:49

Most will disagree with me on this and that's fine, but I wax my decks at the beginning of each year to make them easier to keep clean. As the deck weathers and ages, it becomes more porous and this makes stains harder to remove. The wax provides a barrier that keeps the stains on the surface, instead of in it, which makes stain removal much easier.

I've been doing this for a long time and it has not been a problem.

<img src="http://www.catalina25-250.org/c25sm.gif" border=0>Don Lucier<img src="http://www.catalina25-250.org/c25sm.gif" border=0>
<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b2d904b3127cce9f7cd9ffdf1d0000003010" border=0>
North Star SR/FK

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mroettersr
Navigator

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USA
148 Posts

Response Posted - 06/17/2003 : 23:39:16

The heck with the rubber snakes. My marina is full of Lake Erie Brown water snakes and one found that the scuppers in the rear of the cockpit was a nice place to get to that white sunny deck and to hide in the fuel locker. It's quite a shock to realize that that moving black hose has no intent on letting you hook it up to a Honda fuel tank. Perhaps I can send you a few?

Mike Roetter
'83 C25 #3568 SK/SR
Marblehead on Lake Erie

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MikeM
1st Mate

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72 Posts

Response Posted - 06/18/2003 : 09:11:56

Maybe the owl only works on the dumber seagull. We move it everytime we go out and it seems to do the trick. I do agree with the roosting comment, its as if your boat becomes a favorite place for thier business all season.

The trick is to stop the roosting so once you find something that works stick with it. There is a few products available at West Marine, a big yellow eye ball balloon and some contraptions that move with the wind.

Mike M
Marblehead, MA
C25 #1212

Edited by - on

Greg Jackson
1st Mate

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84 Posts

Response Posted - 06/18/2003 : 09:28:51

Snakes, owls, and the West Marine "Big Eye" all work for a while. The "Big Eye" may be the most effective. Never the less, most of these only work for a while. Once the birds become accustom to it they will ignor it.

One of the more effective techniques is a light monofiliment line. String it around the boat a bit. The birds cannot see it but they bump into it. It scares the daylights out of them and they will not come back.

G. Jackson

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tinob
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1883 Posts

Response Posted - 06/18/2003 : 12:44:43

Cormorants had us going for awhile...one whitewashed a large power boat with dark blue canvas to the ent degree. Next to it was Franks double ender, fourty feet, pristine, sailer. The cormorants, perhaps adhering to Don's theory that," shi-- attracts more of the same thought they would plaster Franks boat...NOT...Franks solution appeared one evening when he went aboard his boat carrying a box of four foot fluorescence light tubes. The comorants were never seen again. Perhaps an addendum to Don's theory might state that an empty box of lighting tubes harboring a twenty-two rifle will deter comorant excrement.

It worked for him.

Val on Calista # 3936

Val Bisagni]<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3df11b3127cce94709c5ff2e90000000010" border=0>

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PZell
Admiral

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USA
548 Posts

Response Posted - 06/23/2003 : 13:27:16

I had this problem. Tried just about everything including owl and rags flying from rigging and from pigstick on mast. Kept boat waxed but still was spending way too much time cleaning decks before every sail, which was often. They had designated my berth as a roost and that was that. I finally solved the problem by moving off down the dock amid a pack of bigger boats with taller masts and began using old AOL CD's hung around the rigging. There have only been a couple of wayward poops in the past few months. Mainsail cover is tied tightly. I'm sceptical of the 'small lines' tied around the rigging, as I saw a pack of seagulls in amongst such a system once. The CD's work great. I have seen a starling heading for my boat get 'flashed' and change course.

Paul C25FK Sparky
'PZ' W7JVY KFS/KTK/KLB/KOK/WNU/KPH/WCC/VAI/VAJ

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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
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