Bird Poo on Stackpack

[Tam Lin]

Last winter I made a stack pack for the boat and felt rather pleased with myself, especially when I fitted it and it worked. Halfway through the season I wasn't feeling so happy as birds had been perching on the edge and pooing in the middle by the zip. I tried tying bits of string across the top without much success. Has anyone experienced the same problem and overcome it?

 

[Stingo]

I had a LARGE rubber snake there, which solved the problem. I'll fire up my laptop and if I can find the photo, I'll post it.

 

[Hermit]

Slacken the stackpack lines when you leave so the battens are below the top of the inner bit (where the poo is). Then they can't use it as a perch (and also doesn't pool water)

 

[blush2]

It's a nice shelter for them when it's windy.

The snake idea seems to work for small birds, we had problems with wagtails. In the cockpit we put several snakes where they were obvious, and a garden net across the spray hood to stop them sitting on the coiled halyards and fouling.

However we ended up lacing the stacker by pulling the jackstays together. It was also important to tie closed the ends of the stacker to stop the little horrors creeping inside and messing on the sail.

 

[Bodach na mara]

I had a similar experience with the old traditional sail cover. I ran a piece of nylon cord between the topping lift and the top of the cover at the mast end so that it was about 6" above the cover at the point halfway along. That worked for most birds. Then one year we had the problem with one group which didn't seem to mind the cord. So I took a lot of old CDs and DVDs and drilled holes in them near the edges and threaded them on the cord. That worked.

I second Blush's experience about them getting in at the rear end. A pair nested there last spring after I put the sail back on during several weeks of shite weather when we couldn't sail. I didn't notice until I yanked up the main and saw the birds flying off along with the remains of the nest. Oops!

 

[Tam Lin]

Slacken the stackpack lines when you leave so the battens are below the top of the inner bit (where the poo is). Then they can't use it as a perch (and also doesn't pool water)

Doh! Why didn’t I think of that?

 

[RivalRedwing]

I have a sail inside my stackpack, it doesn't have a trough in the middle for the birds to fill

 

[Boathook]

I suspect that the side of the stackpack are too tall. Mine has a curved top to shed water and this leaves no where for the birds to perch on the main.

 

[Ardenfour]

Last winter I made a stack pack for the boat and felt rather pleased with myself, especially when I fitted it and it worked. Halfway through the season I wasn't feeling so happy as birds had been perching on the edge and pooing in the middle by the zip. I tried tying bits of string across the top without much success. Has anyone experienced the same problem and overcome it?
View attachment 165180

mine is identical...