Canopies & Bird S#!+, best deterrent

enterprise

enterprise

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Just about to remove canopy and clean up the **** again, I had a spider type deterrent which went overboard in a storm, question is what do find the most effective gull/bird scarer currently available?, Gullsweep seams a popular choice and at £40 I don't want to buy one if there as good as the stuff there meant to keep off.

Opinions please guys.
 
From what I've seen netting and spikes seem to be the only foolproof methods to stop birds, but netting is pain to put on and remove on a boat. Second to that are the movement devices along the lines you mention.

All other methods seem to work only until the gulls get used to the new item - be it fake predator, plastic bag, CD, snake etc. If you are on the boat a lot and can move such things around they'll perhaps take longer to acclimatise to them but that's about it I suspect. Gulls don't like laser pointers however and I'm surprised no one has developed anything to generate random 'spots' around the deck yet... :rolleyes: (Probably because they'd soon get used to it?) Ultrasound might work, but I've no idea the hearing range of a seagull and you might find a boat full of dogs instead! :D
 
Have to be honest, I used to have an issue with them although I have a hard top, I used to put the whistling string stuff from garden centres but it wasn't the whistle that kept them away it was the fact there was string things across where they land, couple tied to the ariel always works. I also polish the roof they don't like that.
 
Tried the string and a net, the net was good but one weekend we had to cut a seagull free from a neighbouring boat, you should have see the S#!$ that generated + blood too so removed our net thereafter, luckily the boat was a hardtop so no lasting damage.

String is ok but whistles which needs removing while onboard, so seagulls take the removal of the string as their signal to take revenge.

I'm after a simple solution that works while onboard, easy and quick to remove when we want to cast off etc and easy to store.
 
oGaryo said:
glue pretend sardines and other tasty morsels to your neighbours boat:D
Click to expand...

Like it, unfortunately it looks as though the neighbours had same idea hence our covers are blue with white/green/burgundy spots.

Funny thing is you know when it's summer because the deposits start smelling like chips with curry sauce!!!

The spider type one worked to start but soon after it was funny to see surrounding boats with gulls sitting between the wires!
 
enterprise said:
Just about to remove canopy and clean up the **** again, I had a spider type deterrent which went overboard in a storm, question is what do find the most effective gull/bird scarer currently available?, Gullsweep seams a popular choice and at £40 I don't want to buy one if there as good as the stuff there meant to keep off.

Opinions please guys.
Click to expand...

I use a combination of Gullsweep, bird spikes and fishIng line, seems to work pretty well apart from the unpreventable fly past bombing.
 
I left Black Diamond in the winter before last, at West Mersea, and she looked like a guano freighter. This season, I put her in early, on one of the outer moorings, and did a race a week later. Unfortunately, we left getting aboard a bit late, and didn't have time to clean her up before racing, and we had the disgrace of looking like a bird-infested bovril boat. In a fit of peek, I finally fitted the Gullsweep that I bought a year before but never got round to fitting, to find it was one of the very few jobs that takes less time than one thinks. I also agonised about whether these things work before I committed to buy, but, read on.......

Result: Not a single richard on deck in three weeks since it was fitted. It may cost forty quid, but it palpably works. One tip, though, you don't need one both ends, I sited mine on the foredeck and the aft deck has stayed clean as a whistle.

All the best
Greg
 
enterprise said:
Just about to remove canopy and clean up the **** again, I had a spider type deterrent which went overboard in a storm, question is what do find the most effective gull/bird scarer currently available?, Gullsweep seams a popular choice and at £40 I don't want to buy one if there as good as the stuff there meant to keep off.

Opinions please guys.
Click to expand...

previous thread:

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=311554
 
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