Has anyone ever found an effective gull deterrent for yachts?

KAL

KAL

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 Feb 2006
Messages
1,547
Location
River Dart
Visit site
I know this has probably been discussed before, but we were absolutely pasted on our mooring last year. We have tried bunting, flashy hologram tape, fluttery plastic bags and the like. The sods keep roosting on the side decks and creating a veritable health hazard.

I'm about to try one of those owls with a rotating head, to see if that will make a difference.

Anyone got any other suggestions?
 
have tried everything (Plastic owls, CD's, humming line etc). My problem was them sitting on the spreaders and I had some very severe cases of it! A fisherman in Cornwall said they hate nets and I have resorted to hoisting a net up to the spreaders whenever I leave the boat. Seems to work. Not sure, but maybe there is a way of stringing some net across / above the deck. May be worth a try, not that expensive. Netting was the only thing that worked for me
 
GrahamM376 will be along in a bit to answer all your questions. He is an expert on these matters, but if you saw the state of his boat you would never believe it :)
 
The answer to this question is no. After many years of trying to keep our helidecks clear of guano on our offshore unmanned gas platforms I'm afraid that very little will stop them. The only thing we found helped was to stretch multiple lengths of heavy fishing line or place hundreds of stick down spikes in the area you want to deter them from. Neither of these methods are acceptable on a helideck and would take too much time for you to set up on your boat after every visit.
We spend loads of money buying noise generating systems that were supposed to scare them off with shotgun noises, distressed bird noises, cars backfiring, you name it, we had it. All with no success. Strangely though, they never roosted on certain rigs and they seemed to have their favourites. We put that down to the food availability local to the rig.
The only thing that may help a bit is to string fishing line in a way that stops them coming in to land or taking off easily. This seems to deter them but certainly doesn't stop them.
If you have another boat nearby you could throw scraps on their deck and try to train the birds to go there instead of on yours. (joking of course).
I'm sorry not to have been more help but if the answer was out there I could make a small fortune from the oil companies.
Greeny
 
If you string fine thread criss-cross over the deck, from guardrail to guardrail, it keeps them from landing because they don't like the thread when they bump into it, and (I assume) they can't see it very well.

Pain is taking it off when you use the boat and putting it back when you leave.
 
We have used plastic snakes from the pound shop
Seems to work a lot better than the plastic owl we had
Other one is to leave them some broken up alkaseltzer as a snack
 
nickd said:
We have used plastic snakes from the pound shop
Seems to work a lot better than the plastic owl we had
Other one is to leave them some broken up alkaseltzer as a snack
Click to expand...

Ah yes, the old Alkaseltzer trick. Seems to give them a bit of a headache though :cool:
 
+1 for thin line across the decks - it's the only thing I've found to work on a swinging mooring (and also happens to be the cheapest). Tried CDs, metal reflective tape and a plastic owl without any success. I think the owl actually attracted them because I found it without its head one day.

On my boat (a sloop) I run:

1. A line as a triangle from the top of the port side of the spray hood (always left up), aft around the backstay and back to the starboard side of the spray hood. This covers the cockpit.

2. Another line in a triangle from the middle of the spray hood, forward around the port lower shroud, then across to the starboard lower shroud under the boom, and back to the middle of the spray hood. This covers the coachroof.

3. A final triangle from the port lower shroud, forward to the pushpit and back to the starboard lower shroud. This covers the foredeck.

I've never had trouble with them parking on the spreaders, perhaps the net suggestion above would work for this (and you wouldn't need so many thin lines).

Regards,
Austin.
 
Last edited:
greeny said:
T... or place hundreds of stick down spikes in the area you want to deter them from. Neither of these methods are acceptable on a helideck and would take too much time for you to set up on your boat after every visit.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I wonder how much one of those police "stinger" car-stopping devices costs?

Mike.
 
I tried encouraging eagles to hang about to keep the gulls away by leaving some fish heads
Came back to even worse bird crap problem plus little bits of gull all over the deck:)
 
We had a real problem with them and tried several things before stumbling on these http://www.gullstop.co.uk/daddi_long_legs.asp . They really do work! It was a mobo we had, one large set on the wheelhouse roof, a second smaller one on the cabins roof. Pivot fixed in place, lift off the apparatus and stow Ina plastic tube. For a sailing boat, I'd have one fixed to the pulpit, one to the pushpit and possibly a third on a strap on fixing on the boom. Usual disclaimer about no connections etc, just a satisfied gull free customer...
 
Sandyman said:
GrahamM376 will be along in a bit to answer all your questions. He is an expert on these matters, but if you saw the state of his boat you would never believe it :)
Click to expand...

I was thinking of chucking bird feed on neighbour's boats - maybe yours:) Worst are the airport eagles which like to perch on spreaders and drop bits of caught birds on deck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top