Insect Repellent.

[BurnitBlue]

The bites are itching for days and they are building up so bad I am having difficulty sleeping. I think they are caused by no se-ems. They are also silent. I have tried protecting the boat interior as usual with screens, tablets on those oven things, and this year insect spray. They were usually effective but this year i am still ashore in Greece, trying to get ready after three years of covid idleness. I cannot launch until the commissioning is complete. Normally this would be an irritation but this year the insects have stopped me cold.

Any tips on chemical repellants that I can buy in Greece (never tried personal skin preparations before) I am getting very concerned about any health damage that can happen, deng, malaria, West Nile etc

The normal defences I have used seem to be useless this year. It could be me somehow, because I see other boats with open hatches and wind scoops. What the heck am I doing wrong this year?

 

[greeny]

Not used any for years now here in Portugal but from memory, the product needs to have "lots" of Deet in it. The more the better. We used with good effect a product called "skin so soft" from Avon (no deet). This worked very well. Not sure if it's still available and maybe won't get it in Greece. Maybe off Amazon?
When we were getting bitten, my wife suffered terribly and I was almost immune even though we slept in the same bed and lived the same life. My theory was that we were both being bitten but she reacted worse than I did hence the spots and itching. So maybe the insects aren't worse this year, maybe something about you has changed making you more reactive. Diet, medication? Just a suggestion.

Lots of sympathy though. No see ums are the worst because you don't even know when they're getting you.

We also used the burning coils to good effect. Set one going before going ashore and leave the boat shut up for an hour or so. Then return and get inside quickly without opening hatches etc. You are supposed to ventilate well after their use but that seems to negate their use if you're going to let them straight back in again.

Amazon.es : skin so soft avon
available from Amazon Spain it seems.

 

[BurnitBlue]

Not used any for years now here in Portugal but from memory, the product needs to have "lots" of Deet in it. The more the better. We used with good effect a product called "skin so soft" from Avon (no deet). This worked very well. Not sure if it's still available and maybe won't get it in Greece. Maybe off Amazon?
When we were getting bitten, my wife suffered terribly and I was almost immune even though we slept in the same bed and lived the same life. My theory was that we were both being bitten but she reacted worse than I did hence the spots and itching. So maybe the insects aren't worse this year, maybe something about you has changed making you more reactive. Diet, medication? Just a suggestion.

Lots of sympathy though. No see ums are the worst because you don't even know when they're getting you.

We also used the burning coils to good effect. Set one going before going ashore and leave the boat shut up for an hour or so. Then return and get inside quickly without opening hatches etc. You are supposed to ventilate well after their use but that seems to negate their use if you're going to let them straight back in again.

Amazon.es : skin so soft avon
available from Amazon Spain it seems.

Thanks for the advice. You are correct, i think, when you surmise if there is anthing different this year about me. Nothing that I can pin down, yet I have heard that different close individuals do have remarkably different experiences. Your idea that people are bitten in the same number of times but their internal chemistry causes a very different reaction is a new approach I have not heard of. It actually makes more sense than a bug that can recognise and differentiate between people who are exhalling the same air, which is what they are said to home in on. Thanks for the new insight.

In the meantime, I must grin and bear it while cutting down the jobs to do so I can launch out of the boatyard ASAP. Iwill order"skin so Soft" when I get home.

 

[Yngmar]

Electric prallethrin evaporators from the supermarket. AC plug but only 15W, so can run off inverter. These worked extremely well for us in Greece and Sicily. No detectable smell. The burning coils scared us off more than the insects!

You buy the evaporator unit with one bottle and then just buy replacement bottles. Brands vary, often expensive Raid but almost every supermarket has a budget alternative too. Just check the label to make sure the active ingredient is prallethrin.

 

[LittleSister]

I agree - I find insects repellent! ?

 

[Wansworth]

I agree my wife gets biten and reacts badly with spots and bad itching whilst I seem to be free

 

[Sandydog2]

If you are getting bitten at night with all the nets up I'd check it isn't bed bugs.

 

[BurnitBlue]

I agree my wife gets biten and reacts badly with spots and bad itching whilst I seem to be free

Does anyone know why this happens? We in Skandinavia have a prize ( a Nobel one) for anyone who can rid the world of these critters. No one will miss them. Not even the greens. They have no function as a contribution to life.

Electric prallethrin evaporators from the supermarket. AC plug but only 15W, so can run off inverter. These worked extremely well for us in Greece and Sicily. No detectable smell. The burning coils scared us off more than the insects!

You buy the evaporator unit with one bottle and then just buy replacement bottles. Brands vary, often expensive Raid but almost every supermarket has a budget alternative too. Just check the label to make sure the active ingredient is prallethrin.

That looks similar to the electric cookers that use tablets. They used to be great and effective . I suspect that they can mutate quickly to avoid the good stuff. Fly paper covered in sticky blood could be a winner. DIY for those with a wife's blood as bait.

 

[Wansworth]

I drink red wine…….she white?

 

[BurnitBlue]

If you are getting bitten at night with all the nets up I'd check it isn't bed bugs.

Wow, that is athought that did occur to me, after a long absence but it happens in the cockpit and on the ground during the day. I have an aft cabin so it was natural to blame something that hardly happened before. I now think that my chemistry has become delectable.

 

[BurnitBlue]

I agree - I find insects repellent! ?

Plus one. Their place is in the garden.

 

[KevinV]

Skin so Soft has changed formulation - still worth a try, but it didn't work for me in the Highlands last year.
If your reaction is the problem, perhaps an antihistamine is a better option - just check with your GP or pharmacy that it doesn't clash with any meds you're taking

 

[Clancy Moped]

The jury is out on Vitamin B1, I found it helped, but for the OH it made no difference.

 

[Sandydog2]

Wow, that is athought that did occur to me, after a long absence but it happens in the cockpit and on the ground during the day. I have an aft cabin so it was natural to blame something that hardly happened before. I now think that my chemistry has become delectable.

OK. Just thought it worth considering in case anyone had brought bedding on board that might have carried them. Sleeping bags used in hostels etc. The bites take many hours to develop but the pattern is different. Not random like mosquitoes.

 

[Wansworth]

Wife took prescribed anti hysteminic pill for the itching now fast asleep on the sofa??

 

[BurnitBlue]

Skin so Soft has changed formulation - still worth a try, but it didn't work for me in the Highlands last year.
If your reaction is the problem, perhaps an antihistamine is a better option - just check with your GP or pharmacy that it doesn't clash with any meds you're taking

Yes. I knew there was something I had forgotton. My boatyard neighbour on a Bavaria, used antihistamine for great success for him and his wife. I don't recall whether it was a cream or a tablet. He did mention the word Doctor so I didn't persue it as the mosquitoes were not the problem they are today. I will check into that next time into a Preveza chemist.

This thread is making me itch.

 

[BurnitBlue]

OK. Just thought it worth considering in case anyone had brought bedding on board that might have carried them. Sleeping bags used in hostels etc. The bites take many hours to develop but the pattern is different. Not random like mosquitoes.

I don't think I have ever seen a bed bug. Are they visible? Your comment about grouping could still be relevent. I am covered in red mounds of bites in a pattern of grouping. Seven on one spot of my leg with nothing else round them. Could this be the answer? It would be stupid of me to skip this advice because I dont like the sound of it. Kind of reeks of poor hygeine. I will dig out a change of bedding. I usually sleep on an laid out sleeping bag covered with a large bath towel. The bath towel is changed regularly, but not the underlay. Ooops. It could be the underlay sleeping bag. All bedding is originL from the previous owner of the boat.

 

[greeny]

I drink red wine…….she white?

Could be onto something here. We're the same.

 

[ChromeDome]

I'm the great mosquito attraction in our family. Don't know why..

When travelling I look for local repellents - believing that local insect variants need local repellent.

Got some in Sweden years ago "Djungel olja". Good stuff, believe it's been banned for harming the insects.
Brought a couple of products back from down under, mainly ignored by European stingers.

Wasn't there a diet with garlic, steaks, bacon and red wine to keep them at bay? Or was I dreaming
Better test it myself, starting asap.

 

[st599]

Just remember DEET melts paintwork, plastic, varnish ... and is very painful if you sweat it in to your eyes.

Skin So Soft or the citronella aerosol stuff you get all over Africa works much the same without the pain/boat damage.