removing bird poo from deck - any tips gratefully received

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fredrussell

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I'm about to purchase a boat that has been on a swinging mooring all summer and has been targeted by gulls and the like. I won't be able to pressure wash her until she is back on shore for the winter. In the meantime, any top tips for removing the nasty stuff? Is it just elbow grease and a scrubbing brush required? I have seen the foaming bathroom cleaners recommended on one US boat forum - will this work with sea water or do I need to get fresh water on boat to use that sort of product?
 
It takes time for it to soften. If it has been baking on all summer I would do the job during or after a wet spell of weather or be prepared to go round a few times. The smell can be awful so I would not start it with a hangover
 
Bird s*!t remover http://www.birdshitremover.co.uk/index.html might be worth a try but they dont say whether it can be used with seawater.

bottle_hand_spray.gif
 
Funnily enough, been thinking. I have added my patent seagull scarer - light line, whipped soft eye one end, plain whipped end the other end. I thread the plain end through the whipped eye round the mast just about the top of the sail cover across to the boom end and tie it off just loosely enough to stop seagulls land on the sail cover (cos of the floopy line in the way - unless of course you have a stack thing) or land on the light line.

So far the seagulls have stopped landing since the patent gull scarer was fitted.

And I am thinking - heresy this on a MAB wooden boat, how about a deck pump tee into the engine water inlet (so no extra hole dans the bottom) with a bulkhead fitting for a flexible hose. Priced up at £45 a pump (and £25 for a bulkhead hose fitting!!!!). Would be good to hose off the decks when the mooring lines acquire a lot of weed. Could this work?
 
I'll see if I can find that product Vic, but it looks like elbow grease is order of the day then. I only hope when I move the boat to my mooring 200yds downriver its 'fans' don't come with it...
 
An ex-military friend mentioned a shotgun when we were discussing this problem at the weekend, I can't think why.

Can you not bring the boat alongside somewhere and hit the sh1te hard with an industrial power pressure washer?
 
The Sydney gulls are smaller than the Pommie ones but make the same mess!! To keep them off is the first thing. The slack line along the boom works a treat, patent already applied for. Have tried Spinning things, plastic snakes, owls, humming line - nothing works for more than a fortnight. Get some fishing net, uglier the better, cover the whole boat stem to stern. Just attach to your lifelines but do not put over your boom as it will sand holes in it, how do we know? The gulls will all go to the next boat. Wait for a huge thunderstorm and job done. Cheers from Oz.
 
fredrussell said:
I'll see if I can find that product Vic, but it looks like elbow grease is order of the day then. I only hope when I move the boat to my mooring 200yds downriver its 'fans' don't come with it...
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Some detergent (W'up liquid?) in the water you soak it with will help to wet it. A garden sprayer might be useful with a supply of fresh water for the initial wetting

Might be tempted to also try something like ordinary Flash liquid.
 
My coachroof is straightforward but my deck is teak and doesn't like being scrubbed. I also find that a good preliminary soaking is the best answer. I often add some Starbright Boat Wash, and then it usually comes off easily after ten minutes or so. Seawater also works fine.
 
fredrussell said:
I'm about to purchase a boat that has been on a swinging mooring all summer and has been targeted by gulls and the like. I won't be able to pressure wash her until she is back on shore for the winter. In the meantime, any top tips for removing the nasty stuff? Is it just elbow grease and a scrubbing brush required?
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Elbow grease and scrubbing brush unless you pay for a marina berth for a night and plug a cheap Karcher in and use their water supply.
 
As to keeping the little darlings away from the boat, we found that the Daddy Longlegs anti gull device was the best solution. We had two, the larger one on the wheelhouse roof and a smaller one on the coach house. Link to the supplier here http://www.gullstop.co.uk/daddi_long_legs.asp . Usual thing about no interest, just satisfied customer etc etc.
 
thesaintlyone said:
Quite a big fan of Cillit bang Limescale and shine myself but only used it on the hard
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Interesting that you mention a limescale remover.. I found over each of the past few years that the Ecover limescale remover was the most effective out of all the cleaners we had on board.

This year we had run out of the Ecover but decided to try a patch using Viakal spray... It cleaned the poo'y superbly.

However, we only did a patch because the 500ml spray bottle label says 'It is not recommended to use Viakal on hot, damaged or acid sensitive surfaces (e.g., gold, silver, copper, aluminium)...' and we didn't want to mark the aluminium window surrounds in any way.

yet the non-spray bottle (according to the website) says 'Viakal can safely be used on: Chrome fixtures, stainless steel and fibreglass surfaces, ceramic tiles, porcelain (sink, shower tray, WC, bidet), glass/plastic (shower doors, plastic baths, vases), aluminium.'

I've not had time to try testing this further on aluminium..
 
As said leave the mess wet for as long as possible to soften it. A light scrub then should remove a lot. Oxalic acid will help enormously for final clean.
I feel that a frequently used boat that is kept clean will not attract gulls like very dirty never moved boat.
A real pain is if they decide to build a nest and start decorating a corner with twigs etc. or even eggs and chicks.
Do not use net. The gulls will try to land and get caught in the net. I had one horrible experience of finding on someone else's boat a stuck gull still alive. I could not get it's foot untangled from the net. Ended up cutting the foot off with pliers. eeek horrible.
I like to be able to go sailing with min fuss and likewise escape after a sail with min fuss so don't like any structure to deter gulls
olewill
 
Arrived at our boat on Sunday to find it covered. Threw a few buckets of sea water over it and gave it a light scrub. Still lots of the hard stuff stuck to the deck. But it was good enough so went out for a stiff beat to windward in F6. Plenty of spray over the decks. When we pulled into East Cowes she was sparkling. Lesson, don't spend too much effort, just go sailing. :)
 
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