My boat was bird vandalized! Suggestions?

[erebus]

Finally got a mooring here on Cape Cod for my 18 SeaCraft. It's in Cape Cod Bay here in Brewster, so not ideal, but better than trailering and quicker than waiting on the 15 year waiting lists for better moorings.

Anyway, put the boat out about three weeks ago, and used it a lot (when the tides were right). This week took a hiatus busy at work etc. Didn't make it down to the beach to check on her until tonight.

Totally trashed with bird poop. Every surface. The deck, coamings, console, leaning post, motor cover.
So demoralizing. All that restoration work, and now she looks like she's been abandoned.

I'm going down with a brush and a bucket in the AM, but what the heck happened? How did my boat become the best roost in Brewster?
The sailboat next to me doesn't have a mark on it!

Any suggestions from the SeaCraft hive mind?

Do they like the flat decks? No bow-rail, or t-top.
I got a bird b gone spider for the foredeck, but I would basically need an 18' long spider to be really effective. Mooring cover? ( $$$!)

Any suggestions or recommendations on bird deterrents?

I know you guys love pictures, Ill try and get one tomorrow.

[NoBones]

Sea birds trying to mate ?

Rubber snakes on the deck...

[FishStretcher]

I see white plastic grocery bags on what looks like pieces of broom handle on rod holders and hawse pipes around these parts. The motion and noise in the wind seems to help?

[Islandtrader]

Down here in Fl. I see folks stringing thin Mono line line between high and low points and pulling it tight. I don't know if the "singing" of the tight line keeps them away or just the idea that they fly into it once and don't come back...

[erebus]

Trashed...
And this was only about 4 days.
Also, high and dry which is sad.

I strapped the Bird-B-Gone to the bow this evening, and cut some pvc that fits in the aft rodholders with mono-filament strung tight to the bow above the side decks.

Guess we'll see...

[CaptLloyd]

That's hard to look at

Use your bimini top. Place it upright, but not unraveled. Use heavy mono (100-200lbs) to secure it to the bow and stern cleats to create the "spiderweb" to keep the birds out. Also tie 3 or 4 plastic bags along the bimini to discourage birds from roostering.

On the 101' yacht I run, while in New Jersey for the summer, we must rig a suspended plastic owl and a spiderweb of mono over the hardtop, otherwise we wake to a terrible mess every morning. But when "Hootie" and his monofiliment friends are on patrol, never a problem. What I've found with the owls is they must be suspended and move/bounce around. Just stapping an owl to a mast doesn't work, it must be deployed in a manner where it has some movement. Then the other birds stay away.

Good luck.

Lloyd

[bobbert]

What a mess. The mono filament strung diagonally over the console should work.
In the past we had a problem with sea birds landing on the plastic roof of a greenhouse.
One run of mono 12" over the ridge solved the problem. For clean up try Arm and Hammer
laundry detergent with Oxiclean. Good Luck.

[NoBones]

Well, after seeing the pics it would be a no brainer for me...

Lets look at this again..

1 NO WATER
2 Massive amounts of poop
3 Massive amount of time to clean poop
4 Wait for water to use water (guessing every 6 hours)
5 Return to mooring after day of use having fun
6 Clean up go home.
7 Come back week later
8 Repeat steps 1-6

I think the trailer option would be a whole lot less stressful..

[castalot]

Holy crap what a mess pun intended ��

[PigSticker]

Totally agree with No Bones..