I have had a boat on the same mooring for the past 20 years but have
never experienced a problem with birds crapping on it like recently.
Over the years I have the occasional bird incident however a few weeks
back, I went out to the boat and it was a mess.....the whole top of the
main sail cover was loaded, cabin top, the starboard deck back, bimini,
the cockpit, the binnacle.....the worst mess I have ever encountered.
And it was a hot day and the smell was unbearable.....I couldn't get the
boat into a slip fast enough to get access to a hose and fresh water.
2 1/2 hours cleaning the boat.
Sh_t happens, I know. But the next day I go out and the same thing. So
I begin my anti-bird tactics.....streamers everywhere, a rope from the
mast to the topping lift about 6 inches above the main sail cover with
streamers every few inches on the rope.......piled my 3 fenders on top
of the sliding hatch.....crossed lines across the cockpit. Got relief
for a few days but then they were back.
Every day for a few weeks I had to come into a slip and hose/clean the
boat before I could go for a sail.
Then I got an idea......I got a piece of plastic netting 14' X 14' and
tied it to the toe rails and ran it up over the mainsail cover on top of
the rope about 8" above the boom. The boat was virtually protected from
the mast back to the cockpit. No way the birds could get aboard now.
Wrong! Two days in a row the main sail cover, cabin top/coach roof and
the cockpit was crapped on. Can't explain how seagulls and cormorants
could land on top of the netting 8" above the main sail cover but
somehow they did. The yard staff that took me to my boat both days
said "It must have been a fly by!" It was funny but I did not find it
funny.
So I moved the boat into a slip for the remainder of the season......I
couldn't take it any more. The birds broke my fighting spirit.
If it happens again next season, I will get a different mooring or keep
the boat at a slip.
Has anyone perfected a solution to keep birds off their boats?
Rob Abbott
AZURA
C&C 32 - 84
Halifax, N.S.
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