hi all
I have recently started using netting to keep seagulls off my boat. The trouble is it takes about 20 minutes to set up, when i get off the boat or want to get under way.
Last year I had a dead seagull that I hung on the boom that kept his fellow birds away for a couple of months, I think when he eventually stopped looking like a seagull his mates came back.
Any one have any smart quick to set up ways of getting rid of these pests.
Oh yeah I seem to have the worlds biggest seagull rookery on an old sh@t trimaran about 30 metres away, the owner has been unseen for 3 years but the RMS won't do anything about this ****ter, despite complaints from me.
Any ideas apart from the obvious.

Cheers

Yep I had the same problem .Things that dont work are streamers ,owls, high frequency strings,cds, dvds ,rubber snakes (the sea eagles think they are the real thing.) So I have gone the netting way too we split the netting up the centre, and My wife sewed some velcro strips down each side so we can join it up around the mast, lazy jacks stays etc .It is still not bullet proof as the swallows still got in this year and raised two chicks in my sail cover. Still takes 20 minutes to re erect after each day out but has detered the seagulls so far.catch you later .catch you later.jm.

Where I am they use fishing line over head and that keeps them away theres 4 line running along the marina piers that seems enough to deter the gulls from coming anywhere near the boats .to crap on them
I dont have a photo but below you can see four square steel post these keep the fining line running the full length of the marnia piers





So all thse silver post have runs of finish line running along them works OK in that application

I park my boat in a shed 50 kms from the sea....has to be some benefit owning a trailer sailer

In woodford bay there are hardly any gullls but now you guys mention it there are a few ****ters covered in poo and gulls. My boat totally left alone as are most in the bay. Church point had heaps of gulls and always had to clean boat

No seagulls at Camden Haven..
But we do have the odd Pelican!!! Worth a 100 gulls!

Hi all just to prove there is a god of sailing folk the trimaran **ter bird nesting boat has a sticker on it from RMS saying fix the boat or move on. I guess they send a letter to the owner I just hope the hillbilly can read . It would be a great day when they tow that piece of plywood crap away and burn it and its resident gulls

Sorry to rant

Cheers

HG02 said..
Where I am they use fishing line over head and that keeps them away theres 4 line running along the marina piers that seems enough to deter the gulls from coming anywhere near the boats .to crap on them
I dont have a photo but below you can see four square steel post these keep the fining line running the full length of the marnia piers





So all thse silver post have runs of finish line running along them works OK in that application

This seems to be the best idea I have seen so far. How fine is the line? Like 1 kg fishing line? Maybe could clip from backstay around the boat. That would just leave the spreaders and the masthead vulnerable.

Ramona said..
What about hanging a couple of your Cliff Richard CD's up with a bit of fishing line with swivels between them and a sinker on the bottom. Just a clip and a swivel hanging under the end of the boom.

The CD idea works well for me, although it could be they just don't like my music. I have a few along the foredeck and a fine line above the boom to stop the birds sitting there. Current problem (inside Middle Harbour) are the cockies - they sit on the wind instrument bar at the masthead and have chewed off one of the cups already. I'll probably put some form of pointy object up there to deter them. Spreader lines are essential.

The owl experiment was a dismal failure; I imagine the gulls looked down and thought "Hey - that owl looks pretty comfy, let's go and sit with him".

In general, if a seagull is born in a bay it tends to stay there; prevent or get rid of the nests and over time the problem will thin out.

Just my $0.02..

Ok I have done a bit of research through a friend who is a biologist with an interest in birds of the ratlike persuasion.
He said the best way to get rid of these avian pests is to reduce their numbers in your direct area by disturbing their nesting habits. Whilst not being specific and or condoning violence towards these ariel pests. He basically said that you should target the boats that are never visited i.e. mooring minders. Get on board boot their nests into the ocean on a regular basis and they will move on to another perceived safer area. He said if you could stop them nesting for a season then you would halve the numbers in your bay 2 seasons would see them basically cleared off. He said that they would go somewhere else and nest and it would not lead to a decimation of bird numbers. As they are territorial ,the more they are disturbed they will force excess numbers off the mooring minders and out of the bay altogether.
The basic problem is mooring minders that are never visited.
Whilst I hate getting on someone else's boat uninvited in this case I think that it is the only way, these people don't give a stuff about their boats and the RMS don't seem to care enough to really do any thing about mooring minders.
Oh yeah apparently the owner of the piece of crap trimaran near me paid his overdue mooring fees and that is the end of the RMS interest in this rubbish boat. So it will stay to remain a bird haven.
Any way I now have a cunning plan Baldrick to see my bay free of sea pests within 2 years.

Hasta La Vista seagull

www.theguardian.com/uk/scotland-blog/2012/mar/30/seagulls-red-card-arbroath

www.gullsweepaustralia.com/?gclid=CJ_Xi_TxicICFdcRvQodgzIAZw

www.pestgard.co.nz/collections/seagulls

www.boatus.com/seaworthy/birds/

www.birdgard.com/Marine

www.birdbgone.com/products.html

What would be a nice is a small solar panel powered sea gull noise repeller I know they made them for starlings a while ago

HG02 said...
www.theguardian.com/uk/scotland-blog/2012/mar/30/seagulls-red-card-arbroath

www.gullsweepaustralia.com/?gclid=CJ_Xi_TxicICFdcRvQodgzIAZw

www.pestgard.co.nz/collections/seagulls

www.boatus.com/seaworthy/birds/

www.birdgard.com/Marine

www.birdbgone.com/products.html

What would be a nice is a small solar panel powered sea gull noise repeller I know they made them for starlings a while ago

Maybe a recording of the last you tube and fit a timer to a play back device so it powers up every half hour and or a movement device
Using sea water in a small let say a computer water cooling might end up with corrosion problems

use your boat alot.

Sectorsteve said..

exaclty how i feel about car alarms that go off for hours because of a cat. i feel like smashing their windows...the irony of alarms. can cause a non thief to damage your vehicle while you are at work and your alarms going for hours...

That's why this was developed...

well they wont anchor to close to you will they

I generally find that if the sails are up and there is forward motion that the seagulls tend to look for another boat to crap on.