Attack of the man eating flies

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DJN51

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Oct 26, 2009
377
Hunter 23.5 East Chicago In
Out on Lake Michigan yesterday. Great wind, no waves, then the biting flies attacked.

Had to get off lake. Anyone come up with anything to keep them off? Had Deet, Skin So Soft, 50% water and vinegar. Nothing worked. Open to any advice.
 
D

dlochner

.
Jan 11, 2014
12,760
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
DJN51 said:
Out on Lake Michigan yesterday.Great wind ,no waves then the biting flies attacked,Had to get off lake.Anyone come up with anything to keep them off.Had deet,Skin so soft,50% water and vinager.Nothing worked.Open to any advice.
Click to expand
Have the same problem on Lake Ontario. A fly swatter offers little relief, but it is a great tool for getting revenge.

Long pants sometimes helps, although when the flies attack it is usually warm. They seem to like ankles, so socks help. (Yes, I know that wearing socks on a sailboat is sacrilege.) The flies seem to prefer the calmer air in the cockpit to that on deck, so we try to keep our feet and legs out of the cockpit when they attack.

Dave
 
D

DJN51

.
Oct 26, 2009
377
Hunter 23.5 East Chicago In
Re: Attack of Maneating flies

Not enough flyswatters made for what was yesterday.Been on lake 40 yrs never as bad as yesterday.Maybe cause lake froze?
 
F

Forrest15112

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Jan 22, 2008
423
Catalina 30 Mandeville, La.
I live in south La and i'm not sure if we have the same kind of biting insects, but I have had great results using an Avon product. The exact name escapes me, but it doesn't have citronella like skin so soft. The primary ingredient is Picaridin and it works very well. I live on the edge of a swamp and get deer flies, horse flies, & mosquitoes. In the darker areas of the swamp, we have asian tiger mosquitoes which are large and very aggressive. It keeps all of them away and doesn't smell like poison or citronella. It isn't greasy either. It comes in a silver spray aerosol can with an orange cap.
 
Rick Webb

Rick Webb

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Jun 2, 2004
3,507
Hunter 23.5 Fort Walton Yacht Club, Florida
Skin so Soft

Only thing we found for the No-Seeums when we were in Biloxi
 
woodster

woodster

.
Sep 15, 2009
6,243
S2 9.2a Fairhope Al
Forrest15112 said:
I live in south La and i'm not sure if we have the same kind of biting insects, but I have had great results using an Avon product. The exact name escapes me, but it doesn't have citronella like skin so soft. The primary ingredient is Picaridin and it works very well. I live on the edge of a swamp and get deer flies, horse flies, & mosquitoes. In the darker areas of the swamp, we have asian tiger mosquitoes which are large and very aggressive. It keeps all of them away and doesn't smell like poison or citronella. It isn't greasy either. It comes in a silver spray aerosol can with an orange cap.
Click to expand
i just looked in the catalogue and found a can as you described as Skin So Soft aerosol spray with Picaridin on sale for about 7 dollars
 
D

dlochner

.
Jan 11, 2014
12,760
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Re: Attack of Maneating flies

The flies we get on the Great Lakes are about the size of a house fly and live out on the water as far as 20 miles or more offshore. They are worse in hot light air and when crossing the lake they can make for a miserable crossing. Often we just put the auto pilot on and sit on the cabin top to avoid them. Any breeze tends to blow them off, but they settle in the cockpit where there is limited air movement. Maybe we need a cockpit fan?
 
patrickince

patrickince

.
Jan 18, 2013
76
Hunter 340 Bayfield Ontario
Re: Attack of Maneating flies

We have them on Huron also and as much as I hate it we keep the screen windows on the dodger and keep it closed up reasonably tight. It is a trade off as its hard to see out. FYI do not get bug spray on the plastic windows as it melt them somewhat.
 
C

carolelowry

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Aug 6, 2013
2
Oday 26' Hancock Harbour, NJ
Skin So Soft

DJN51 said:
Out on Lake Michigan yesterday.Great wind ,no waves then the biting flies attacked,Had to get off lake.Anyone come up with anything to keep them off.Had deet,Skin so soft,50% water and vinager.Nothing worked.Open to any advice.
Click to expand


Avon Skin So Soft Original. It keeps away the New Jersey Green Heads, which bite and leave horrible lumps for years after. Also, Bounce Clothes Dryer sheets work well inside the cabin and salon. One in each of the salon and cabins is usually enough. They keep out the "Mosey's", little black flies (biters) and "no-see-ems". Both work wonders.
Good Luck
Carole
 
B

Bryce Custer

.
Sep 25, 2008
6
Hunter 410 Vermilion Yacht Club
On Lake Erie the biting flies are ruthless as well.
We have yet to find a spray/lotion to keep the flies from biting.
We carry mosquito net suits. These are a life saver when the flies attack.
We found these at a discount sport store. Can also find on-line (Mosquito net suit in search engine).
Good Luck!
Bryce
s/v High Heel
 
F

fdr14127

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Apr 23, 2012
20
C&C 29 MKI Niagara on the Lake Sailing Club
Last year there was a feature article on the flies in the Canadian magazine GAM (or maybe Ontario Sailing). At any rate it dispelled a lot of myths surrounding these Devils and is worth googling for on the Internet. They propagate on the edge of the shoreline and are attracted to Yellow oilskins. There's no known relief but they do dissappear as you get near port, go figure...
 
J

Julie Mor

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Jan 28, 2013
3
None None Chicago
Reminds me of the first time we were sailing off Chicago. We passed downwind from one of the cribs and within minutes we were in a swarm. We couldn't get rid of them and ended up cutting the day sail short.

After that we carried Skin So Soft on the boat at all times. Bugs don't like that stuff at all.
 
cygnussailor

cygnussailor

.
Jun 2, 2004
45
Catalina 400 Muskegon, Michigan
I find that fly swatters just make fly guts which attract more flies!!! The only thing I've found that works is covering up, which is usually counter intuitive since they are worse when it is hot and calm!!!
 
E

EmmaC

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Nov 16, 2009
10
Hunter 33 Miami
Forrest15112 said:
I live in south La and i'm not sure if we have the same kind of biting insects, but I have had great results using an Avon product. The exact name escapes me, but it doesn't have citronella like skin so soft. The primary ingredient is Picaridin and it works very well. I live on the edge of a swamp and get deer flies, horse flies, & mosquitoes. In the darker areas of the swamp, we have asian tiger mosquitoes which are large and very aggressive. It keeps all of them away and doesn't smell like poison or citronella. It isn't greasy either. It comes in a silver spray aerosol can with an orange cap.
Click to expand

I was a sailing racer on Lake Michigan for years, starting in the 80's and I have seen these flies cover the deck until it was black and ran red with blood from crushing the flies. Usually a higher wind will get rid of them. My theory is that they are blown out into the lake from land and are looking to catch a ride on the boat. You might try gin, it works for some bugs, rub it on your skin. I now live down da bayou in South Eastern Louisiana and the worst here seem to be mosquitoes.
 
Jim Seamans

Jim Seamans

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Mar 21, 2004
2,175
Hunter 356 Cobb Island, MD
Hate the little suckers. Been out of sight of land and being attacked. Found a military grade flame thrower helps but you need to be careful of the sails...
 
Mike4116

Mike4116

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Jun 7, 2004
350
Oday 28 East Tawas
We sail Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron and the only solution we could come up with was to put a full enclosure on the boat with screens. Even so the flies sneak in but the numbers are low enough that a fly swatter will control the few that invade. While the enclosure is costly (6K) it adds a room to the boat on rainy days and offers shade on scorchers. the sides and back zip off easily for fly free days but when it is needed it is great.
 
py26129

py26129

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Oct 25, 2011
576
Island Packet IP31 Lake St. Louis, Montreal
We got attacked, last year across the bay from Waupoos. We were anchored in the lee of the cliffs, on the north side of Prince Edward Point and it didn't take long for the buggers to find us. The only thing that helped was to flee across the bay and anchor closer to Waupoos where there were no biting flies. Go figure.
 
Nom De Guerre

Nom De Guerre

.
May 6, 2012
303
Hunter 28.5 Jordan, ON
fdr14127 said:
Last year there was a feature article on the flies in the Canadian magazine GAM (or maybe Ontario Sailing). At any rate it dispelled a lot of myths surrounding these Devils and is worth googling for on the Internet. They propagate on the edge of the shoreline and are attracted to Yellow oilskins. There's no known relief but they do dissappear as you get near port, go figure...
Click to expand
I found the article and just read it. The flies breed in rotting vegetable matter at the shoreline, and can travel up to 70 miles.

Their proboscis evolved to cut through horse hide, so socks aren't a problem.

The only effective deterrents are products containing more than 20% Deet, by volume. Up to 40% can be applied directly to skin, 25% was found to offer approximately four hours of relief.
 
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gregrosine

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May 6, 2013
20
Beneteau 352 Holland,MI
We were on Lake Michigan yesterday as well. 20 knot winds and flies came out. The day before it was calm with 3 knot winds and no flies. Go figure.
 
C

cat30

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Jun 2, 2004
51
Island Packet 31 stony point,ny
long island sound flies

They lie in ambush for a boat to go by- they bite thru clothes! by the time i got to the marina the cockpit looked like a murder scene.
What are they doing 5 to 10 miles offshore- just waiting for a boat to go by?
 
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