My harbor (Mamaroneck, NY) is inundated with cormorants. While they're graceful and beautiful, they love sitting on spreaders and projectile pooping from stem to stern. They also eat fish on the decks, leaving poop and fish guts everywhere. For the first 3 years, I just washed and scrubbed for hours each weekend. I tried lots of things including satchels of bird-repellant chemicals that professionals use (a friend is actually in that business), without successes. For the past two years, this technique has resulted in zero bird poop. Seriously - zero. I use soccer netting to cover the boat so the birds don't have a comfortable spot to land. It take about 20 minutes each time I leave the boat, but it's sure better than 2+ hours scrubbing!
I hope you find it useful:
(1) Spikes on the spreaders - on all the spreaders, so the birds don't sit there. Some people say this is enough. I'll keep putting the netting up as I see other boats with spikes on spreaders and bird poop.
(2) Netting stretched out over the entire boat so birds don't have a place to land. I bought two soccer nets - about 2" x 2" square holes in the nets. One soccer net is about 10' x 10' (for the bow, forward of the mast), and the other is 10' x 20' for aft of the mast. I looked at 'marine netting' but it was outrageously expensive. Netting for soccer goals was reasonably priced (I think I paid like $50 or something like that).
Before leaving the boat, I start at the bow and attach the smaller net to one set of lifelines using carabiners shown in the photos. Whichever side I start on, I just wrap around the lifeline and clip the net to itself without worrying about tension. Once one side it done, I go to the other side and I wrap the netting around the lifelines but this time I pull the net so it's taut enough that a bird cannot land comfortably on it for stability. I test with my hand to ensure that the weight of a bird cannot allow it to touch the deck but it's not so taut that the net itself gives a firm platform. This way, any bird landing on the net is off-balance and flies away. I clip the middle of the aft end of the small net around the mast.
I then put the larger net over the boom, attaching one of the shorter ends to the mast, connecting the front of the large net to the back of the small net around the shrouds. I also wrap the back of the large net around the backstays. I do the same trick with tensioning the larger net. There are some gaps near the shrouds where a bird could land on the deck, but it's not been an issue so far.
After 2 years of having zero (and I mean zero) poop, while watching others around me struggle to keep their boats poop-free, I'm convinced this works.
I hope you find it useful:
(1) Spikes on the spreaders - on all the spreaders, so the birds don't sit there. Some people say this is enough. I'll keep putting the netting up as I see other boats with spikes on spreaders and bird poop.
(2) Netting stretched out over the entire boat so birds don't have a place to land. I bought two soccer nets - about 2" x 2" square holes in the nets. One soccer net is about 10' x 10' (for the bow, forward of the mast), and the other is 10' x 20' for aft of the mast. I looked at 'marine netting' but it was outrageously expensive. Netting for soccer goals was reasonably priced (I think I paid like $50 or something like that).
Before leaving the boat, I start at the bow and attach the smaller net to one set of lifelines using carabiners shown in the photos. Whichever side I start on, I just wrap around the lifeline and clip the net to itself without worrying about tension. Once one side it done, I go to the other side and I wrap the netting around the lifelines but this time I pull the net so it's taut enough that a bird cannot land comfortably on it for stability. I test with my hand to ensure that the weight of a bird cannot allow it to touch the deck but it's not so taut that the net itself gives a firm platform. This way, any bird landing on the net is off-balance and flies away. I clip the middle of the aft end of the small net around the mast.
I then put the larger net over the boom, attaching one of the shorter ends to the mast, connecting the front of the large net to the back of the small net around the shrouds. I also wrap the back of the large net around the backstays. I do the same trick with tensioning the larger net. There are some gaps near the shrouds where a bird could land on the deck, but it's not been an issue so far.
After 2 years of having zero (and I mean zero) poop, while watching others around me struggle to keep their boats poop-free, I'm convinced this works.
