Cormorants -- AAARRGGH!

[Capn Pete]

I've had it with being carpet-bombed by a recent invasion of cormorants in the general area of my marina. I've found plenty of helpful suggestions on the Web for preventing them from roosting on spreaders, masthead, lifelines, boom -- everything from inflatable owls to monofilament lines -- but now I need some useful advice for getting the existing guano off the boat.I spent close to 4 hours last weekend scrubbing the hell out of the boat, and while it looks far better than it did before I started (the words "unholy mess" come to mind), it's still a look way from looking like the pristine sailboat it was just a week or so earlier.I used Spic & Span, supplemented with Soft Scrub in selected spots for the deck, and Woolite for the main cover (as per Sunbrella manufacturer's instructions). But like I said, it's a long way from clean. I'm very frustrated, and nearly desperate. What do others use that gets the cleanup job done? Thanks for any advice.

 

[Calif. Ted]

I'm still a fan of Bon Ami

for areas of the deck etc. I only use the Bon Ami on bad parts. I've also used regular laundry detergent to wash mainsail cover (10 years old) with no ill effects. As for keeping the birds away nothing seems to work for long, hanging CD's by mono seems to work for a while, the light reflecting off them scares animals for awhile. I have a prob with something stuffing food in furled

 

[captbill]

Bugs are bugging me!

I guess we're lucky where we are in that the mess from seagulls,herons,and skylarks isn't quite as bad as you describe. However, we're in the middle of spider feeding time and the mess all those little bug carcasses leave drives you crazy! They leave hundreds (thousands?Millions?) of greenish black spots that will NOT come off with anything less than Softscrub (with Bleach, of course.) Some of us use car wax on the decks so that the spots don't stain the deck itself. You might want to try that on your boat.Good luck!Bill on STARGAZERp.s. What are Cormorants?

 

[Steve21928]

Tilex or Clorox Clean-Up

Tilex or Clorox Clean-Up will take care of spider droppings and bird droppings on deck. Wet the deck, allow the excess water to drain off, then spray the spots and give them about 3 - 5 minutes to soak. Use your cleaning brush, presto-spots gone!

 

[agolden]

Clean Up!

Roll-Off, available at Boaters World (BoatUS and West Marine do not carry it), works great. I wet down the area to clean, spray on Roll-Off, let it set a little, then scrub with a brush and then rinse it off. For extra heavey stains I leave it on a bit longer. It's not cheap at 20 something a gallon, but like I said in the beginging, it works great.

 

[Tom2909]

Sun will bleach it out...

I had the same problem last fall. I hang a spare line from mast to topping lift so that it is loose and just above sail cover. Keeps them off.For cleaning, I use simple green. There was a little stain left, but the sun has bleached it out of the white gel coat over time. Let us know if you find anything that works well. BTW -- I just learned of a product called Guardian for car finishes. Comes with a 5 year guarantee for car paint. Wonder if anyone has tried it on a fiberglass boat?Here is the URL, look at the bottom of the page...www.guardianproducts.net/products/automotive.asp

 

[ruedi ross]

I don't know about Cormorants, but

We use plastic owls to scare off other birds and critters that like to crap on everything. Personally I enjoy an evening with a 12guage and a 12pack if noise isn't a problem.