Keeping the bugs out.

[Roadking Larry]

Looking for ideas to keep the dirt daubers out of the spars.

One of the banes of us inland lake sailors in the southern US is mud dauber wasps.
They get everywhere and build there mud castle nests on any surface they can find. Mud dauber - Wikipedia

When I hauled my boat to begin what has turned into a 3+ year refit due to my health problems I found the mud daubers had over the years deposited enough mud in the mizzen mast that there was a 2'+ column of dirt built up at the base of it., Nearly as much in the main mast. Working on plans to make sure all the bug access hole in the mast are sealed off.

I also found the hollow aluminum spreaders to be nearly full of mud dauber nests. That adds considerable weight to the spreaders and will hold moisture that can promote corrosion. The spreaders are wide open at the mast end and have a 3/8" or so hole at the wire end. I'm thinking of stuffing a wad of aluminum screen wire at either end but as yet I'm open to suggestions.

Anybody found a solution to similar problems?

Thanks.

 

[sail sfbay]

Ouch, what a mess!!

Dirt dobbers, or mud wasps as we call them, love your boat because it has spiders. They kill spiders and pack the dead spiders into the mud huts with their eggs/larvae. The eggs hatch, the larvae eat the dead spiders and grow, then they chew their way out of the mud hut as a full-fledged wasp. In short, get rid of your spiders and you will get rid of the mud wasps. You can discourage them from nesting inside your mast killing spiders with repellents, not leaving aromatic stuff on the ground, flushing your masts form the top down annually and consider sealing the entrance points with a tape like 4" wide Incom Mastboot Tape.

While I have not had that specific problem, I have had critters get into the mast and birds setting up nests in the anchor locker, boom and under the arch, while the boat sat on the hard in Napa Valley, for 3 years, even though it was shrink-wrapped to some extent. To rid the critters from the mast, I had to climb the mast and flush with water from the top down. To rid the bird nest in the boom required running an electrician snake through it and blowing with compressed air and working the lines in and out of the boom.

You may find this article helpful: How to Get Rid of Mud Daubers （The Most Useful Method）-X-Pest

 

[rgranger]

Moth balls also work
I keep an old coffee can full and leave out and open when I’m out of the boat. Close it up when I’m on the boat