Small boat emergency raft

[dlochner]

Instead of worrying about a life raft, I think you should be looking at how to put no-see-um netting on all your hatches, ports, and companionway. If you can build a cockpit enclosure that keeps the bugs out that would be cool also. It can get ferocious up there!

And do forget the biting flies out in the middle of the lakes.

 

[colemj]

And do forget the biting flies out in the middle of the lakes.

If you have discovered a way to forget them, please share it! It's been 37yrs since I sailed the Great Lakes, and I still have PTSD from them.

Mark

 

[dlochner]

If you have discovered a way to forget them, please share it! It's been 37yrs since I sailed the Great Lakes, and I still have PTSD from them.

Mark

Sail off the coast of NJ or down the Alligator Pungo Canal, the flies on Lake Ontario will seem tame and sparse.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Sail off the coast of NJ or down the Alligator Pungo Canal, the flies on Lake Ontario will seem tame and sparse.

I've never experienced flies off shore along the NJ coast. I've seen maybe one video where somebody mentioned flies. But I suspect that if you find flies along the coast, you are way too close to the shoreline and it is way too shallow to be there. I sail 2 to 3 miles off where it is 50' deep.

I would agree that the greenheads we have inland on our coast are not even remotely as troublesome as black flies on the Great Lakes.

 

[dlochner]

I've never experienced flies off shore along the NJ coast. I've seen maybe one video where somebody mentioned flies. But I suspect that if you find flies along the coast, you are way too close to the shoreline and it is way too shallow to be there. I sail 2 to 3 miles off where it is 50' deep.

I would agree that the greenheads we have inland on our coast are not even remotely as troublesome as black flies on the Great Lakes.

We are typically 3-5 miles offshore. The flies can be horrendous, a flyswatter is essential but not sufficient. Once arriving in Cape May the cockpit looks resembles a battle field with blood and carcasses everywhere.