The Bird is the Word

Status
Not open for further replies.
Aug 11, 2011
20
Ontario Yachts Gazelle 22 NS, Canada
Any suggestions on how to keep the cormorants from sitting and s*itting on a boat that is moored 150 feet offshore? Plastic owls? Playing radio? All legal suggestions welcomed. Thanks!!
 

Rick D

.
Jun 14, 2008
7,204
Hunter Legend 40.5 Shoreline Marina Long Beach CA
What I see most commonly in Newport Beach, CA is:

1. Whirlies on the biminis;
2. Monofilament line from the shrouds to the mast a few inches above the spreaders,
3. Spike strips on the masthead and radar domes/TV antennas.

Those seem to be the most common, plus the CD's strung up just over the forward deck and over the mainsail cover.

I suppose if you worked it out, you could remove and reinstall the stuff over the bimini/dodger foredeck and mainsail cover reasonably fast.

Good luck!
 

Ross

.
Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
Around here a long row of piles seem to work very well as do old break water structures. I rarely see birds roosting on boats.
 

zeehag

.
Mar 26, 2009
3,198
1976 formosa 41 yankee clipper santa barbara. ca.(not there)
cds hanging on the lifelines do it here for my jneighbors.
i have a cat. he does a great job of keeping all birdies except osprey off the boat.
tarps help also. the flapping cloth keeps most birdies off the boat.
 
Oct 1, 2007
1,865
Boston Whaler Super Sport Pt. Judith
Any suggestions on how to keep the cormorants from sitting and s*itting on a boat that is moored 150 feet offshore? Plastic owls? Playing radio? All legal suggestions welcomed. Thanks!!

I have Bird-b-gone spikes on my spreaders, spikes at the masthead. No worries there, those spikes keep them off. The worst problem is cormorants on the bimini. Fishing line has not worked here for the bimini. They just figure out where to land around the line. One guy eases his mainsheet so the boom sways back and forth, and he claims success. Other guys run flags along the boom or fishing line at the spreaders. The whirly things seem to work for powerboats with no boom. otherwise, they land on the boom. It was so bad here I took a slip to get away from the birds, including an osprey who destroyed my wind tell at the masthead. One guy claims if you shoot one and hang the carcass by the feet from your rigging, that works. I actually did see a lobster boat on a recent cruise with a dead cormorant so displayed. Good luck.
 
Oct 1, 2007
1,865
Boston Whaler Super Sport Pt. Judith
PS: Forget the plastic owls. They don't work at all. The birds are waaayyyyy smarter than that.
 
Nov 24, 2007
36
hunter 34 venice
Rick D has the right idea with the line rigged 3 or 4 inches above each spreader going from the mast out to the shroud. If you use monel wire instead of mono it will last forever.
 
Jan 22, 2008
250
Cherubini 37c HULL#37 Alameda
Gulls eat snakes.
That may be true. I had gulls and pigeons crapping all over everything. I got a rubber snake and it stopped. Go figure. Maybe I had the flavour of snake they didn't like. 3 ft long an green. I got it in Chinatown for a few dollars. It works.
 

jimoc

.
Sep 27, 2008
30
Catalina 28 Newport Beach
A rake hoisted to the masthead was the only thing that worked for me. It worked great !
 
Status
Not open for further replies.