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Almost made it through summer....

BigKahuna

BigKahuna

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Earlier this year I complained about bird shit on my mooring cover as well as on our double Biminis that remain open all the time. I installed 2 owls (1 on the anchor light the other one in the front on a pole) and a couple of rubber snakes. I also installed flashy windmills that spin in the wind! Wow! This is actually working! We recently got back from Florida from a getaway on RC's Harmony of the Seas. Gone for about 10 days total. I go down to check on the boat and I can see it when I get out of the car. A big white splotch on the Bimini! (The 1st thing that comes to mind is the pic of the heron Semper posted) The herons got me! It's literally right next to the owl on the anchor light! And a bunch of fish scales! The white splotch is so big it literally ran down onto the mooring cover below. I'm so pissed I unsnapped the cover, removed the Biminis and went home! So much for the owls and snakes ........
 
BigKahuna said:
Earlier this year I complained about bird shit on my mooring cover as well as on our double Biminis that remain open all the time. I installed 2 owls (1 on the anchor light the other one in the front on a pole) and a couple of rubber snakes. I also installed flashy windmills that spin in the wind! Wow! This is actually working! We recently got back from Florida from a getaway on RC's Harmony of the Seas. Gone for about 10 days total. I go down to check on the boat and I can see it when I get out of the car. A big white splotch on the Bimini! (The 1st thing that comes to mind is the pic of the heron Semper posted) The herons got me! It's literally right next to the owl on the anchor light! And a bunch of fish scales! The white splotch is so big it literally ran down onto the mooring cover below. I'm so pissed I unsnapped the cover, removed the Biminis and went home! So much for the owls and snakes ........
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The way I deal with pests is to do away with their food source. Then they don't come around. However you may not be able to do that easily. Maybe another spot or location that the wild life does not like? I have put monofilament fishing line on the rails of my dock for similar reasons, it helps.
 
I do not have personal experience but thru observation of boat lifts and restaurant dockside decks I can tell you what works for that application. Perhaps you can use the same principles for your application. First of all if you are the first in your neighborhood to put up scary objects that will work for a while until the birds learn there is no threat. What does seem to work is eliminating the ability to perch and the ability to fly in to perch. Spikes and wires are typically involved. You may have to be creative to apply these principles to your application.
 
My best friend docks his Benny 30’ from my slip so when a bird pooped on my mooring cover I threw bird seed on top of his mooring cover. Problem solved.

Just kidding
 
DVW said:
I do not have personal experience but thru observation of boat lifts and restaurant dockside decks I can tell you what works for that application. Perhaps you can use the same principles for your application. First of all if you are the first in your neighborhood to put up scary objects that will work for a while until the birds learn there is no threat. What does seem to work is eliminating the ability to perch and the ability to fly in to perch. Spikes and wires are typically involved. You may have to be creative to apply these principles to your application.
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I understand. The problem is our double bimini stays open all the time. That is a pretty big "perch" for me to put those bird spikes on. Thx for the suggestions.
 
Link said:
My best friend docks his Benny 30’ from my slip so when a bird pooped on my mooring cover I threw bird seed on top of his mooring cover. Problem solved.

Just kidding
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Hahaha!
 
Daril, why leave the biminis open all the time? They will eventually need replacement due to this, and also make boat more prone to damage in event of storm?
 
We have seagulls at our marina. You should see what the biminis look like that are left open. It’s horrible. They love those warm trampolines. I’ve seen black ones almost turned white from the gull poop. :eek:
 
Bill N said:
Daril, why leave the biminis open all the time? They will eventually need replacement due to this, and also make boat more prone to damage in event of storm?
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To be honest with you guys...... It's a PIA to unzip a double Bimini, fold the rear frame to the radar position, put the rear half in it's boot, zip up and then position the rear half on the trailering struts. Fold the front frame to the radar position, put the front half in it's boot, zip up then position the front half on the trailering struts! (I could leave both in the radar position) Okay after taking the cooler, towel bag, skis, etc. off the boat........let's tackle the mooring cover now!!! We actually have it down pat to put the mooring cover/support poles on but after a long day on the water and putting the boat back on the lift, leaving the double bimini up is one less thing we have to do at the end of the day......Not to mention having to reassemble it the next time we go out!
 
Bill N said:
Daril, why leave the biminis open all the time? They will eventually need replacement due to this, and also make boat more prone to damage in event of storm?
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One more thing..... in the 3 seasons we have had this boat it has been in some pretty good storms and that double bimini has been rock solid! Also when we ordered the front bimini to match up with the rear one the factory sent 2 sets of the fabric. So one complete set is sitting on the shelf in the garage......
 
Try a Dori Pole. They seem pretty effective.
 
Dori poles have worked great for us. Haven’t had a problem since adding them a few years ago.
 
I have three with my current setup (See photos below).

(1) I have x2 13.5’ dual color poles on each end of the boat (bow and stern).

(2) I then have one 19’ dual color pole center side of boat near helm or port door depending on which side I dock on.

I initially was “cheap” and simply got the x2 13.5‘ dual color poles. A year later I added the 19’ due to how well the current system was working, but still needing to get up higher and have better or complete coverage.

Link to order page with these options:
19’ and 13.5’ Dori Pole kits

If I had to do it over with how well the set up works now, I think I would have went with x2 19’ dual color poles, one bow and one stern and call it a day. In addition to have a 19’ flag which covers a VERY wide swath when blowing around, it telescopes significantly higher than the 13.5’ poles.

Dual color is very important for displaying my Green and White fan favorite colors. Ha! :p

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I used to hang old cd's from the boat lift, cheap and seemed to help, especially rap and hip-hop selections.
 
Vikingstaff said:
I have three with my current setup (See photos below).

(1) I have x2 13.5’ dual color poles on each end of the boat (bow and stern).

(2) I then have one 19’ dual color pole center side of boat near helm or port door depending on which side I dock on.

I initially was “cheap” and simply got the x2 13.5‘ dual color poles. A year later I added the 19’ due to how well the current system was working, but still needing to get up higher and have better or complete coverage.

Link to order page with these options:
19’ and 13.5’ Dori Pole kits

If I had to do it over with how well the set up works now, I think I would have went with x2 19’ dual color poles, one bow and one stern and call it a day. In addition to have a 19’ flag which covers a VERY wide swath when blowing around, it telescopes significantly higher than the 13.5’ poles.

Dual color is very important for displaying my Green and White fan favorite colors. Ha! :p

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Thanks for the pics and links!

I liked your post even though I’ll be flying blue and white from Happy Valley…. :p:p
 
TomS said:
I used to hang old cd's from the boat lift, cheap and seemed to help, especially rap and hip-hop selections.
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I used to attach foil pie plates to our old boat. They used to hang from the stowed Bimini. The problem I have with this boat is on the top!!! I have an owl up there and rubber snakes!
 
jcr159 said:
Thanks for the pics and links!

I liked your post even though I’ll be flying blue and white from Happy Valley…. :p:p
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My new cottage and dock neighbor flies “those” colors :D.

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He set up the same sort of dock lights (puttting in alternating LED bulbs like me) and dual color flags in the ole blue and white.

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As you can see, his new setup totally mimics my set up in Green and White. I think he is trying to “start” something. Ha! Kind of funny.

However, he also made sure his Dori pole mounts higher and set it up on our side of his dock so his flag flies over the top of our end platform. That’s just going one step too far...:rolleyes:

My wife keeps telling me copying our set up is the best form of flattery. I don’t know about that.:D
 
For many years I have been at war with Canadian geese that poop on my lawn down by the lake. I tried scary objects that worked for a while until the birds learned there was no threat. Now for more than a decade I have been winning the war with a tool that trains them to stay away. This training tool is a small low power electric fence. It only takes one bad experience to train them. Typically It can be taken down by the 4th of July after the geese associate my yard with a unpleasant experience. With regard to this post I found a electric shock wire that mounts on structures that have a bird problems (see attached). This installed assembly may not be appropriate for pontoon application but the principals apply. The dual conductor wire mounts on a location of the structure that a bird is likely to roost. I am thinking above the frame (think roosting on the branch of a tree). The associated buzz box can be sourced at any farm supply store. Some units are solar powered. It’s not plug and play but it might work for your application.

 
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