Bird scarers.

[Peter T]

Hi David, I used to have the same problem on my last boat in close to the same area. I used that thin blue bird scare tape you can get from tamar marine. it vibrates in the wind and makes a loud buzzing sound. worked ok. other alternative is to cover the boat with netting.
Cheers

[Peter T]

Yes David. Will be interested in how it works. Those sea gulls are quite strange. You often find they will pick on a particular boat and leave heaps of others alone. I GUESS YOU DID SUCH A GOOD JOB OF YOUR RESTORATION, THE BIRDS LOVE IT AS WELL.
Frustrating I know

[Ozzie]

Commiserations David. I have tried many bird scare methods over the 30 odd years I’ve had moored boats. I originally used the commercial coloured flags available from chandleries, the red and blue jobs but not much success i’d have to say. These eventually got to be cheap and nasty with the last set I bought lasting about one good storm before they were knackered. Then I tried making my own using good quality line and HD vinyl but the only the colour I found I could get was yellow which I used. Joke is that the yellow flag is the international symbol for “plague on board”. The only plague however was pelicans with diarrhoea maybe it worked but hard to tell how much worse it would have been without any flags at all. I then tried a plastic hawk as in a solid one, with its wings spread and tied it on a line between the mast and the stern ...not really much better

Currently I have another garden inspired piece. This is a jet black tin outline of a cat with two marbles for eyes but so far I can’t really say it has made much difference the best thing was putting the tarp over my new windows and cabin as this is the hardest area to clean. Cockpit and front deck don’t take long. There are two of the kite style Hawks in my mooring area and one local told me the owners seem happy with them. I haven’t really paid much attention as to whether they are working better than my cat.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Pack-of-3-M ... 3593153561

I have the one at the front I got off gumtree for a fiver.

Good luck

Ps these are just sheet metal you could make one.

[Ozzie]

I was going to add that with any flag or humming stuff I think the noise created makes it hard for the birds to hear predators so they go somewhere quieter . I doubt it actually scares them away. As such they don’t work in still conditions .

[Ozzie]

Just talking to one on my mates tonight who has a small diesel cruiser. He said he uses ordinary fine fishing line strung liberally around the boat. It does not have to be a net weave or anything complicated. Apparently in his experience this is recognised by the birds as a hazard ( maybe for a quick escape from predators) and they stay away. I might just give it a go. I would just cut it down and carefully dispose of it each time. Cheap enough to replace

Worth a go.