Spiders onboard

[Comodave]

What are people using to help get rid of spiders on the boat? I don’t want to use something that may damage the Strataglass or the vinyl seats.

 

[Dougcole]

I just squish them as I see them.


I hate them. Not because I have any sort of fear of them, but because they make a mess of the boat and their poop can be hard to get off of gel coat.



I have had pretty good luck keeping them off by spraying the dock edges, gunnels, dock lines etc. with an ortho perimeter guard type bug spray that I get from Home Depot. I do it about once a month or as I remember to do it. It doesn't keep them all off, but it helps. Learned this trick on the TF.


I sure wouldn't spray it on my enclosure though.

 

[Greg S]

Raw Chestnuts without the pulpy outer husk. So it is the pretty, and shiny, dark brown wood grain.

Yup, seems to work.

 

[rslifkin]

I've been using the Miss Muffet spider spray. I tend to spray dock lines, stanchion holes, window tracks and anywhere else I see them regularly hiding. It doesn't get rid of them entirely, but that and killing them when possible at least keeps the population down to a fraction of what it would otherwise be.

 

[O C Diver]

I prefer spiders to all the flying insects of the Great Lakes. We have a simple understanding, stay out of the galley and the master stateroom, or die.

Shop vac works wonders with no residue.

Ted

 

[janice142]

Consider putting peppermint oil (it's an extract found in the grocery store just above the spices like salt and pepper) -- look near where the vanilla extract is. All spices and extracts are usually shelved in alphabetical order incidentally.

Put peppermint oil (a drop or three) on cotton balls. Spread the cotton balls around. This won't get rid of a major infestation however for just a few spiders it does well. I did try peppermint oil under a dock that was a labyrinth of spider webs. The only thing that happened was I wasted my peppermint oil...

 

[HopCar]

Spiders Aboard! Good title for a horror movie.

 

[DBG8492]

This stuff works:

https://tinyurl.com/ywfurdm6

Once dry, it kills anything with an exoskeleton - and is harmless to anything else.

You don't have to spray it everywhere either - just places where you know they will likely crawl through it. And if they contact it, they will die.

I've used it in every house I've lived in for the past 20+ years and used it on our sailboat which was infested with spiders and many other insects when we first bought her.

For houses, the first application included all the baseboards I could reach and around windows and doors on the inside, then around windows and doors on the outside. After that, I would treat the outside again about every four months, but the inside was maybe once a year. On the boat, I reapplied inside every six months.

Within two days of the first application, you'll need a shop vac to clean up all the dead bugs.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Its been a bumper year for spiders on the Great lakes is all I know.

pete

 

[rslifkin]

Its been a bumper year for spiders on the Great lakes is all I know.

pete

In our area it's been a good year for everything that grows. Spiders, bugs of all kinds, slime on boat hulls, etc.

 

[harleydude777]

DBG8492.....wrong link or its SPAM/SCAM of some sort.....

 

[psneeld]

A tiny spritz of Ortho Home Defense puts them in convulsions and usually die within inches of being sprayed.

The big threat are docklines and powercords unless in a covered slip. So if treated, it stops most from coming aboard.

After a year of non-stop spiders....and treatments of Home Defense I was at a loss where they were coming from.

A year later while in the yards, and walking around the boat, I noticed in the drip cut on the underside of the rubrails there were hundreds of webs not visible from above.

One treatment of those and my boat with very infrequent treatments remained spider free/or at least a minimum for years. So look for any hotspots of tiny balls of web where spider birthing takes place.

 

[Comodave]

DBG8492.....wrong link or its SPAM/SCAM of some sort.....

I tried the link and it went to Amazon. I ordered some of the product.

 

[Moonfish]

I just finger flick them into the water as fish food. Figure that at least gives them a fighting chance, as opposed to indiscriminately squishing them...

 

[harleydude777]

just did the same and it worked now.......Thanks

 

[psneeld]

From various internet sources....

Deltamethrin - Bayer polyzone
Bifenthrim - Home Defense

"The main difference between Deltamethrin and Bifenthrin is that deltamethrin is more effective against flying insects. At the same time, bifenthrin is more effective against crawling insects. Deltamethrin is a neurotoxin, while bifenthrin is not."

 

[Comodave]

My wife will not be flicking any spiders overboard…. That is why I am looking for a good solution.

 

[BDofMSP]

Its been a bumper year for spiders on the Great lakes is all I know.

pete

Worst I've seen on Superior ever. Especially the last 8 weeks or so.

BD

 

[DBG8492]

DBG8492.....wrong link or its SPAM/SCAM of some sort.....

I tested it - it goes to Amazon for a product called "Suspend Polyzone"

Just have to let the redirect load.

Here's a better link:

https://www.amazon.com/Bayer-80035225-Polyzone-Suspend-Insecticide/dp/B07RLS91C9

 

[High Wire]

Portable hand vacuum. After sundown when they come out just suck them up. Next night there might be 10%,that you missed. Third night you might find one or two. No chemicals.

 

[PhilPB]

Florida spider. I've chased them off of the boat a couple times. They are incredible swimmers too

 

[Bmarler]

The marina where we live has a hillside right across the road. The dang spiders will sail down on a long web. Incredible how far they can drift with the wind. I keep a few old paint brushes around in strategic locations and brush them off into the water. Then watch them swim like mad back to the boat…

 

[Capt. Rodbone]

Spider horrors

Hey, so a quick funny. My admiral finally convinced me to put the Sunbrella covers back on all of our rails patches, etc. that were varnished, so as to extend the life of search while we are on the loop. About two months ago, we experienced the same uptick in spider population while in Georgian, Bay, North, Channel and northern Michigan. typically I am one to be in bed about the same time the sun goes down however, a recent Saturday night I decided to watch a football game at the pub across the street from our marina. Nice clear close to full moon light when we walk back to the boat around 10 PM. It all made sense to me at that point as to why I saw very few spiders during the day, but knocked down 15 to 20 waves every single morning. I noticed the silhouette of a large spider hanging from the bottom of a handrail. I grabbed a flashlight and walked around the boat, and I must have squished 50 of them. next morning, my admiral had me taking the covers cough that we had put back on a few months earlier because that had become the spider Mecca during daylight hours. Our problem is much much less now with the covers off. However, I’m going to try some of that product too. Also, consider partially unzipping your Bimini tops, etc. I found they go back in to those hiding holes during daylight, but typically not too far.

 

[hmason]

FYI, after owning GBs for 25 years I have found that the varnished rails etc. hold up better without the covers. The covers retain moisture which bubbles and breaks down the varnish. My best results were using an epoxy finish such as Bristol and a waxing with a pure carnuba wax every so often. YMMV.