Black fly & mesquito controll on Great Lakes cruises

[William Thomas]

Will be trailering my new CW 28 from Arizona to Lake Superior in early July. What do you "regular" Great Lakes cruisers do to battle the bugs while on board?
Will also be attending the Mid West Ranger/CW get together in Charlevoix, Mi. in Late July.

Have not cruised the Great Lakes in almost 40 years and are really looking forward to it!

Thanks for any tips on the bugs!

Bill Thomas

 

[pleeson]

Hey Bill, I wrote you earlier but it seems to have vanished into cyberspace. Why not rely on all the screened openings your cabin has, perhaps adding stick on Velcro to the door frame and making a screen cover for the opening so that you add to the air circulation on the hottest, or calmest evenings? We have never found much of a bug issue when "camping" on the water, and if a calm, muggy evening makes the critters unbearable in the cockpit those same windless conditions would allow for the use of a battery powered fan forced "Off" chemical dispersant to minimize the problem. They work well for me parked in my helicopter at working in the muskeg. We invested in a full Bimini enclosure for our boat with the option of weather proof or screened panels, and have never used it except to create another room in inclement weather. Not worth the investment for bugs only.

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Hi Bill:

I've seen several Ranger Tugs/Cutwaters that have installed the "As Seen on TV" product called Magic Mesh. It can be secured with velcro on the rear door opening and has a magnet center for entering and exiting. I watched a neighbor R25 who had this and a dog. The dog could enter and or exit the cabin thru the magnet center and it would always reconnect to help keep pests out of the cabin.

We look forward to meeting you in Charlevoix in late July.

Jim F

 

[Just Dreamin']

Bill:

Magic Mesh is what we have been using for the past 6 years on Just Dreamin'. Works great! Our homeport is Marblehead, OH in the Western Basin of Lake Erie and yep the pesky pests can be rather annoying at certain times of the season, and it does not matter if we are dockside or in the middle of lake - they find you.. With Magic Mesh we are able to keep the cabin door open and a breeze blowing through when underway or a dockside, and allowed Wintson the boat Beagle to travel in and out. The boss took the original mesh door, cut it to size and re-installed the velcro to give a clean fit.

Mike

 

[William Thomas]

Thanks for the feed back. Will check into MAGIC MESH!

Any luck using the electronic style bug zapper type products??

Thanks again,
( Mike........My family had a cottage on Catawba Island while I was growing up ,early sixties, spent many a night at Frostys in Put N Bay!)

Bill T.

 

[Lynyrd]

Maybe this article will help you as it helped me on my last trip - https://pestcontrolhacks.com/get-rid-of ... and-flies/ and also I would recommend getting your boat disinfected at first, after that you can set the repellents, because simply installing nets on your doors and windows wouldn't be enough.

 

[Catch22]

Thermacell makes a number of repellant appliances. They utilize a fuel capsule and repellant packets. They are a thermo device. Some are stationary units for larger areas like patios....some are portable units that come with holsters for mobile use. I use one of the portable units when fishing. Friends use them in the woods and marsh. On-line reviews number in the thousands. The majority of people find them effective on mosquitos , no-see-ums, and various varieties of flies. On the other hand, there are a few people that seem destined to be chewed on by critters no matter what they use......results will obviously vary. As for the nasty biting black flies and deer flies,......sometimes the only comfort comes from actual barriers like screen and layers of clothing. That said, I always have a supply of refills for my Thermacell......welcome back to the Great Lakes Bill....