Hi all

Went out to the boat to start the engine and found that the masthead wind indicator was bent and broken

later on I was talking to another sailor and he said he had seen a seagull sitting on the jetty earlier that day with a wind indicator in its beak so I assume that the local birds are amusing themselves by breaking them

Any thought on how to bird proof a new one
Regards Don

I have a stainless steel one Don. de rigueur up on Pittwater where the boat is from originally. Apparently the parrots feast on plastic ones up there. I did have to replace it once and and Brendan at Oyster Cove Chandlery sourced one for me.

22. boom.

Windex sell a bird spike
windexdevelopment.com/news/assembly-instructions-for-windex-bird-spike/

Hi all

thanks for the information so far

originally I was going to go for this
www.whitworths.com.au/wind-ind-s-s-360mm

but after reading Bananabenders post I am thinking one of these www.whitworths.com.au/wind-ind-w-dex-oc with the bird spike on top

wondering if anyone has used either and what are your thoughts

Regards Don

Given that we don't have trouble with cockies down here (touch wood), if you can get the Windex with a spike it will do the trick and is a more sensitive device than the ss ones. I do notice mine sticking a bit in light winds, I've got to go up the mast soon so I'll give it a spray.

Select to expand quote

Donk107 said..
Hi all

Went out to the boat to start the engine and found that the masthead wind indicator was bent and broken

later on I was talking to another sailor and he said he had seen a seagull sitting on the jetty earlier that day with a wind indicator in its beak so I assume that the local birds are amusing themselves by breaking them

Any thought on how to bird proof a new one
Regards Don

I also have a metal one after the Cockatoo broke 2 plastic ones. I got it from Whtworths you could get it online.

Select to expand quote

twodogs1969 said..

Donk107 said..
Hi all

Went out to the boat to start the engine and found that the masthead wind indicator was bent and broken

later on I was talking to another sailor and he said he had seen a seagull sitting on the jetty earlier that day with a wind indicator in its beak so I assume that the local birds are amusing themselves by breaking them

Any thought on how to bird proof a new one
Regards Don

I also have a metal one after the Cockatoo broke 2 plastic ones. I got it from Whtworths you could get it online.

Well, I had a WW metal one too but the Cockatoos in the Mooloolaba Duck Pond tore it off, that's 4 spot welds!!!!
Luckily the nearby WW had one to replace it.

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on how effective the bird spike would be with a 380mm windex that would leave nearly 200mm of perch on either side of the spike to sit on while the do their damage

Regards Don

Hi Don
That's the classic protection racket that seagulls use, they tear off your wind indicator and then sit on the wharf with it in their beak. If you give them some chips then they drop it and stop for a while, but after a few days without chips they are back to their old tricks unless you keep up the bribes. Once you go to stainless then it's the cockies territory and they only respond to sunflower seeds which really is bird feed compared to what happens when you go to spikes. That's the territory of sea eagles and all of a sudden you're spending a fortune on whole fish and not just mullet but salmon and tuna too. Might just be cheaper to use some wool threads on the shrouds, some other bird will probably steal them for nests but their cheap and easily replaced.

Select to expand quote

Wander66 said..
Hi Don
That's the classic protection racket that seagulls use, they tear off your wind indicator and then sit on the wharf with it in their beak. If you give them some chips then they drop it and stop for a while, but after a few days without chips they are back to their old tricks unless you keep up the bribes. Once you go to stainless then it's the cockies territory and they only respond to sunflower seeds which really is bird feed compared to what happens when you go to spikes. That's the territory of sea eagles and all of a sudden you're spending a fortune on whole fish and not just mullet but salmon and tuna too. Might just be cheaper to use some wool threads on the shrouds, some other bird will probably steal them for nests but their cheap and easily replaced.

Hi Wander

after reading your detailed explanation I now understand why people give up sailing and buy motor boats instead

Regards Don

Select to expand quote

Donk107 said.

after reading your detailed explanation I now understand why people give up sailing and buy motor boats instead

Regards Don

Changing boat types don't work either lol
Shags loved my flybridge cruiser ( on the east coast )so much l had to shift moorings,

Tried everything apart from the full blown net...that looked a PITA putting that on every time,

I liked the 12 gauge idea but the shackies would have complained,

Ending up moving it 8 k's away...no problems with birds now...or shackies

For shags if you build a decent spot for them to sit they will. Make a wooden T frame that extents over the ends of the boat. The shag will sit on that and crap into the water.

Select to expand quote

Ramona said..
For shags if you build a decent spot for them to sit they will. Make a wooden T frame that extents over the ends of the boat. The shag will sit on that and crap into the water.

That's brilliant! work with them not against them thinking, I love it.

Getting a set of these solved my seagull problems...

Hi Wildemann

I am a bit confused by the photos

What exactly have you got there

Regards Don

Select to expand quote

Ramona said..
For shags if you build a decent spot for them to sit they will. Make a wooden T frame that extents over the ends of the boat. The shag will sit on that and crap into the water.

I didn't make it but the boat has a duck/marlin board,
They would gather there as well as everywhere else, depending on wind direction,

We must have had the flock that weren't house trained.

Seagulls are not the type of bird that kills wind instruments, pacific gulls is possible. I have never seen a sea gull in 45 years sit on my mast tip.

My mate chopstix I seen him land once on a mast tip in the past 3 months I have been capturing him on camera!

Select to expand quote

southace said..
Seagulls are not the type of bird that kills wind instruments, pacific gulls is possible. I have never seen a sea gull in 45 years sit on my mast tip.

Hi Southace

you are probably right

I am not a bird person and anything that is grey and white is a seagull to me

Whatever they are they a pretty aggressive as they crapped all over the boat a few months ago and I went it to clean it off wth a broom and as I got on the boat they squarked their heads off and wouldn't move until I waved the broom at them and then they circled the boat squarking at me

Regards Don

Select to expand quote

Donk107 said..

southace said..
Seagulls are not the type of bird that kills wind instruments, pacific gulls is possible. I have never seen a sea gull in 45 years sit on my mast tip.

Hi Southace

you are probably right

I am not a bird person and anything that is grey and white is a seagull to me

Whatever they are they a pretty aggressive as they crapped all over the boat a few months ago and I went it to clean it off wth a broom and as I got on the boat they squarked their heads off and wouldn't move until I waved the broom at them and then they circled the boat squarking at me

Regards Don

Intresting sounds like pigeons trying to nest on your yacht that your not using over winter. I never had that problem when I was in tassie. Cockatiel and starlings are the biggest killer to wind instruments and deck poop. I shack my back stay every morning when I hear them land on my gear. It's there playground when your not on board.

Sorry Donk.
My photos went a bit landscape rather than portrait. A swarm of cockatoos gnawing into anything and everything. Up in Lake Macquarie NSW at that time. Nothing would scare those off. Down in Victoria Shags are my nemesis now down in Victoria. They poo a lot. A big roll of bird netting run around the boat works for them.

Given the amount of metal on a boat perhaps you could electrify it all whenever you disembark. Bwahaha. I thought I had them beat with one of those rotating red plastic thingos. One day I went out to the boat and a seagull was sitting on it and using it as a circus ride. I've heard people swear rubber snakes are the solution too, but I suspect all we are doing is entertaining them. Putting the yacht on a marina instead of a swing mooring works, but is mighty expensive.

Re the shags, what seems to work for me is to clip the spinnaker halyards to the chain plates when I leave. The halyards then neatly bisect the spreaders, so they can't sit (or land?) on them and spread their wings.

Select to expand quote

southace said..
My mate chopstix I seen him land once on a mast tip in the past 3 months I have been capturing him on camera!

That is a beautiful bird. I can see why it is your mate.

Select to expand quote

southace said..
My mate chopstix I seen him land once on a mast tip in the past 3 months I have been capturing him on camera!

Those Herons are awesome fisherman, there are a few in our marina,,, they fish with the patience and cunningness of a cat.

I have a boom tent so they don't sit on the cabin top. The lazy jacks stop them sitting on the boom. The little alligator stops them sitting on the foredeck and I have pelican clips on the top lifeline so I can release it when I leave and they can't sit on it. They don't like my boat at all.

Hi all

I ended up buying a stainless vane from Whitworths www.whitworths.com.au/wind-ind-s-s-360mm

I assembled it and I am in two minds about it

It is quite heavy and there is a fair bit of play in the bearing and when assembled the vane is not sitting square to the shaft although when the boat is sailing nothing is ever level I suppose

I tried blowing on it,using a hair dryer at high speed and a small desk fan but nothing moved the vane

I has been dead still down here so i have not been able to see if it moves in the breeze but I will fit it to the boat and see what happens and if it is too sluggish I will replace it with a Windex 15 with the bird spike

Regards Don

Its slower to act but It will work ok . I'd use medium Loctite on the screw joint where the tabs V wire is held on the vertical post. I lost mine on the first rough weather as it came loose from bouncing around the waves. I had it tightened properly when I installed it but didn't use Loctite as I was planing to remove it in 2-3 weeks.

Hi Harb

Thanks for the info on using Loctite

How much breeze does it take to get the vane moving

Regards Don

Worked ok in 5kn or so when I put up the mast, it didn't jump around like the previous Windex but it did work. The next day when I went out it was in 20-25kn with gusts of 30-35 and short choppy waves which caused it to come lose. Didn't give me any warnings either, one minute I looked up and it was pointing and moving ok the next minute it wasn't there anymore.
I bought it because the cockies are chewing the Windex and have to replace it every year so it would have worked out cheaper, if it didn't fell off that is.

Still got the base in almost new condition so maybe I'll hang some red string to it.