How do I keep the spiders out?

jattea

New Member
Sep 5, 2008
102
Buffalo, NY
Boat Info
2003 260 Sundancer
Engines
350 Mag / Bravo III
I thought someone would have asked about this already, but I searched the forums and couldn't find anything...

In my area (Buffalo), the spiders start showing up in droves around August. In the two years that I've owned my boat, I've used it very little after mid-august because there are SO MANY spiders. I'm talking hundreds. And the spider poop is gross as well. It makes my pre-departure cleaning take forever...

So, any tips on keeping the critters off the craft?
 
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Bounce Fabric softner sheets do the trick for us, Plus it makes things smell god.
 
Bounce Fabric softner sheets do the trick for us, Plus it makes things smell god.

What DOES God smell like? :grin::smt043

Bounce on the lines and a few in the rafters if the boat house is covered. I've seen folks do some crazy things, but whatever it takes!
 
Bounce on the lines and a few in the rafters if the boat house is covered. I've seen folks do some crazy things, but whatever it takes!

So I just tie bounce fabric softener sheets to the lines?? really??
 
Do you spray the boat for them?

I start spraying in the spring and spray about every 3 weeks all summer and into the fall.

When I spray I do the edges of the docks, the power stand, water hose fittings, cleats (dock and boat ends), all mooring lines, along bow rails, canvas, around the door, hatches, etc.

If you keep after 'em on a regular basis you shouldn't have much of a problem.
 
Try Bug b Gone (for ornamental trees and gardens) or Seven. Attaches to your garden hose and you can do the entire boat and dock in 5 minutes. We use it in the Spring and then again in August. We have no spiders at all.
 
I wouldn't recommend any type of spray that attaches to a garden hose. Every pesticide container I've ever seen cautions against using them in ways not approved, or in locations not approved. If you're using a sprayer attached to a hose on or around the boat a lot of the spray and the poison is going to end up in the water. That is a violation of so many federal laws that you'd never get out of the slammer. Aside from the legal aspects, you don't want to be putting that much poison in the waters you boat on.

I used a product from Ortho called Home Defense Max. It comes in a gallon container with its own sprayer attached. You can get it at Lowe's and probably any other place that carries Ortho products. It works very well.

HDMRTU2010_STD.jpg
 
I started putting this in our cockpit when we are not on the boat

Ortho Home Defense MAX No-Pest Strip 65

So far it has worked great. when I get to the boat, I put the strip in a sealed plastic bag. There are no spiders after I have started with this. I think the reasone they are bad in August is that the egg sack hatch in late August. I found a huge amount of small baby spiders on the boat this august. We also spray anything that touches the boat with home defense from Ortho and we do it weekly
 
Ditto on the Ortho Home Defense.
We spray the dock, pedestal, power cords and lines on Sunday when we leave the boat.
Seems to do a pretty good job most of the time.

This past weekend was a bi$$h.
As jmunro above said...there were tons of small spiders when I took my cockpit cover off.
Took two hours of scrubbing and cleaning before the Admiral showed up to get rid of them.
So when the Admiral showed she knew the boat was safe for her. :)

Dan
 
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We use the Home Defense in lockers and under the cockpit covering boards. We spend so much time in late June to early August traveling to out of the way marinas that do not spray that our boat is loaded with spiders by the end of July. We bring them all home to our dock in early August and then give the boat and dock a good quick wash down with Seven and kill them in one shot. We wash the boat the following day and we are spider free the rest of the season. Everything in moderation.
 
Anyone every try one of thes sonic systems to keep bugs and rodents away?

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Spectracide Bug Off. The best for the money you can find. Kills those Buffalo spiders especially well.
pACE2-1126795reg.jpg

$5.95 at Wally World or at Mangione Hardware on Niagara St.
 
I've tried the bounce sheets and have had webs attached to them. I've always written it off that at least its leaving a good smell.
 
West Marine sells a spider spray, guess they can help you
 
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West Marine sells a spider spray, guess they can help you
 
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We use the Home Defense in lockers and under the cockpit covering boards. We spend so much time in late June to early August traveling to out of the way marinas that do not spray that our boat is loaded with spiders by the end of July. We bring them all home to our dock in early August and then give the boat and dock a good quick wash down with Seven and kill them in one shot. We wash the boat the following day and we are spider free the rest of the season. Everything in moderation.

I tried Seven but it did not seem to kill the spiders. It was about 5 years old. I mixed it up in a pail and actually dropped a spider in the pail. The spider just crawled around for about 3 min. Does SEVEN take longer to work, or maybe it was just old.
 
Spectracide Bug Off. The best for the money you can find. Kills those Buffalo spiders especially well.
pACE2-1126795reg.jpg

$5.95 at Wally World or at Mangione Hardware on Niagara St.

How do you use this. Do you spray the whole boat , leave it for a day then wash the boat the next day?
 

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