Keeping Wasps Out

[LConrad]

I am a new owner of a very nice 2000 CP-23/3.  When I bought it, there were several mud dauber wasp nests inside.  They even soiled the sails.  We continue to have wasps, this time a version of paper wasp.  So far, I screened the vent, but noticed the pesky critters entering through two small gaps where the companionway cover and boards meet.  I can fix that one with a little teak, but are there other places wasps can enter?  They make little messes and add unwanted excitement to sailing.

[dusty]

here's my answer to the little holes around the hatch - the addition of tabs to the little gaps left by the 'rails' of the sliding hatch cover.



can't think of any place else they might get in, though i've got a 16.

[LConrad]

Great idea.  Thanks for the picture

[dusty]

you're welcome!

my boat's taken apart at the moment or i'd've taken a picture of the hatch in place. i have to admit, it fit so absolutely perfectly when i tried it out, before taking off the woodwork for refinishing, i giggled like a school girl. it's like the first time that me and a ruler have been involved and it actually came out right.

[dusty]

oops - forgot to say and i had meant to - i've had someone tell me at a marina to go buy some of those rolls of fly paper and hang one in the cuddy when you plan to be gone for awhile. this guy said nothing he did would keep those dang things out. i might have to go try to sell him one of dusty's anti-wasp hatches. hehe.

i also meant to ask... "a twenty-three?? ..... whenever you're short-handed, man, lemme know!" lucky devil!

[HideAway]

A temporary solution is to use non skid rubber fabric shelf liner and stuff it in the holes while you are making the new cover.  The buggers still get under the cockpit locker covers.
SV HideAway
BCYC Gulfport Fl

[dusty]

hello...

finally got the woodwork back on after a refinishing.

here you can see the anti-wasp-tabs on the hatch in place.



still goes in and out smoothly with no bumping. to decide the sizes i measured everything and then put a piece of cardboard in place of the hatch, slid the sliding-hatch over, and traced.

once i get the bottom part of the latch drilled back into place, locking it this will pull the hatch slightly upwards. this really leaves no room for the dastardly wasp to advance its position within the cuddy, frightening the children and causing general unrest among the passengers.

[steve brown]

LConrad, I have had some luck keeping out the mud wasps by using moth balls. I use empty cream cheese containers with punched holes in the lid. I place 4-6 of them throughout the cabin. One wasp has been persistent so I remove the mud nests when she flies out. I think I got her with some bug spray this time though. They can get in even when you think the openings are sealed. I have also been told they will make nests under the sail cover. I think I will try the hatch tab solution anyway as that is one way I observed  my wasp was getting in. Don't get stung. Steve

[dusty]

steve, hopefully i'll catch you before you start, but the tabs need to be extended to truly keep the wasps out - thinking more about this, i was able to fit my finger up the side still - so a wasp would still be able to get in.

but, not if the tabs were extended thusly to cover up the remnant of that hole:

[ramble on]

Mothballs? One of them placed under a bush in my yard makes me gag. I can`t imagine the effect of several in an enclosed cabin! Be careful or the wasps won`t be the problem.

Ramble On