# Dealing with mosquitos, no-see-ums, and other biting insects...



## wrwakefield (Nov 18, 2015)

Living in Alaska, we are often asked what we have found to be effective in various situations while we boat, kayak, and venture on land.

We finally published a page on this topic with some brief background, the strategies, and links to what we use and do to try and avoid the seasonal bloodletting...

In case it is helpful for anyone planning a visit, and for those worried about the recent Zika virus outbreak [among many other diseases these bugs are vectors for...]

Cheers!

Bill


----------



## eherlihy (Jan 2, 2007)

+ 1 on the Thermacell


----------



## wrwakefield (Nov 18, 2015)

eherlihy said:


> + 1 on the Thermacell


We agree, the Thermacell devices are much better than coils or bug dope.

I see they even have lanterns now for those of you boating where it gets dark during bug season...

Cheers!

Bill


----------



## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

Just anchor at least 50 m from shore and 100 m is better.

Avoid going ashore around dusk and be aware that both no see ums and mossies like dark places so avoid dark bars and stores if possible.

Now admittedly I sail where the trades blow but there are very few nights of the year when I get a mossie on board, maybe 2 nights.

When in the yard we have screens on the hatches and companionway and I burn a coil in the evening, my cat has learned to cope with the screen on the companionway.

If bitten I apply Equate anti-itch available from Walmart and 'cheap as chips'.


----------



## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

I easily solved the problem on the boat by spending $30 for a gazebo screen at Walmart. It fits perfectly over my bimini and hangs down below the gunwales, thereby creating a bug free, screen enclosure. Works like a charm, and you can even sail with it in place. I attached a bunch of rubber coated fishing sinkers to the bottom to keep in in place on windy days. The top is purse stringed in place in the center of the bimini. I got the idea from someone on this forum that posted some photos of how it was done.

Gary


----------



## Capt Len (Oct 9, 2011)

TQA ,had to chuckle,up here anchoring 50 m offshore usually puts you in 150 m deep or more . I pack ex military mozzie head gear (similar to a bee keepers hat but real light) for mushrooming in the woods and sleeping rough. Boat was well screened but not foolproof.Some of our 'skeeters can be cornered with a tennis racket.


----------



## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

Love the Thermacell, but doubt it would work terribly well on a typically windy deck. 

Admittedly, I wonder if it kills the user too..... just way down the road.


----------



## rckfd (Dec 3, 2015)

citronella candle in the companion way and one of those electronic racket ball swatter for the daring ones works for me...


----------



## midwesterner (Dec 14, 2015)

For a number of years I have used garlic oil pills. They are available very cheaply at health food stores. The literature on the internet says that there is no research to support it but our entire family swears by it.

My son was a complete skeptic several years in a row but he gets welts on his body the size of pencil erasers or dimes when he is bitten by a mosquito. Finally he figured out that they really do work for him. He takes one or two every day and does not get bitten when he is doing that. I take them as part of my daily supplements and I never get bitten by a mosquito.

One year our family went canoing in the Okefenokee swamp wilderness. The scheduling lady at the park warned us that we would have the whole swamp wilderness to ourselves because it was the absolute height of the black biting flies season and everybody around that area knows not to even bother going in then. She thought I was a little crazy that I was still willing to schedule a trip there. She mentioned the black biting flies several times. For a week leading up to our trip I handed out garlic oil capsules to everybody in the family giving them two capsules twice a day. When we got there the black biting flies were thick. We could see them but nobody got bitten.

Some people don't like the garlic taste when they belch after taking garlic oil capsules. For me it's just like I've eaten a lot of Italian food the night before. They do make odorless garlic oil capsules. They do not have the odor removed, which is what repels flies and mosquitoes, they have a buffered coating that prevents your body from digesting the garlic oil capsules until they are in your lower intestine.

We also vacationed once in Santa Clara California, vampire capital of the u.s., and had no problems whatsoever with vampires.


----------



## MastUndSchotbruch (Nov 26, 2010)

Minnewaska said:


> Love the Thermacell, but doubt it would work terribly well on a typically windy deck. .


I doubt you would need mosquito protection on a typically windy deck...


----------



## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

MastUndSchotbruch said:


> I doubt you would need mosquito protection on a typically windy deck...


That's a good point around here anyway. Some other areas have pretty aggressive species. There is still some amount of wind, even here, where the bugs seems to be able to hang on, but the smoke from the Termocell would just whisk away.

Thankfully, I can only think of a couple of anchorages in our area that I consider buggy and then only at dusk. I'm sure there are more. I use the Thermocell in the woods. If I'm desperate, I use bug spray aboard, but I truly hate the stuff and avoid it until unbearable.


----------



## ad28 (Jan 29, 2016)

It looks to me like the Thermacell is similar to OFF's "Clip-On."

No aircon for us, so before sleep we turn on one of the little OFF clip on things and hang it over the bunk and get a peaceful night's sleep. Also have netting but sometimes we put 'em up a bit too late and some bugs get in lol


----------



## eherlihy (Jan 2, 2007)

I have screens on all my ports and hatches. I recommend Ocean-Air Hatch Screens, as the Lewmar Hatch Screens are no longer manufactured; Hatch Screens | Oceanair. I did a post here in SailNet which describes the Lewmar screens.

Over the companionway I have attached Velcro loop fastener to the sides, and have a fiberglass screen cut to fit which has the hook fastener on it. I stick the screen in place wnen needed. Some members of SailNet have criticized this as being ugly, but it works well, and IMHO does not detract at all from the inside aesthetic of the cabin. Maybe they are being polite, but I have never had a guest aboard even ask about it, until I put it to use; and then they are grateful that I have it.

The Thermacell is used in the cockpit on quiet nights when and if the bugs arrive. In 6 years, I believe that I have used it less than a dozen times, and I'm still on the original butane cylinder.


----------



## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

I'm the guy everybody invites to a barbecue and seats way off to the side, away from everyone else. People venture out my way, keeping me well supplied with grog n vittles as often as necessary, braving the inevitable crowd of mosquitoes that surrounds me.
100 meters off the land? No problem, there are sure to be several mosquitoes that will find me. 25 knots of winds? Still itching.
I have found that coils will keep them at bay some, but one coil is worth 50 cigarettes in damage to my lungs, so I give them a miss, except on extremely bad days.
Down here on the British islands they do sell a repellent called Odomos which does keep them from biting and has no deet (which burns my skin), but I don't enjoy using it on a hot still night.
I've tried everything on the market and any homeopathic repellents I hear about, all to no avail. I've even contacted a research team in the UK, hoping to become a test subject in 'real world' testing.
But hey, on the bright side, coral cuts and the like don't every cause me any problems, so I guess that's a fair trade?


----------



## MastUndSchotbruch (Nov 26, 2010)

Minnewaska said:


> That's a good point around here anyway. Some other areas have pretty aggressive species. There is still some amount of wind, even here, where the bugs seems to be able to hang on, but the smoke from the Termocell would just whisk away.
> 
> Thankfully, I can only think of a couple of anchorages in our area that I consider buggy and then only at dusk. I'm sure there are more. I use the Thermocell in the woods. If I'm desperate, I use bug spray aboard, but I truly hate the stuff and avoid it until unbearable.


Maybe there are high-wind mosquito bombers somewhere but in all the places where I have been, they disappear with anything more than a nice breeze.


----------



## midwesterner (Dec 14, 2015)

capta said:


> I'm the guy everybody invites to a barbecue and seats way off to the side, away from everyone else. People venture out my way, ... braving the inevitable crowd of mosquitoes that surrounds me.


That is just like my son. We can sit out on the deck on the first day in March when the temp gets above 68 and the first mosquito to hatch in our county will find him. I have often accused him of imagining mosquitos when I haven't seen a single one. Later, he will have raised red welts on his neck and arms.

He resisted my suggestion to take some of my garlic oil capsules. But after he tried it, he is now a believer. The so called "odorless" capsules have a buffered coating that prevents the capsule from being digested until it gets to your lower intestine. I do not have garlic breath or garlic smell from these, but bugs don't bite.


----------



## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

As I think about it, for the infrequent times this is an issue, heading down below to burn a gallon of fuel through the generator, with the air conditioning on and charging the house batts, pretty easily gets the job done. Pop back out after dusk. Not a great long distance cruising or heavy infestation method, but I think will be my default before breathing the smoke or spraying on the poison.


----------



## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

screen EVERYTHING
i use citronella oil on woodwork in cockpit, and i use rackets that kill bugs with a wonderful pop sound
poison is a good thing, just not in the foodstuffs....
hold breath while in use. remove critters from environment.
remember skeeters may give you diseases from which you recover, but they give cats and dogs heartworm, from which there is NO recovery. 
keep fido and fluff away from skeeterville also. .


----------



## midwesterner (Dec 14, 2015)

zeehag said:


> screen EVERYTHING
> 
> remember skeeters may give you diseases from which you recover, but they give cats and dogs heartworm, from which there is NO recovery.
> keep fido and fluff away from skeeterville also. .


Our Vet has the dog on a monthly pill that prevents heartworm infestations. The vet says that heartworms rarely infect cats and, if they do, there are easier treatments for cats so no treatment is needed for the cat.


----------



## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

midwesterner said:


> Our Vet has the dog on a monthly pill that prevents heartworm infestations. The vet says that heartworms rarely infect cats and, if they do, there are easier treatments for cats so no treatment is needed for the cat.


tropics is different than usa. 
in tropics cats get heartworm. fact.
not rare. 
your choice down here--screens make a huge difference. my cat prefers being in a screened bug free hiding place. he gets that. 
he also gets air conditioning to keep him from overheating.
your treatment of your pets while cruising is your own choice.
i prefer not to put cat thru too many tortures.
i also choose to keep his life as long as it should be, not shortening it by believing cats donot get heartworm. i have watched em die of its complications, and i have watched dogs die from the complications as well.


----------



## MikeOReilly (Apr 12, 2010)

Living and sailing the northern Great Lakes skeeters, black flies, horse/deer and those evil ankle biters are a constant fact of life. I know some people swear by citronella and garlic and other things, but the only repellent that really works is deet -- the stronger the better. Of course it only lasts a short time, and is no good if you're sweating. It also likes to eat plastic, but it does work. 

Mostly we use long cloths, screens and bug nets. For our companionway hatch I just use a weighted bug net. Easy to flip open/closed, and keeps the air flowing. 

Do make sure the screens are in place well before dusk, and don't forget to plug up the hawse pipe for the anchor chain. I discovered the buggers fly in there and then get into our V-berth. Miserable night.

If we've let too many in we also nuke the boat with a small bit of those killer coils. Light a 1-2" chunk up, close the boat up, and let them all die. Then air things out and sleep well. 

Will have to try these Thermacell things, but I've seen more


----------



## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

Cruising the Chesapeake Bay during the height of summer, especially the bay's lower reaches, will result in being eaten alive by marsh flies, a form of black fly that can go right through a new pair of jeans and draw blood. When they dig in, it feels like a bee sting - it's that nasty. The only thing I've found that kept them at bay, even if only for a short time, is Avon Skin So Soft applied liberally to both bare skin and clothing. I also spray a 50/50 mix of water and Skin So Soft on the screens, which prevents the no see ums from making it through the mesh. 

I've never found any effective repellent for green head flies - well maybe an artillery shell with HE-Frag might work. Deer flies are pretty nasty as well, and usually get you in the top of your head and back of your neck. Flies, not mosquitoes, are the primary reason I installed the cockpit screen enclosure. The only places the skeeters got me were in very small creeks when I was anchored there for the night. All my hatches and ports are screened, and I use a big air scoop on the forward deck hatch for ventilation. It picks up the slightest breeze and sends it down the screened hatch with a fair amount of velocity. 

On those really hot, humid nights, when there is not a breath of air, the temperature is in the upper 70s and the humidity is pushing 90 percent, I close up the boat and fire up my homemade swamp cooler/air conditioner. Does a great job of cooling things down very quickly, but it goes through 25 pounds of ice in the process. That's OK, I can live with that, especially when the cabin is bug free. 

All the best,

Gary


----------

