butyl and wasps?

[anaisdog]

odd use, i'm sure, for butyl tape but when i bought it from RC, he only sells it by 2 rolls (units) and I'd already rebed a lot of deck hardware so i have plenty.  i also have a mud wasp who has made a nest over my nav station.  it has to be within the past few days since i was just on my boat, scared the poop out of me.  i put my hatchboards back on, which i didn't have this set on last year when I has wasps onboard, and waited.  she 's getting in through the slots of the new hatch boards so i put masking tape on the inside of the board and when I closed up the boat, i put masking tape all over what looked to be open, between the hatchboads, the cabin sliding top, and the trim teak since i had wasps last year and a solid board for a hatchboard.  would butyl, put on the hatchboards, and everywhere else, not leave a mark, even in heat, not melt and be a good substitute for tape? 

thanks

becki kain
hull 99, 1986, c34

[lazybone]

There are weapons sold in aerosol cans that will make them rue the day they "F"ed with becki.

[Stu Jackson]

Becki,

Just ran across this the other day:

http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=1144540&highlight=wasps

Don't forget your dorades.  Don't know if you have screens on them or not.

[Ron Hill]

Becki & Guys : It's a tough choice between wasps and ventilation.

Haven't tried it but the old fly paper roll just might work?  Some nylon window screen?

[Jim Hardesty]

Becki,
I put in a "Hot Shot" each season.  I think that it helps with the bugs.

http://www.hotshot.com/products-and-solutions/all-products/no-pest-strip.aspx

might be worth a try for the wasps.

Jim

[anaisdog]

i will try hot shots when I'm not on board the boat but I'm more concerned with fixing my sliding hatch top and front teak so it fits snuggly.  does everyone else's not fully fit?  and I have no idea what to do with the slots, in the hatch board since she can get in there.   Id rather keep them out than kill them when in. 

[Noah]

The slots are there to allow ventilation/air circulation. A sealed up boat is not a happy one. But one with angry wasps onboard is not good either! Perhaps try some blue painters tape on the outside of hatch boards? It should be good for a week or so before it gets too "messy" to remove. If you have a canvas cover over it (I have one on my boat to protect the varnish) the tape should still be easy to remove after weeks. You could also  put tape on inside instead and exit the forward hatch?

[anaisdog]

and that's the issue - the toss up between vents and wasps.  right now, i have masking tape on the inside of the slots.  boo

[Bobg]

Butyl tape can be a real pain to remove on occasion.  I wouldn't use it for that if it were me.  I have used fly paper until I was sailing with a good heel and walked into it, real sticky and hard to get off the body.  I would bomb the boat like jim says and use the painters tape

[scotty]

How about putting screen over the slots in the companionway slats?

[Fred Koehlmann]

I'm with Scotty,

Screens, are the way to go. Not just wasps, but bees, mosquitos, flies, are just a few critters we prefer to keep out. We use inexpensive black veil from Fabric land to cover the companionway, and it would probably work well in other situations.

[anaisdog]

i had been meaning to make a screen for the companionway.  guess that's something to do this weekend!  what fabric do you recommend?

[Fred Koehlmann]

We just used a synthetic veil material, one that wouldn't rot from moisture.http://blog.koehlmann.ca/boat-projects/companionway-fly-screen/

After several seasons of use my only annoyance/improvement would be to have a sideways support, possibly elastics that would loop around the winches to help prevent it from sliding down on the side when we hand stuff through or slide in or out on one side. I think we did the whole thing for less than $30 CDN. The twisted chain was the main expense. 

[anaisdog]

oh!!!!  i LOVE IT!  i was wondering, if i sewed in rope, how it would hold down but chain works perfectly!  thanks!

how much fabric did you need?  i was thinking of ordering from here - http://www.mosquitocurtain.com/store/raw-netting.html

[Phil Spicer]

 We made a quick screen one evening (1994) from plastic (fiberglass) screen and 3/8 line. Glued line on with 5 min epoxy. Planed to make screened hatch board.... still using the screen.