Mosquitos love me, but like most of us, I don't love them. Furthermore, I don't like the smell of spray or smoke that is supposed to discourage them from finding me in the first place or smearing myself with nasty chemicals. I try to follow an anti mosquito diet of garlic and onions but it doesn't seem to be working very well so far. There is always at least one mosquito that hides inside my boat and wakes me up in the middle of the night with its buzzing while it feasts on my blood.
To keep them away, I installed netting using elastic cord on the two overhead hatches.
In Greece, where I cruise, you can either purchase mosquito netting already made as curtains for the house. I found some with little glass beads which look like stars from below.
Another way to source mosquito netting is in a fabric shop by asking for wedding veil material.
I also have a mozzie curtain for the v-berth doorway and throw another one over the main entryway at sunset.
However, it is getting hot, so I can no longer keep the portholes closed at night. It's time to install netting in all the remaining openings.
I followed an instructional video and made a removable insert using closed cell foam for one of the portholes as a prototype. This is my first attempt.
As you can see it's not perfect. In fact there is no way I could make it any better unless I use silicon to fill in the cracks. This method also reduces the size of the opening.
I decided that velcro will work better holding the netting in place.
Meanwhile, today Nidri seems to be the hottest place in the Ionian.
I am glad to have all the hatches and portholes open with the netting keeping the unwelcome visitors away.
I found a wonderful system at the local supermarket for only three euros. Velcro strips that you stick on the surrounding surface and then attach the net. I did just that for the main entrance and at first all was well.
But after an hour or two, the velcro pulled away from the wall. The glue does not hold it in place.
It certainly loves sticking to itself.
So now I need to get either stronger glue which will damage the wood if I ever need to take the velcro off, or some small nails or staples. Most importantly, the velcro does not stick to the bronze portholes or even look very nice.
My second attempt for the portholes involved a tube of silicone gasket and some semi-stiff plastic netting which would keep its shape in the portholes.
The result seems a lot more successful. However, the real test will come when it rains and I have to close the windows. I think I better test this method with a bucket of water first. Perhaps putting the netting on the outside would solve that problem. The downside of this method does not allow me to remove the nets during the day, which means they reduce the circulating air inside.
But I suppose you can't have everything.
Happily, the porthole over the chart table passed the bucket of water test, so I cut out the netting for all the remaining openings.
The description on the back of the tube says: cures at room temperature, does not shrink, stable on contact with oil, remains indefinitely elastic, easy to remove. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it also holds the mesh in place.
A few days later I found that I had a solution for the doorways. Seal and Fix adhesive that I had on board already held the velcro to the wooden frame quite well. I think I'm all set now and safe from the annoying critters.
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