Cruising with Creepy Crawlers: Nature’s Pest Control

While sunshine is idyllic to many, on Zephyros, it’s a signal to suit up like desert explorers. As fair-skinned, red-headed crew, we burn easily and sunny weather means loads of sunscreen, covering up with buffs and sun shirts, and hiding under our cockpit bimini. Additionally, our well insulated hull does not shed heat very well once the water and outside temperatures rise. While we have cruised the Caribbean and do love to swim off the boat in warm waters, we gravitate to and feel more at home in the higher latitudes.

This month, I’d like to muse about an under appreciated fact: northern high latitude summers feature a LOT of bugs!!! This summer we are cruising the Baltic which has mosquitos – swarms of them along with biting flies. There have also been anchorages full of a small green (mercifully non-biting) flying bug. Canada and the northern United States are known for their giant, blood-thirsty mosquitos and Scotland has its infamous midges. To add to the insult for me personally, I seem to be the favored target for all blood thirsty insects aboard.

Shore excursions mean full body spaying sessions from cans of bug spray. We have tried citronella products and anti-mosquito coils for sitting in the cockpit in the evenings. This year we invested in the Thermacell system juggling butane cartridges and repellent cards for the cockpit and BBQs ashore. (I seem to always forget I left it under the picnic table and somebody has to go back to retrieve it!)

Technical solutions aside, this year we are also employing a more natural tactic to combat the swarms of mozzies. We allowed spiders to take up residence onboard.

An Informal Agreement

There have been rules and a general understanding between the crew and our eight-legged neighbors. They largely stay outside and we leave them alone to spin their webs and catch as many mosquitos and bugs as they possibly can. When a few wayward spiders have been spotted inside they are quickly captured and re-homed. They are allowed to live and stay, but they’re returned to their outside domain. (Of course, there are probably more spiders inside than we really want to know about, but as long as they don’t taunt us about it then we pretend they aren’t inside.)

They have done impressive work. Their webs are full of dead bugs each morning. The webs withstand the winds impressively well and they seem to have found places to tuck away during the day. We started the season with a couple of spiders working off of the back of the boat on our sugar scoop and solar panels. But their numbers have grown and the army has gradually moved forward taking up additional residences in the cockpit, sail bag, and canvas bimini cover that we always have up. In the evenings, they drop down and begin spinning their webs (cue the Mission Impossible theme song).

Differing Points of View

While Jon and I were the early negotiators of the silent treaty and appreciate the work that they have accomplished this summer, the teens have different opinions. Ronan has embraced the guests and is fascinated by them and their web artistry. He has tried to photograph and identify them. He goes out in the evening trying to see how many different kinds we have, how big they are and calls them his new pets (they both still miss their cats!).

Daxton, normally fearless about so many things, is our skeptic. He gets freaked out whenever he accidentally touches a web or sees a spider. He also put on his boots the other day without socks to help raise the dinghy engine and as the boots had been left outside, at least one spider seems to have been resting in the boot and apparently took offense to his foot coming in and invading the spidery living space. A few rather itchy bites resulted. There is no love between Daxton and the eight-legged neighbors.

Orb-Weavers

Our favorite outside guests are the rather large orb-weavers. There seems to be a variety or two aboard. Ronan went to work researching them and the fact that at least some eat their own webs. They do this to recycle the amino acids and proteins that are in the silk that they spin their webs from. This is a way that they can conserve energy and resources. How clever, and Charlotte’s Web makes even more sense! Of course, these spiders are named Charlotte and Arachne. There are more, but these two are the only beneficiaries of names (though the names may or may not be matched to the correct spiders at any point).

According to our research orb-weavers are a non-aggressive and docile spider that are “beneficial for keeping away other pests.” Maybe our idea to let them stay at the beginning of the summer wasn’t completely crazy? Some of them seem likely to be of the furrow orb-weaver variety, Ronan assures us.

How Many Spiders are “Too Many” Spiders?

This good faith agreement worked for June and July. But now in August we are starting to wonder “how many spiders are too many spiders”? It seems like the word got out and the spiders are on a mission to take over.

At this point, before sailing we need to clear daily webs from the wheel and helm station. Every time we launch the dinghy and put the engine on there are webs that need to be cleared, or you will accidentally find yourself tangled up in one.

A trip outside in the evening shows you just how many there are – easily a dozen are quickly counted before you notice that they really are all over the place and there are a dozen more. The trip to the cockpit to check on the neighbors, is ill advised for those with a fear of spiders! Whenever we are in a marina (not very often), Daxton threatens to take the water hose and do a targeted wash down to evict our pets and air defense force. Owing to how many webs we are clearing intentionally and unintentionally these days, his protest is gaining followers.

As we sail into the final weeks of summer, the question looms: have we crossed the line from coexistence to full take over? The spiders have certainly earned their keep, but their numbers suggest they may be planning a full-scale occupation.

Whether we opt for a diplomatic relocation or a full-blown eviction, one thing is clear— life as a cruiser means that nature is always close at hand! Sometimes that is the awe-inspiring interaction with dolphins playing in the bow-wake, sometimes that is being run out of the cockpit by the swarms of hungry mosquitos and sometimes that is enjoying the simple glory of a well-spun web.

Thank you for this space and joining me on my musings! May you enjoy your own safe and inspiring adventures and let us know any topics about life on board and long- distance cruising that you would like covered.

Megan Schwartz
SV Zephyros
Noonsite Sub-Editor

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About the Author

Noonsite editorial team member, Megan Schwartz, joined Noonsite in October 2024 concentrating on research and updating country formalities. She lives on board SV Zephyros with her husband and two teenage boys (18 and 15 years old) and they have been cruising full-time, since 2017. Zephyros is an aluminum, expedition monohull which suits the family’s style of cruising perfectly as they enjoy high-latitudes and places less travelled, but have also cruised popular Mediterranean and Caribbean destinations.

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Other Noonsite reports in the Cruising Musing Series:

• Cruising Musings: What Do You Do All Day?
• Cruising Musings: Finding Balance
• Cruising Musings: Life is Easier, But the Easy Things are Harder
• Cruising Musings: The Things We Keep, Yet Rarely Use

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of Noonsite.com or World Cruising Club.