Harbormaster winning war against gulls

For years, the Port Washington marina staff have fought a running battle with seagulls and the mess they leave behind.

But Harbormaster Dennis Cherny told the Harbor Commission on Monday he may have found a solution.

“We’ve concentrated on cleaning up after them,” he said. “But why don’t we look at what to do to keep them away?”

With that in mind, he said, he bought a large roll of heavy-duty string and ran it in and out of every slip in the marina.

“There hasn’t been a seagull yet,” Cherny told commission members.

Last year, he said, it took marina staff members armed with a pressure washer three weeks to clean the mess left behind by the gulls “and we didn’t get it all.”

In contrast, he said, placing string on the piers took about a half hour.

And the spool of string he purchased will last years, Cherny said.

Assistant Harbormaster Lisa Rathke said that instead of perching on the piers, the gulls have made the breakwater their home.

“I thought I was a hero,” Cherny told the commission, laughing as he recounted going to a recent Wisconsin Marina Association meeting and bringing the matter up knowing that other marinas are facing the same issue.

“I’m not the first one to think of this,” he said.