Thanks for the jokes. I actually approach this with a sense of humor,
because there's no alternative.
At this time I have two different species on board. I think I picked up
the little fat black ones when hauled out last September in Puerto
Escondido. I was only 12 feet from an abandoned canal system -- built a
few years ago with the expectation of selling waterfront lots to rich
gringos, and abandoned when the rich gringos didn't appear. I took the
dinghy through the canals one day, and the concrete walls were crawling
with roaches that were eating the algae exposed at low tide. There were
so many that when I passed and they ran, it made a rustling sound like
wind through dry grass. (Maybe the reason the rich gringos didn't appear
is that prospective buyers walked to the canal and decided not to buy a
lot with 10 million roaches.)
I think I picked up the classic German ones in La Cruz, provisioning the
boat. I bought a case of milk -- 12 liters in a cardboard box that was
sitting on the floor of a local Mercado. Boxed milk is something you
don't see up north, but it's the greatest thing since coffee -- you can
leave it out in 100 degree heat for a month without refrigeration until
opened, and it tastes fresh. But bringing cardboard boxes on board is a
big no-no, and I broke the rule.
Anyway, I've actually been doing some roach management for months.
Realistically, there is no way to keep this boat spotlessly clean and
free of food residue. I live on it, and I like to cook, so there's food
around. When living on the hook, fresh water is precious, especially
when you have to make it. A boat has more nooks and crannys than a
Thompson's English muffin. There's probably enough organic residue in
the little crack between the cabin sole and the liner to keep a family
of roaches happy for a year. And anything that can eat algae can
probably also eat the organic body oil and flakes of old skin that drips
off my body in this heat.
I don't want another cat. Heck, two months ago a jug of coolant sprung
a leak in the lazarette, and dribbled along a little bit of fiberglass
liner into the main cabin and pooled up next to the nav station. That
was a big 'what the heck' moment. It took two days to figure it out,
and I was glad I didn't have a cat on board, for obvious reasons.
Besides, I can think of three ways for a cat to get from the main cabin
into the engine room, and that would also be a bad thing. And I've
heard too many people on the radio on the edge of hysteria, asking
anyone downwind/down-current to look out for a cat.
And I don't want a Newt on board. It might try to impeach me. (That was
a Clinton joke, but please no political rebuttals on this list.)
So heck, there's the classic Boric Acid solution, and after I give the
boat a good scrub I'll sprinkle some around below the sole, but can't
keep it handy because I might accidentally put it in my coffee on a bad
morning. There are a number of similar powdered solutions, but like
Boric Acid they are all labelled 'No Toxico.' Hmm. Non-Toxic Poison.
What a concept. I don't want to sleep on it.
I've actually had the best luck with Raid MAX 'Trampas para
Cucarachas.' Little sealed boxes (sorta like 'Roach Motels.') They
come with a dozen warnings, basically saying 'Don't eat this.' Okay.
Wal
--
s/v Stella Blue
www.wbryant.com
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