I was worried about pests getting into the boat while it sits on land. While Wiskun was tied in the water, we had long lines out. I did worry then that cockroaches and mice will walk on the ropes to the boat. After a few weeks, I didn't see any, just some ants. Maybe one or two cockroaches on deck that flew in which we quickly squashed. I was more worried about termites. At nights, there are plenty (and I mean plenty) of flying termites, especially on a windless night. I read somewhere that termites have wings and fly around to find new homes. Once they do, they shed their wings. So that is what we do when we check around - look for wings. One day, we had a scary moment. Kjartan found some white powdery substance on the wood. In looking around the area, we found some nests and we thought they were termite nests. We dug into one and there was only one insect in there, a wasp-looking insect. Whew, not termites. From then on, Kjartan diligently covers all openings with the screens I have made. We have found no more nests since then.

For ants, we lined our entryway with this chalk that you can buy here. When ants (or other pests) walk over the powdery substance, they pick up the dust and it eventually kills them. There are lots of ants here - red, black. red/black, small and big ones. The best thing is to kill them right away, by spraying, or else they multiply very fast. As a preventative, in addition to the chalk, we never leave any food materials around. Garbage is emptied daily.

For cockroaches - there are 2 kinds: the big ones and the small ones. The big ones are easy to manage. Kill it. The smaller ones are harder and they multiply very fast as they hide in cracks and lay their eggs there. If possible, stop them before it gets so bad. Otherwise, repeated fumigation may be the only recourse. We don't keep food garbage on board and this helps a lot. In addition, we never ever bring cardboard boxes into the boat as there might be cockroach eggs on them. If we buy fruits, like bananas, they are washed in seawater before they come in.

For mice and rats (they do swim in water too), we have a high freeboard and we have no problems there. If they were able to walk on the long lines into the boat, then we would tie inverted cone-like shape to the lines to prevent them from coming in. Knock on wood, we never got any.

For termites, they do go through the screens. This is my main worry. Kjartan checks everyday. And we never turn on lights around the boat at nights because it attracts them even more.

On the yard, we have greased all the possible paths up to the boat - i.e. cradle legs and posts. This way, mice or rats will have a hard time climbing up because it would be too slippery. Ants or other crawlies will get stuck on the grease. The screens to all openings are always on to prevent the flying pests from getting in. At nights, no lights are on. In addition, all seacocks are blocked, or taped over. So far, this seems to be working well. I have also prevented the workers from having their lunches in the shade of Wiskun. I noticed a lot of big red ants feasting on their scraps, so I put a stop to it.

I did ask the question of preventing pests in a cruising forum and I got so many tips ranging from using mothballs, burning kerosene lamps inside all day to using stainless steel wool to cover all seacocks. I did buy mothballs but felt I didn't need to use them. One advice I did follow is the grease. I think this worked very well, together with shutting all the lights at nights and using screens. For extra precaution, I lay down some sticky paper on the floor inside to catch mice, and a few cockroach traps. So far, and again knock on wood, we have not seen any pests.

These tips, by the way, work perfectly at home too.