Fumigating the boat . Safe?

[Oscarpop]

We found a cockroach. A little one in the saloon and so obviously our vigilance re cardboard and washing fruit wasn't vigilant enough.


We have traps and spray and now are thinking about those smokey fumigating things that you let off and hen you have to leave the house for 4 hours before re entering.

However I guess these things are designed for bricks and mortar So I don't want to get back and find that it has reacted with the grp or headlining or anything else.

Any advice , are they safe to use without damaging the boat?

Cheers

 

[captmikecoin]

I don't know about fumigation but I rid our boat of cockroaches with "Cockroach Cookies." Easy to make by taking a small tin of condensed milk and stirring in boracic acid power from your chemist or hardware store until stiff so you can form the "cookies." Mine looked a bit like the old fashioned coconut pyramids but smaller. Use a spoon to form them on greaseproof paper or aluminium foil. Wait until they are dry separate the "cookies" and then distribute them around the boat in lockers, under bunks, in the bilge etc. I never saw any live cockroaches again after I did this but I've left most of the "cookies" in situ. Safe, no fumes and do not have to evacuate the boat.

If you have pets, keep them away by putting the cookies in inaccessible places.

Good luck,

Mike

 

[maby]

I used one of those in a garage some years ago and almost destroyed the place, so be careful. I put it in the middle of the concrete floor, lit it and retired to watch through a window. The fuse burned down, then the whole thing exploded, scorching the roof - if I had not been watching, it could have burned down. If you do insist on setting one off, I would suggest making sure it is enclosed to some extent. Do you have, or can you borrow, an old fashioned steel dustbin? Stand it in the middle of the boat, work out some way of supporting the lid several inches above the can, then put the smoke in it and let it off.

You may need to wait longer than the 4 hours to be safe - the average boat is a lot smaller than even a small house and the concentration of poison will be a lot higher.

 

[macd]

Look online for Combat gel. Available from Amazon such as here: http://www.amazon.com/Combat-Source...ch gel&qid=1460479695&ref_=sr_1_1_a_it&sr=8-1

Miraculous stuff.

 

[Tradewinds]

We used roach 'hotels' which we bought in Barbados after getting infested in the Canaries.

They worked really well and we were roach free (as far as we knew) for the next 5 years of our travels.

BTW if you've found one you've probably got dozens of the little blighters

They're very gregarious, usually making an appearance when you've got guests onboard :encouragement:

 

[duncan99210]

We have had the little darlings a few times. To remove them, use cockroach hotels along with spray. Together they seem to get rid of them in short order. Place the hotels in under the lockers, close to the entrances to small spaces Where roaches may hide. Spray the surfaces which the roaches may be transiting. Works for us.

 

[rogerthebodger]

We use a fogger to kill cockroaches and other creepy crawlies when we leave the boat for any time. Its very safe its in a spray can and does not have to be lit.

https://clicks.co.za/doom_fogger-dual-action-insecticide-350ml/p/69823

 

[sarabande]

a natural way to rid yourself of roaches is entomopathogenic fungi. They don't like it up them !

An alternative is to have an iguana on board.

 

[srm]

Early in my career, on a rig supply boat in the Persian Gulf (chartered by the survey company I worked for) we had a cockroach infestation. That is there were more than normally tolerated. While in Dubai the captain decided that he would have the vessel fumigated. Crew were dismissed for 48 hours and we were moved to a hotel (which had an occasional 'bombay runner' visible in its 5 star rooms).
When we came back everywhere on board had a slightly sticky film over it. Eventually the mess boy and his assistant got the accommodation cleaned up.

Perhaps try the various ideas in previous posts before resorting to fumigation?

 

[charles_reed]

Boracic acid does the job - I just sprinkle it on their runs when I leave the boat. The infection I got at Malta took 2 years to shift and fumigation was a waste of time.
A pharmacist in Marseille gave me the tip.

 

[Seven Spades]

We use a fogger to kill cockroaches and other creepy crawlies when we leave the boat for any time. Its very safe its in a spray can and does not have to be lit.

https://clicks.co.za/doom_fogger-dual-action-insecticide-350ml/p/69823

Um aren't you filing your bilges with butane?

 

[macd]

Boracic acid does the job...

More commonly known as boric acid and available over the counter from pharmacies.
A powerful dessicant, it's the basis of most home-made, and many commercial, anti-cockroach compounds. Evidently cockroaches won't eat unadulterated boric acid but the fine powder attaches to them and is ingested during grooming. I've had much less success with it than Charles reports.