Keeping your boat bug-free takes action on numerous fronts. It’s easier to prevent an infestation that stop one. So take the first step.
Eliminate Food for Bugs
Clean up crumbs and galley spills. Wipe the stove area after cooking, once it has cooled.
Vacuum or sweep daily to get food crumbs off the floor. If you eat in the cockpit, clean it daily also.
Get rid of spoiled food quickly (rotten potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and fruits are particularly attractive to bugs). If you see bugs around produce, check it thoroughly for spoilage.
Wash (or at least scrape and rinse) dishes promptly.
Put all food scraps – whether created in meal prep or scraping dishes after eating – in tightly sealed containers; I like using jars and Ziploc bags that are themselves trash.
Put food wrappers and paper towels that have food residue on them into the same tightly sealed containers as the garbage; this is especially important for anything sweet and meat wrappers and trays.
Rinse cans (including beer and soda cans) before putting them in the trash (rinsing in salt water is fine).
Keep dried fruits and nuts in airtight containers – this also keeps them fresher. Many times, the container they come in is NOT airtight.
Also keep pet food in airtight containers! But you’re not done. Next up–
Make the Boat Inhospitable to Bugs
Each time you change a trash bag, spray the inside of the new bag with a bit of long-lasting bug killer. We find Ortho Home Defense (Amazon) works well.
Add a bay leaf or two (Amazon) to packages of any foods that have grains, such as flour, cereal, dry dog and cat food, bread, and crackers. This will keep the weevils out and will not add any flavor to the item.
Add a few whole cloves or a sprinkle of ground cloves to anything with sugar to keep ants out – again, it won’t add flavor.
If you have a composting head, the best bug deterrent we’ve found is crushed mothballs or mothball flakes (Amazon) and changing the compost a little more frequently.
Keep as much cardboard as possible off the boat – bugs like to nest in cardboard.
Place ant and roach traps around the boat (if you have pets or small children, be careful not to put them anywhere they could get into them). We like the Advion bait stations. If we start seeing either ants or roaches, we will also use Advion gel in places where we can’t put the bait stations. ( Yep, you can buy Advion roach stations and ant stations on Amazon).
Give a squirt of long-lasting bug spray (again, I like Ortho Home Defense) in hidden areas of the boat, such as under cushions and in wire runs. If you do not have pets or children aboard, you can be a little more liberal with your spraying and get places such as under floorboards.
Keeping Your Boat Bug-Free
Bottom line: keeping your boat bug-free isn’t terribly difficult but takes daily effort. And I have to say, it’s worth it. Because insect stowaways are the worst!
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Carolyn Shearlock has lived aboard full-time for 17 years, splitting her time between a Tayana 37 monohull and a Gemini 105 catamaran. She’s cruised over 14,000 miles, from Pacific Mexico and Central America to Florida and the Bahamas, gaining firsthand experience with the joys and challenges of life on the water.
Through The Boat Galley, Carolyn has helped thousands of people explore, prepare for, and enjoy life afloat. She shares her expertise as an instructor at Cruisers University, in leading boating publications, and through her bestselling book, The Boat Galley Cookbook. She is passionate about helping others embark on their liveaboard journey—making life on the water simpler, safer, and more enjoyable.
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