Banderas Bay, MEXICO. Scared of cockroaches. Marina recommendations.

[SubmarinerDan]

Boric acid at pharmacies. Muchos gracias.

Not so sure if I want to fill my boat with crickets at this stage. I seem to remember Australia doing a similar thing with cane toads to eat cane beetles with devastating results. I'll keep it in mind as a back up plan.

Autumnbreeze27, feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions relating to anything you need to know. And thanks for checking out my site. It's all up to date as of this afternoon. Marina wifi is certainly one million times better than Telcel Banda Ancha.

[Celestialsailor]

When I was at Marina De La Paz, I picked up a case of the CR's. At night, every month the marina would spray the docks around 1am., when most boater were asleep and sprayed for CR's arounf the docks and slips. The CR's would scurry up the lifelines and into a lot of boats. They started appearing on my trip up the Sea of Cortez. I sprayed and then put boric acid throughout the boat. Now, no CR's.

[barnaclejim]

when youre crusing solo or the love of your life has caught on that you are not captain courageous and the internet is sketchy, the local cookarachas are the party friends who will listen and eat whatever the era hm you cook. They dont spread disease and they will survive the apocalypse. And they can fly! Best to make friends sailor. where you can find them.

[Jim Cate]

Hmmm...

We spent 18 months in the SOC and mainland Mexico without a cockie problem. We later spent one day in the Wharf marina in Mooloolaba and copped a huge infestation of the blighters. There may be a lesson there for you submariner Dan!

Jim

[SubmarinerDan]

Some great tips from everyone. I appreciate your help.
Barnacle Jim, I'm not sure how sketchy the internet needs to be before I make friends with the Cockies but I'll certainly keep your advice in mind.
I think the general consensus here is to avoid cardboard, keep boric acid close at hand and watch everything that comes on board. If they're going to get on board it's probably likely we won't be able to stop them.
My main concern in the beginning was trying to get recent knowledge from anyone whether there were current infestations in any of the marinas in Banderas Bay. From the information I have gathered here on the street, there does not seem to be any major problems.
Thank you to all who replied to share their knowledge.
Dan
www.sailordan.wordpress.com

[icemate]

Originally Posted by darylat8750

Boric acid is available at pharmicias.

Other than my morning coffee, boric acid was my favorite. Before cruising to the Pacific. I emptied my entire boat and applied boric acid in every nook and crany I could fine. Like other, I took cereal out of cardboard boxes as well as everythin esls that came in cardboard. Used a mesh grocery bag when shopping and always submerged contents in the ocean for a couple of minutes before bringing them aboard. In 6 years, never had roaches or ants (although in Panama some tried to board) Enjoy every trip as those armchair sailors can only dream of what you experience.

[Wrong]

Well, I can say from experience rats and cockroaches are a problem there. Best prohylactic measure against cockroaches is to sprinkle boric acid powder in a thin layer just about everywhere you can reach. Cockroaches are wiley pests and learn to 'go round' hazards. They learn by observing routes other sick and dying cockroaches take, then avoid them. Banana bunches are a primary vector for them coming aboard. Especially the young.

Only way really to minimize the possibility of bringing rats and cockroaches aboard is to anchor out. Fastiduously examine bags, backpacks (yeah, I've watched the buggers trying to get into mine) and anything else they can catch a ride in. Nothing like crossing the Atlantic, Hout Bay to Trinidad while having to watch adult roaches scurrying accross the sole with young 'uns in tow learning the ropes when you get up from bed to pee,

I was only able to get rid of them by emptying areas and doing the boric acid everywhere thing in Trinidad.

[icemate]

Originally Posted by Wrong

Well, I can say from experience rats and cockroaches are a problem there. Best prohylactic measure against cockroaches is to sprinkle boric acid powder in a thin layer just about everywhere you can reach. Cockroaches are wiley pests and learn to 'go round' hazards. They learn by observing routes other sick and dying cockroaches take, then avoid them. Banana bunches are a primary vector for them coming aboard. Especially the young.

Only way really to minimize the possibility of bringing rats and cockroaches aboard is to anchor out. Fastiduously examine bags, backpacks (yeah, I've watched the buggers trying to get into mine) and anything else they can catch a ride in. Nothing like crossing the Atlantic, Hout Bay to Trinidad while having to watch adult roaches scurrying accross the sole with young 'uns in tow learning the ropes when you get up from bed to pee,

I was only able to get rid of them by emptying areas and doing the boric acid everywhere thing in Trinidad.

Boric acid everywhere and cleanliness also helps. I also kept all food in plastic containers. Never, and I mean never, go to bed with any foods out at night.

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by icemate

Boric acid everywhere and cleanliness also helps. I also kept all food in plastic containers. Never, and I mean never, go to bed with any foods out at night.

Or liquids in a container, particularly from which you normally drink. Unless, that is, you enjoy a mouthfull of dead cockroach that stayed in the container after you emptied it out. So you thought...

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by icemate

Boric acid everywhere and cleanliness also helps. I also kept all food in plastic containers. Never, and I mean never, go to bed with any foods out at night.

Just like momma used to say.

[captain58sailin]

Never had a cockroach problem, always get rid of the cardboard before going back to the vessel, always dip the fruit & fresh veggies in the ocean. As a rule keep the bananas hanging off of the fore stay.

[Seymore]

My boat has been free of insects for two years now. I use Harris Famous Roach Tablets and a fly strip.

The boat had a terrible infestation of roaches for years. I sprayed with Raid Max and Ortho. The Raid Max worked at first, then nothing, it didn't fizz on them at all. The Ortho never worked here. Neither did plain boric acid dumped into corners, but I laid it on too thick.

Two years ago I got a pack of Harris Roach Tablets. They're boric acid, like the boric acid and milk someone else recommended but, I think, with a couple of other proprietary things that are attractive to roaches. Put about six out one evening. In the morning they all had big bite marks and one was 2/3 gone. The day after that, no more roaches. And it's stayed that way.

I leave about 5 tablets out, one near where they'd come in from the engine compartment. Once or twice a year that one has a bite mark on it in the morning, and there's a big palmetto bug on the cabin sole upside down waving his legs in the air. (I'm in Georgia USA, palmetto bugs are 2 inch/4 cm long cockroaches, how nice). I know there are no roaches here because, aside from the fact that I don't see any, those 5 tablets remain whole, with no bite marks. I believe that dying roaches leave messages for other roaches to "Keep out of here!" and, death by boric acid being a slow painful one, those messages are strong in here.

Roach Tablets | P.F. Harris I have no connection to the company, I'm just a very satisfied user.

Also, I keep one old-fashioned fly strip up, and it takes care of the flying things. There seems to be the odd fruit fly passes through, nothing serious.

I consider that I don't need to religiously ban cardboard or dunk food in the ocean (but no doubt I'll pay for this...). The roach tablets have worked that well.

I have put roach tablets on the dock beside my dock lines, but there have never been bite marks on them. They've always disappeared after a couple of weeks. I don't know what's happening there.

[ryon]

Cockroaches don't like the light. Always have a light on. This works for me in the funky hotels that I visit. They seem to like the shower drain, so I turn the bathroom light on at night, then close the door.

I have no idea how to make this work on a boat, but thought I'd pass it on.

[lorrie]

Dan
I live in the local area if you are looking for good place to eat out.
Also if around for a while, check out Bucerias.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum