The importance of keeping roaches off your boat goes without saying. Particularly in warm climates, get in the habit of not bringing boxes aboard for any length of time if at all. Instead, unpack and repackage items on the dock if possible. This goes for everything that is packaged in boxes: grocery items, boat and automotive parts, packages that are shipped to you. In spite of your good intentions, however, these stowaway experts may infiltrate your galley. Here’s what you can do:

Substitutions for roach repellant

What to use instead:

• Bay leaves. Researchers at Kansas State University were able to validate this folk remedy in 1982 by showing that bay leaves repelled cockroaches in insect tanks. The active ingredient in the leaves is cineaole (also known as eucalyptol.) A bay leaf in your flour canister should keep the flour free from bugs. Place bay leaves wherever you have a problem: in the pantry, cupboards, shelves.

• Cheap wine. Put saucers of it under your cabinets. Roaches love it, crawl in, drink it, get tipsy, and drown!

• Soda. The easiest roach trap is to leave some soda inside a soda can. You can’t see the roaches to readily, but you’ll hear them. A glass jar, preferably one with a narrow taper at the top, gets the same results. Bugs jump in after the food and cannot climb out the slippery sides.(Caution: You might want to somehow mark the can and identify its use, so that some unsuspecting person doesn’t accidentally take a swig of the soda!)

• Cucumber is an effective cockroach chaser. Place cucumber skins wherever you have a roach problem. the vegetable’s repellent quality comes from a naturally occurring compound in the plant called “trans-2-nonenal.”

• Roach cookies – Mix boric acid with bacon grease. if the mixture is a little runny, add enough flour so that the consistency is similar to biscuit dough. Roll into little balls and generously place under cabinets, under floor boards, etc. (The balls will harden.)

Another recipe calls for eight teaspoons of powdered Boric Acid (available at most pharmacies in 12oz. containers) and three teaspoons of sweetened condensed milk. Drop by small amounts onto a dish or cookie sheet covered with wax paper. (Makes six to eight cookies.) Harden by placing in a sunny spot. After the cookies harden, leave the wax paper under them and cut around each one. Place individual cookies around the boat in areas where roaches might nest, especially the galley.

These tips are a collection from the book, ”Women Aboard, A Collection from Newsletters, 1994-1997. For more information about Women Aboard visit www.womenaboard.com