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Mercury Report

Mice in boatsMice in boats

Mice may look cute in cartoons, but there’s nothing amusing about rodents taking up residence in a boat.

Rodents – and mice in particular – may seem harmless enough, but make no mistake: Just a few of them, left unchecked for any amount of time, can do substantial damage to your boat. Aside from leaving the unsanitary and unpleasant presence of droppings and urine, rodents can chew through cushions and carpet, gnaw the insulation off wiring and build nests in the hardest-to-reach places. And if one of these critters happens to expire in one of the dozens of tiny voids under the deck, the powerful odor can last for weeks or months.

Fortunately, a little prevention goes a long way toward helping you avoid such nightmare scenarios. In this Mercury Quick Tip video, we’ll show you a few simple techniques for making your boat as inhospitable as possible to rodents. All it takes is a few inexpensive items that you can find at any grocery or big box store.

Shopping list:

  • Dryer sheets
  • Small resealable plastic bags
  • Mothballs
  • Steel wool
  • Mousetraps

First, take a few plastic bags and place a handful of mothballs in each of them. Put the bags – unsealed – in various spots around the boat where mice might be tempted to nest or hide. Think tackle compartments, console, battery compartment, etc. If the boat is being stored for the winter you can even put one under the engine cowl, as long as you place it in such a way that you will be certain to remove it before operation.

Mercury Report

Boat on the waterBoat on the water

It seems that as long as sailors have sailed the Seven Seas, they have held superstitious beliefs about things that could bring bad luck to a ship. Today, many boaters still follow these superstitions – such as not renaming a boat – without even knowing where they came from. Here are the origins of five common boating superstitions.

  • It’s bad luck to rename a boat. This widespread notion dates back to ancient Greek mythology. Legend had it that Poseidon, Greek god of the sea, possessed a scroll called the Ledger of the Deep into which the names of all the ships afloat were entered. If you changed the name of a boat in the ledger, sailors believed it would bring Poseidon’s wrath down upon the vessel.

    Today, if you purchase a pre-owned boat and want to give it a new name, some believe there is a way to avoid the curse. First, you must rid the vessel of any trace of its old name – not only on the transom, but also in any maintenance manuals, logbooks, etc. This will purge the old name from Ledger of the Deep. Then, gather your family and friends and hold a boat re-christening ceremony on board. Pay homage to Poseidon; say the vessel’s new name out loud and ask him to grant it safe passage. (For a more elaborate version of this ceremony, visit www.discoverboating.com/resources/ceremony-for-renaming-your-boat.)