When sailing, it's not just cockroaches you have to watch out for. If we had already given you techniques to avoid these pests Getting rid of a rat is a whole other ballgame.
Once in your boat, the rodent will make itself comfortable by tasting food, nibbling on everything it finds, leaving droppings everywhere and may even gnaw through the sheaths of electrical cables. In other words, we can do without bien?!
If there are several methods of capturing or killing the animal - rat poison, gassing, fagging or even trapping - these are not always effective, not necessarily environmentally friendly and in the worst case, they can neutralize the animal without finding it. You will then have to live in an environment degraded by the pestilential smell of the decomposing rat.
So since prevention is better than cure, you should use rat guards. This is a disc that you simply thread onto the mooring lines of your boat once it is moored. Rodents that reach your shore from the water or from the dock will then be stopped in their tracks by this barrier. Although there are different forms of rat guards, the simplest is the circular one.
In addition to this equipment that will avoid unpleasant surprises, remember to lock your boat when you leave it. Admittedly, goodbye ventilation, but at least you'll keep a healthy interior. Finally, avoid leaving rubbish and food lying around, which attract these small land animals.
How do you set up your guard at rats??
The disc fits on mooring chains and hawsers. Depending on the diameter of your rope, you can either thread it along the mooring line or detach it and thread it through the centre of the ratchet guard. In the case of a chain, slide it over a link and rotate it into position.
To hold the disc in place, tie a capstan knot with the rat-guard line.
