Looking for a Catamaran Cruising Blog?

If you found this blog via a link from a cruising site ~ we did cruise Mexico on our Ocean 49 cat for a season. See the first text box on the right for links to our preparations, trip down Baja, life in Mexico, cruising and trip back up to SoCal. Unfortunately we are back to the grind in the USA...

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Book Bugs (Book Bugs, Not Book Bags)

I recently read this book by Ann Vanderhoof about cruising in The Caribbean.Very interesting and enjoyable.
I liked how she tried all the local foods and how she included recipes with these local foods in her book.
She was very afraid of getting the local bugs, such as cockroaches on her boat.
So afraid, she would spray down her docklines and sometimes even the docks with Baygon.
If someone gave her a paperback, she would place it in a ziploc bag and spray Baygon in the bag.
Then open the bag a few days later.
I thought this was pretty funny.
A little bit of overkill.
Overkill ~ get it?
When we cruised Mexico 8, 9 & 10 years ago, I would not allow cardboard from Mexico on the boat.
No beer cases, no cereal boxes, no cartons of any kind.
I never thought of books as being bug carriers however.
Then I was calmly reading my next book, and noticed this strange hole.
Sort of like someone stuck the book with an ice pick.Poor book...
So I continued reading for awhile, but curiosity got the best of me.
Just how hard did someone stab this book?
And why?
How deep was the injury?
So I opened the pages where the hole was and ICK there were two brown squirmy squishy wormy kind of bugs in the hole!Disgusting!
So I squished them both, flung them overboard (hey, if they don't help pay slip rent they are gone!) and then finished the book.
I will now check the books for bug holes before bringing them aboard.
Maybe I will go buy some Baygone too...

7 comments:

Margarita Mirasol said...

That's too funny. Hey, last night I dreamt that I was spraying Baygon on all the lamp posts in the 'hood. No kidding. Very strange dream indeed.

Right. Off to correct all the mistakes I made on the second year test yesterday. They happened when Mr Gum started chewing and I had to put my headphones on so when I was typing out the test, I wasn't concentrating as much.
Grrrrr.

Anonymous said...

Hey, we keep finding lots of little bugs in the books we bring on too...nothing like what you found...yuck

judith said...

THAT IS MY FAVORITE BOOK!!!! I have read that book 4 times in the last year and a half. I love their adventure. I almost weep when they pull into Lake Ontario. Here at home I mop my floors with Basic G from Shaklee. If I leave a door open like when I'm hauling in groceries, and a bug comes in I'll find him with his feet kicked up within a foot of the door. And it lasts a week or more!!!! It's a germicidal cleaner and it really does a number on bugs. Problem is I don't think they make it anymore. I have had this one bottle almost 2 years, it's really concentrated.

Jennifer said...

EEEWWW!! No I am afraid to open a book. I don't like bugs!!!

Jim and Heather on Meerkat said...

overboard - Must have buggy lamp posts in Japan?

anon - Who could you be?

jomamma - It was a great book! One of the better cruising ones, and I have read a lot of them over the years. So send Jolea with the Basic G and she can clean my boat and de-bug at the same time. Then cook brownies.

jen - You live in a house. Just stay away from the marina book exchanges and you'll be fine.

I kept walking thru spider web threads when I was walking around the boatyard. That's about as bad as book bugs.

Jolea said...

I told you guys that book rocked! I am the best brownie cooker in the land... I'm on my way...

Anonymous said...

Send me a list of good sailing books like this one... I'm ready for more.