Southern California Termites

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Bill Upchurch

Member II
A couple of days ago I was in/on another thread boasting about the fact that we had such great weather in Los Angeles that we were able to sail all year long. Well we have something else in Los Angeles--Termites. My brother and I were about 5 miles out the other day and all of a sudden Termites started crawling out of the cockpit cubby holes. I killed about five of them. This morning I met a Pest Control guy at the boat and he did a complete examination. Fortunately he didn't think it was a big deal and told me to vacuum the area and then monitor the termite activity to see if I could spot the hole they are coming out of. If I can, he will treat it locally. I asked for a ball park figure to tent the boat, if it came to that, and he said it would be about 1,100.
I guess one must take the good with the bad. (You don't think this was karma for bragging about year round sailing do you?)

Bill Upchurch
E35#203
 
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sleather

Sustaining Member
You're bound to get Bit!

It doesn't HELP to taunt the climatically challenged! Buy the way did you catch MY response?

Many years ago my Cal 21 was "infested" w/ carpenter ants. Lots of them!
You could see the little bastards scurrying about, thru the fiberglass tape @ the plywood bulkheads(unpainted). I found only 1 area that had a rot problem(wood floor under the porta-potti) so that was the food source. The rest of the boat was a nesting area & playground w/ premade tunnels. A little "ant juice" cured the problem in no time!

It was "fun" holding the nozzle of the "vac" up to openings in the glass tape & watching the little suckers FLY!

Just be thankfull that wooden masts have seen their day!
 
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tenders

tenders

Innocent Bystander
I found an area of termite infestation on my boat when it was in Long Beach about 15 years ago. It was in a plywood bulkhead in the aft end of the port quarterberth where an inspection port had been cut out, and there was a fine dust of suspicously round pieces of sawdust on the cushion below.

Some channels appeared to have been bored down a few of the plies in the wood -- but they could have been voids in the plywood construction, I don't know. This got me pretty worried but I ended up seeing only one or two larvae. I got a spray can of termite killer at Home Depot which came equipped with a tiny copper tube at the end of a flexible tube for squirting into holes, surrounded by a suction cup to force it into the holes. I squirted it down the channels with abject enthusiasm and never saw another termite...or the sawdust/droppings.

And after a few subsequent Great Lakes winters I'm pretty sure the problem has been fixed climatologically.
 
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Seth

Sustaining Partner
Boat pests

I feel your pain. That type of termite can be hard to eradicate, but is a cakewalk compared the more common bug infesting many boats: Polyestermites.

These critters can ruin the value of a sailboat with the damage they create such as hull blisters, gelcoat fading, deck crazing, etc.

A common misconception is that these problems are caused by other factors like poor factory QC, age, and UV effects, and while these can contribute to these problems, they usually originate with a Polyestermite infestation.

Good luck and hope you don't find these things aboard!;)

Cheers,
S
 
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Bill Upchurch

Member II
Polyestermites

I just Googled Polyestermites and read a number of articles about the insidious creatures. The pieces seem to indicate that they are found mostly in Florida and the Northeast in salt water. I'm not sure that I am thankful for the enlightenment Seth. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Now I can't think of anything but these little S.O.B.s munching on my boat.
 
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