Our Gemini catamaran, Yacht A Fun, came with three “Mouse Doors” as a standard option.
Due to a Dometic refrigerator’s need for air circulation, there has to be openings for air flow. The lower openings are round, and at deck floor height. The upper openings are oval, and too far up the bulkhead for the mice to reach.
We had a mouse earlier in the winter. The little beggar must have run along our dock line, or climbed one of the fabric covered fenders.
Filth is one issue for having mice onboard. Damage to wiring, from gnawing, is the high dollar issue.
So, I went to Mitchel’s Hardware here in New Bern and bought galvanized mesh having quarter inch openings; and aluminum screen mesh. Since the galvanized mesh was made for non-marine use, I painted two coats of Rustoleum to seal it for as long as possible (without going high-dollar for the process).
I allowed the permanent marker to mar the unseen area…….. ooops
Our Mr. Heater propane space heater is fueled by a remote 20 pound grill tank. Had I not wrapped aluminum screening around the rubber hose, a future mouse could have tried to gnaw thru the rubber to get through the penetration. (I learned of that potential from years in the mobile home business when field mice would chew plastic water lines to gain access via the floor holes under sinks.)
Now we are as mouse proof on our catamaran as one can hope.
The story / blog of Yacht A Fun, a Gemini catamaran sailboat, traveling the ICW and east coast with insights to the extended cruising life. Boat Mouse Screen