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Replacing portlight screens can help keep a boat bug-free.

- ROGER HUGHES

Nighty-night. Hope the bugs don't bite." My parents used this rhyme to tuck me into bed each night. I used it with my own children. It is particularly pertinent on a boat, because there's nothing more annoying than a mosquito buzzing around in a dark cabin, and the moment you switch on a light in the hope of squashing it, it vanishes into some small cranny-until you switch off the light again. It's also not really ideal to spray a small cabin with insect repellent because you might be the one who gets repelled.

The answer is to have bug screens covering all openings, particularly portlights and hatches, which you might want to open all night for ventilation.

Most portlight manufacturers make mesh screens that fit their portholes. On my 50-foot schooner, Britannia, we also have custom-made hatch screens that clip into place under the hatches. One fits completely around the main companionway doors, but it makes it awkward to get in and out, so we don't use that very often.