Are any boaters following the law?

[Dooglas]

I do much of my boating in no discharge zones and I certainly obey the rules as do my boating friends. In my area it appears that most live aboards in local marinas pay the pump out boat (and use the shore side facilities whenever practical). Folks here feel pretty strongly about water pollution and I'd expect that anyone who routinely violates discharge rules would be turned in by other boaters. During on-the-water and shoreside safety inspections, the Coast Guard and CG Auxiliary inspect the position of overboard valves and controls for discharge pumps. You do get cited if they are not compliant or are set inappropriately.

[Lihuedooley77]

We have the holding tank , set to tank, when in a marina or harbor.

But, we do know people who live aboard, who always flush int the marina water. Example : This guy just wanted a cheap way to live aboard and have his house at the beach. He has a 35 ft motor vessel that has no engine, so he cannot motor to the pump out station or out 3 miles. Knows nothing about boats, or seaman ship, and just does not care.

I believe there is a pump out vessel , that can come to any boatl that requests a pump out, but more than likely the boat owner would have to pay a charge.
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At Avalon harbor, on Catalina Island, that is a very popular and fun place for Southern California sailors and boaters.

When you arrive, you will be advised that after you pick up a mooring, a harbie will come by, tie up, and board your vessel.

He will drop greenish dye into your marine head and pump away. If even one drop of that dye gets into the harbor waters, you will be written up , have to appear in court, pay a large fine, and that vessel is banned from Avalon for one year.

Avalon does not put up with any indifference or violation of the law.

However, over town, on the mainland, there are marinas where they do have rules about pumping out waste into the marina waters. But, there are definitely people who just do not care, and have no respect . Or babble some nonesense about a macerator.

All we can do, is to follow the procedures, and endeavor to keep the waters clear and clean,.

We follow those procedures and regs.

Unfortunately, others do not.

[taxwizz]

Originally Posted by OldManMirage

LOL. Same thing we say about scuba divers. There's those that pee in their wetsuit and those that lie about it.

On a side note...
I have a couple of used SCUBA wetsuits for sale.
Very reasonable.
Never peed in.
Almost.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Olddan1943

I am told, in the Great Lakes system, they have a well defined state-run and private mariana free pump-outs.
Supposedly, in the GL system, one can almost see from one state-run or private marina to the next.

Well, on the Canadian side, there are no provincial run pump out facilities that I am aware of. Most (not all) commercial marinas will have the service, but at a price. Before I stopped caring (compost head user ), I recall normal prices ranging from $10 to $30.

And it really depends on which Lake you’re on. There are tons of marinas and pump out facilities on the lower lakes. On the upper lakes the marinas, and therefore the pump out facilities, can be few and far between. On Lake Superior you may have to travel over 100 nm to reach a facility.

[Lihuedooley77]

We have the marine head valves set to holding tank , when in a marina or harbor.

But, we do know people who live aboard, who always flush into the marina water. Example : This guy just wanted a cheap way to live aboard and have his house at the beach. He has a 35 ft motor vessel that has no engine, so he cannot motor to the pump out station or out 3 miles. Knows nothing about boats, or seaman ship, and just does not care.

I believe there is a pump out vessel , that can come to any boatl that requests a pump out, but more than likely the boat owner would have to pay a charge.
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At Avalon harbor, on Catalina Island, that is a very popular and fun place for Southern California sailors and boaters.

When you arrive, you will be advised that after you pick up a mooring, a harbie will come by, tie up, and board your vessel.

He will drop greenish dye into your marine head and pump away. If even one drop of that dye gets into the harbor waters, you will be written up , have to appear in court, pay a large fine, and that vessel is banned from Avalon for one year.

Avalon does not put up with any indifference or violation of the law.

However, over town, on the mainland, there are marinas where they do have rules about pumping out waste into the marina waters. But, there are definitely people who just do not care, and have no respect . Or babble some nonesense about a macerator.

All we can do, is to follow the procedures, and endeavor to keep the waters clear and clean,.

We follow those procedures and regs.

Unfortunately, others do not.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by drewm3i

Not true my friend. Sewage discharge is one of the major contributing factors to coral reef disease and mortality. White pox that afflicts Elkhorn coral has been directly correlated with bacteria in human sewage!

Perhaps, but there is no shortage of live corals and reef fish in these harbors. Cariacou is a divers paradise. There just isn’t means to do otherwise in these places.

[OS2Dude]

I'd be surprised if he city/county wasn't getting fined for raw sewage runoff. I lived in Pensacola many years back, and a pumping station failed and dumped a lot of it into the bayou and bay. They got fined by EPA. Your town may just figure it's cheaper to pay the fines than fix the issues.

I would not pump-out in a marina or anchorage. I would report those who do.

[markpierce]

Property tax on my boat includes a payment to the county water agency whose responsibilities include sewage treatment.

So, if operable pump-out facilities weren't readily available, I'd feel cheated and inconvenienced.

[Nicholson58]

Many harbors, east coast, include free pump out from the mobile facility. Any interesting names for the poop sucker boat? I think free and mobile is the best way to reach compliance. Included in the mooring and anchoring fee along with the other normal perks.

I saw Headhunter in our journeys. Others I’ve heard of; Down-Winder, Poop Sloop.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by Boat Named Sue

Totally agree that boat discharge is a drop in the $hi##er compared to municipalities pumping millions of gallons of raw sewage every time rains. Not sure raising taxes will solve that problem, as that money would also be flushed down the drain.

.

CSOs (combined sewer overflows) is a ubiquitous problem but is also a necessity most people don't understand. Without this design, sewage treatment plants would be flooded, damaged and inoperative often for prolonged periods thereby exacerbating the problem.

Infrastructure can be designed and built to either accommodate overflow or divert it but the cost is substantial which no municipality can afford. Consequently, it is a very real revenue, I.e., tax problem and no one wants to pay.

The very people who complain are equally unwilling to pay higher taxes or trivialize intentional dumping from their boat.

[Jaqun]

In Long Island Sound almost all the harbors I have been to have free pump out facilities or Free pump out boats. I think that is the way to go.

[John_Trusty]

Originally Posted by jewt

I do recommend that you install a macerator pump on your holding tank for overboard discharge where it is legal, beyond the 3 mile limit.

A big surprise to me when I chartered in Florida - the standard '3 mile limit' was extended for the Florida Gulf waters to 9 miles.
https://floridadep.gov/fco/cva/conte...boater-faq#MSD

[Colin A]

Originally Posted by Jaqun

In Long Island Sound almost all the harbors I have been to have free pump out facilities or Free pump out boats. I think that is the way to go.

I was going to say the same thing in LIS and the Connecticut river and Hudson river, pump outs are common. When I worked in boatyards in CT the average day included 7-8 pump outs.

[drewm3i]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Perhaps, but there is no shortage of live corals and reef fish in these harbors. Cariacou is a divers paradise. There just isn’t means to do otherwise in these places.

The nutrients also fuel algae growth which smothers coral. I have not been to curacao, but reefs in Florida have declined about 99% in live coral cover since the 18th century. Elkhorn and staghorn corals have declined over 98% since 1970. From what I've seen of the Bahamas, their reefs aren't faring much better. Sewage is a huge problem, not necessarily from boats, but rather big cities like Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Nassau and Tampa.

[hellosailor]

Pumpout regs and reality often put the boater in a hard place. Something like 2004, we wanted to pump out before the ALIR race to literally get any excess weight off the boat. And the marina said their equipment was out of order. (Pretty much for the year, no hurry to fix it.) I wound up calling the DEC to ask where there were pumpout stations, I figured in the west end of the LI Sound, down the East River, maybe across the NJ side of the Battery or around the corner in Brooklyn, SOMEWHERE there had to be a pumpout station, right?
Yeah, sure, the only open and working station was a two hour motor up a creek, passing under the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn, to a NYC sewage plant that officially had a pumpout station working. Two hours in, two hours out....sure, four hours to pump out the head? Really?
We waited, it wasn't very full and the three mile limit was crossed soon enough. But really, when they say "Use a pump out station" and make it into an all-day process to simply find one and use one....Ain't gonna happen.
I wouldn't pump out in a marina, but in the middle of the Sound, or someplace with a good tidal current...that's reality. (If only the postal regulations didn't make it illegal to just MAIL the stuff to the DEC....)