BIOSECURITY - Only half the picture?

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Tupaia

Boats are an easy and visible target insignificant when compared to the less visible environmentally damaging but economically essential farming pollution caused by nitrate run-off and offshore drilling. Priorities become skewed when politicians get involved.

Well the alternative view is the “ low hanging fruit” doesn’t get much lower then yachts

Surprising yachts in concentrations seen in places like the med are having significant environmental damage. Recently a report questioned the anchoring strategy in the Balearics due to sea grass damage.

[skipperpete]

Originally Posted by Kurlie1

Sorry you feel the need to judge ... I was asking for POSITIVE feedback on what other solutions are being employed..
No "hand-wringing" here just thinking of the future and posible SOLUTIONS.

The “solutions”are already in place starting with the now ancient and gradual implementation of the TBT anti fouling ban for small vessels. Yachts entering Australian waters can be subjected to a haulout inspection and paint sample and foreign going cargo ships are legally required to provide information regarding ocean ballast water changes performed before entering port and discharging ballast while loading.
In the 1950’s the timber trawlers and workboats used a variety of lethal home brew bottom paint with white lead and arsenic being the most common. I had lunch under the revived Cutty Sark and admired the copper (muntz metal) sheathing on her hull, no paint.
Here’s a pic of ballast change waters and zones of prohibition in QLD[ATTACH]265818

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

It’s a failing but i can’t resist as a perusal of my 22,000 posts on CF will attest too.

As many know I’ve no time for this abject “live free from rules “ abject nonsense , largely peddled by wealthy privileged ( I mean we own yachts ! ) types sponging off a society created to try and help people live collectively. It’s a complete fallacy

Yes there are many wealthy yacht owners, but owning a yacht does not make people automatically wealthy. That is a myth on which everyone dwells who delivers any kind of service to yachts.

Especially here at Cruisersforum are many for whom their yacht is their only home and who are not wealthy in the traditional sense but who happily live an alternative lifestyle.

Btw. The number of posts in a forum does not give any form of authority in a forum neither does it say anything about the quality of the content.
I am not saying that your posts are bad, but boasting about the number, well ...

[Wotname]

Folks - 10 posts deleted today for being either being unrelated to cruising and the thread topic or for being mostly political in content.

You were asked nicely back in post #20 to keep your posts directed to the thread topic and boating / cruising related. There wouldn't be a third request.

[taxwizz]

If the government is persecuting the small boaters with legislation limiting their bottom paint, what are they doing about the freighters, and cruise ships that have much more extensive bottom areas?

Surely they shed much more volume of noxious chemicals than small pleasure boats.

Who said....
"Legislation can only be written by those who know absolutely nothing of the subject."

[ccanupii]

While it may seem cumbersome and expensive, it sounds like there is a real issue that does not need people trying to find a way around the issue. In the American Great Lakes the Zebra Muscle was introduced through foreign cargo ships releasing ballast water. The muscles have been destroying the environment and historical wrecks and there is nothing that can be done.

Unfortunately it sounds like NZ is taking the same stance as most other countries. Punish the recreational boater for something is a commercial shipping problem. I find it hard to believe that a boater cruising the NZ coast is the reason there are invasive species from the mediterian and Asia. Not saying it couldn't happen on long distant sailors but most likely not.

The leaching of chemicals from antifouling paint is minimal but could become a problem if people start trying to make their own product by adding chemicals on their own, at least it has happened in the U.S.

I would start by asking your local government reps what are they doing about the international cargo ships since they can discharge thousands of gallons of contaminated ballast water.

However, it is just a part of boating that we have to live with. Clean your hull regularly. In the U.S. some boat ramps provide a fresh water rinse station to clean your hull to avoid contamination from one lake to another. However, it seems alot of people adopt the position that "its not my problem" and do what they want.

Bottom line, the rules are the rules, and trying to change things will only happen at the government level and not a cruising forum.

[dabizi]

We use Sea-speed for our bottom. Totally non-toxic and lasts for 10+ years.
https://sea-speed.com/
Can be cleaned easily because very smooth clear layer.

[JBsurfin]

Originally Posted by Kurlie1

Greetings all.


I'm interested in your thoughts on this topic. Here in NZ .. and I'm sure in many other parts of the world .. the boating population is currently under intense pressure to up it's game relating to the environment. All marinas and many cruising destinations are deanding recent paperwork relating to hull cleanliness before allowing access.


https://www.marinepests.nz/





Whilst I applaud the move in this direction I feel the pressure is not focussing on enviromental solutions.
Vis-a-vis "paint poison on your hull to kill the pests" ??


Our club/marina is currently investing big dollars to upgrade haul-out and cleaning facilities but still the ablative antifoul bottom paint is the "general" solution ..


What are we doimg to the overall marine environment by leaching toxins?


Yes .. I know of Coppercoat .. and have used it on a previous boat

I see some evidence of (overseas) opperations the use hull cleaning systems - NO antifoul paint allowed


Help me out here.
What are your thoughts and experiences?
What does your club/marina/Council (marine authority) promote as a solution to the MAJOR issue of maritime hygene?


I feel guity everytime I dive on my hull - or beach clean (ablative paint) to brush off the accumulating film of mud (The river where my boat lives has a very high sediment-in-suspension content.


thanks

With ONLY 10% of ALL plastics produced (350 million metric tons a yr.) 90% ends up inland fills, and we know that a large amount of that, ends up in the ocean with micro plastics in the Marine life. I don't see bottom paint as the biggest source of killing the oceans. Should we do and find alternatives ,that will come and has been coming.

[JBsurfin]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Speak for yourself not the rest of us.

For many our boat is our home so yes, we NEED to have them.

Sorry, you may think you have that need, but in reality, you don't need a boat. A trailer on land in many cases is bigger, and has accommodations that are far more lush. Its a water thing..

[timb7734]

have used Coppercoat for over 15 years and its' durability makes it less cost than the cheaper ablative and hard anti fouling coatings, also the epoxy makes a great barrier coat for those of us in water all year

[dial_amonkey]

Here in NZ again: Totally OK and encouraged to clean the hull in the water with a diver, careening and cleaning up afterwards totally illegal - common sense in the clown world.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by dial_amonkey

Here in NZ again: Totally OK and encouragedeto clean the hull in the water with a diver, careening and cleaning up afterwards totally illegal - common sense in the clown world.

The point is , lack of joined up thinking , doesn’t invalidate the underlying reasons. Gov grapples with trying to find solutions that try and solve the issues while discommoding the fewest people. Sometimes the end result isn’t terribly effective. But this is merely a step on the road , Govs will work away and over time will straighten out such anomalies

[mdenize]

Hi Kurlie1 I see you haven't really found a solution on here which is a shame as it is a problem not just here in NZ. I do have to use boats as I live on an island with no road access. Here are my solutions but I like you would love to have better ones

I have two boats (which I definitely don't need). The fast boat is 7.5m Mclay aluminum hull hard top run about. I do not anti foul it. In summer I with pull it out every time I use it or leave it in for no longer than a week. Barnacles are the biggest fouling problem in the warmer months. And there is also a dark green algae that grows most of the year. I find that for this boat my fuel economy drops by 10% if I can see or feel any fouling at all. I used to scrub the Barnacles off manually on the trailer but this does not remove the dark green algae. I now water blast the Barnacles off before they have fully cemented their bases on (hopefully) but as this doesn't remove the green algae either, I either use a 1:4 Janoia solution or I just leave the boat out in the sun for a week. So for this boat there is minimal environmental biosecurity risk, and minimal environmental damage.

My other boat is a 8.5m fast sailing catamaran. She is permanently moored and painted with ablative anti fouling and has all of the problems you describe including high sedmentation which seems to be associated with tiny crustaceans that live on the hull. I do not have a Mediterranean fan worm problem....yet! This sediment also slows down the cat when I haven't used it for a while. So what I do is scrape the hull in the water with a plastic broad knife. I find that this cuts the sediment and the associated crustaceans off without releasing almost any antifouling. If I'm motivated I do this every couple of months and not much else grows. For the full repaint I do this about every 18 months or longer if I have been cleaning it often enough. I do this in one of my local marinas which both have sumps to collect the waste.

Where this system falls down if when I am too slack (like now when I am getting over covid! ) and the growth gets too heavy like Barnacles mussels or Undaria seaweed. What do then is I scrape it off with the broad knife and go and get it painted. At least this way i do not carry any extra organisms away from my mooring. I hate doing this and I too feel there has to be a better way.

So how about it Cruisers forum. Let's hear your real world solutions not some tangential beat up.

[dial_amonkey]

Here in NZ again: Our marina this very min is flying their clean water marina award,( they recently received; can name the marina if anyone interested) a blue flag, while at the exact same time there is a sign in front of the office and on on the water front(they put up this morning) saying the water is unsafe to touch! - a week hardly goes by where there's not a large diesel spill. I would get up and make two photos but i cannot be bothered - if you don't think it's a clown world you haven't looked hard enough - Do people really believe things are heading towards a better future?

[Shaneesprit]

Originally Posted by Kurlie1

Are there any cruisers out there using the "Boat-wash" system?
Is it cost effective?

That’s the problem, you cannot ask if it’s cost effective!
you have to ask is it environmentally effective?
Cost is the owners problem.
Personally I am copper coated have been f since before my ownership of. 6 years and this year I will have to clean the hull. For the 1st time.
You can always traverse between fresh and salt water or go somewhere where the tide dries out. Which is what I have done in the past, but this year has been my first with any real fouling.