Dealing with galley scraps at anchor?

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Sea Dreaming

Re: drying out coffee grounds....worth a try but how does one dry the grounds sufficiently?

Hot days in the sun? I dunno. Maybe I can use my solar dehydrator. I’ll put it on the experiment list for when we get going again next spring.

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Do the burn, bash, bury at low water, and the incoming tide will disperse whatever's left. We used old, dirty diesel to help get the stuff burning, and you may be surprised, but you can burn aluminum drinks cans.

We’ve done the burn option as well, although usually for non-organics. Paper and Plastics disappear quickly, and aluminum will oxidize in hot fires. Just be careful not to inhale the exhaust.

[GordMay]

FWIW:
According to Annex V of MARPOL disposal of waste food is only allowed at a minimum distance of 12 nautical miles from shore. Any waste disposed into the sea has to be able to pass through a screen of mesh size no larger than 25mm.
In addition to the 12 mile rule, no food waste is to be disposed in special protected areas and at or near any offshore installations.

Just saying.

[SV DestinyAscen]

Originally Posted by GordMay

FWIW:
According to Annex V of MARPOL disposal of waste food is only allowed at a minimum distance of 12 nautical miles from shore. Any waste disposed into the sea has to be able to pass through a screen of mesh size no larger than 25mm.
In addition to the 12 mile rule, no food waste is to be disposed in special protected areas and at or near any offshore installations.

Just saying.

Thought it applied to >= 400 gross ton or carrying 15 and up persons?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

...
We’ve done the burn option as well, although usually for non-organics. Paper and Plastics disappear quickly, and aluminum will oxidize in hot fires. Just be careful not to inhale the exhaust.

Have done that too, with non biodegradables, but of course burning plastics is a bad thing...lots of nasty compunds released.

Have also taken ashore to places that will accept garabage, but on some islands Im pretty sure the locals just then toss it in the sea...easy money for them.

[clownfishsydney]

All biodegradables overboard unless in very small anchorage. Tea leaves and coffee grounds overboard, the fish love them. Mostly we keep all other items till we can get them to a proper garbage facility, but at times we have taken things ashore and burnt them (but not plastic).

Note that in most Pacific islands I have visited (over 20), rubbish is just burnt or even worse, dumped into the sea, so burning these items on a remote beach is probably no worse than disposing in a garbage bin (if you can find one) and may even be better.

Even dumping bottles and cans at sea may end up been better than disposing onshore if all that happens is they are smashed to pieces on the streets. At least bottles and cans will become homes for small marine creatures.

[Hudson Force]

Sometimes even larger anchorage areas are subject to high levels of nutrient run-off from lawn fertilizer or agricultural activity. I commend those that don't toss high nutrient waste into small harbors, but some large estuaries like the Chesapeake, San Francisco Bay, Florida's Indian River Lagoon and St. Johns River can suffer from a high nutrient count. I would save the organic wastes for disposal elsewhere in places like this too.

I also think that you can judge the quality of the product. I never hesitate to toss the stems from a bunch of grapes into the water from my seat at the helm, but I'm not dumping a pot of stew into one of these places listed above.

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

Sometimes even larger anchorage areas are subject to high levels of nutrient run-off from lawn fertilizer or agricultural activity. I commend those that don't toss high nutrient waste into small harbors, but some large estuaries like the Chesapeake, San Francisco Bay, Florida's Indian River Lagoon and St. Johns River can suffer from a high nutrient count. I would save the organic wastes for disposal elsewhere in places like this too.

I also think that you can judge the quality of the product. I never hesitate to toss the stems from a bunch of grapes into the water from my seat at the helm, but I'm not dumping a pot of stew into one of these places listed above.

Thanks Hudon, you get right to the root of the question. Sometimes dumping organic matter like food waste really can be an issue.

Gord, I'll look into those regulations. I've always been a good kindergarter and follow the rules.

[barnakiel]

I throw small vegetable/fruit stuff overboard. If the anchorage is very enclosed or very popular, I act as if I were a land person: segregate, take ashore, dispose off. etc.

You do not want to find your own lemon peels on the beach next morning, do you.

b.

[brianlara 3]

IF I'M MORE THAN 3 DAYS from a normal municipal rubbish receptacle, AND AM IN OPEN WATERS......i.e. not in Sydney Harbour etc, then if I have previously eaten it or could have eaten it, and it doesn't float (orange peels) and if currents or tides will not take it into enclosed waters then I will be tossing it into the drink, which for me is usually 100 ft of water or more AND I am OFFSHORE at the time (i.e. not in any harbour or bay, not near an estuary mouth but am coasting).
Chicken carcasses go discreetly over the side after dark if in a harbour and people are swimming at least a few hundred yards away.

[Jim Cate]

Chook carcasses can be legally disposed of by enclosing them in a crab trap! I see it done everywhere in Oz!

Jim

[Cheechako]

If garbage dumping is easy I put it in the garbage. If not, then stuff that biodegrades easy goes over. Some things that don't degrade easy I don't; banana peels, meat bones etc. No use having that garbage on the beach.
Think of it this way: you have a beachfront house, would you go out on the beach and throw those things there?

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Chook carcasses can be legally disposed of by enclosing them in a crab trap! I see it done everywhere in Oz!

Jim

A crab trap would sink this boat!

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

If garbage dumping is easy I put it in the garbage. If not, then stuff that biodegrades easy goes over. Some things that don't degrade easy I don't; banana peels, meat bones etc. No use having that garbage on the beach.
Think of it this way: you have a beachfront house, would you go out on the beach and throw those things there?

HELL NO!! I think of the water as if it were a swimming pool where my grand kids play.

[Kenomac]

All organic scraps go overboard, then we watch the fish eat it. It doesn't make any difference the size of the anchorage or harbor, most of it never makes it to the bottom before being consumed with much enthusiasm by the local wildlife.

[sck5]

I am with everyone else. If it biodegrades, over it goes. By the way, some fish LOVE peas. We like to watch them eat them so much we have even tossed a few extra over just to watch them eat.

I dont have a composting head on my boat but did at a lakeshore cabin. We put coffee grounds in it every once in a while and it kept it from smelling at all. Try it. We didnt dry them out first either. Poo isnt dry so why should the coffee grounds go in dry?