Responsible Boating
We would all agree that any boating experience is truly enhanced by clean water. Most boaters know they share the responsibility for protecting water quality, but the few thoughtless boaters can cause serious water pollution problems. Boaters can make a big difference in protecting the waters they use by making simple changes in the way they handle garbage, sewage, waste, fuel and motor oils, maintain their boat and abide by environmentally friendly driving behaviors.
Garbage
- Do not toss any garbage waste overboard. Cut down on the potential for trash going overboard by removing excess wrapping on shore, storing food in reusable containers and using permanent dishes, glasses and utensils on board
- Keep trash bags on board and take full bags home or throw them in trash cans or dumpsters with lids. Encourage the marina operator to provide trash and recycling
Sewage/Fish Waste
- Use the restrooms on shore before setting sail. If the boat doesn’t have a toilet, bring a portable toilet that can be emptied on shore, or include regular “pit stops” every few hours.
- If the boat has a toilet, follow the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance program and post instructions where they are clearly visible. Keep a trash can in the head; NOTHING should be flushed into the holding tank but waste and toilet paper. Use fast-dissolving marine toilet paper and environmentally friendly holding tank deodorants and disinfectants.
- At the end of the day, use a mobile or shorebased pump-out facility to empty the holding tank. Look for the national pump-out logo at marinas, or check cruising guides or boating directories.
- Do not dump fish guts and bait overboard since this adds low dissolved oxygen problem in summer months and may introduce foreign species, like zebra mussels, into new habitats where they cause big problems.
- Recycle fish waste and bait either by burying it in gardens as fertilizer or freezing it until your next trip.
Fuels and Motor Oil
- Avoid over-filling fuel tanks. Don’t rely on automatic shut-off nozzles; they may not work fast enough to avoid splash-back. Instead, listen to the filler pipe to know when the tank is near full.
- Keep an oil absorbent pad handy to clean up drips.
- Keep the engine properly tuned and maintained for best fuel efficiency and to avoid leaks. Keep a drip pan under the engine if possible.
- Dipose of saturated materials at the marina waste oil recycling station.
Boat Maintenance
Do repairs, painting and general maintenance in dry dock to keep paint chips, solvents and other toxic materials away from the water.
- Encourage marinas to provide appropriate recycling facilities.
- Choose the least toxic products available for the job at hand, and buy the minimum quantity necessary to avoid storage and disposal problems.
- Wash decks with fresh water and wipe down engines frequently to cut down on the need for stronger chemical products.
Driving Your Boat
Wake from personal watercraft and boats also contribute to water quality degradation. Large waves produced by personal watercraft erode shorelines, disturb sensitive shoreline vegetation, and degrade fish and wildlife habitat.
- Learn at what speed your boat or jet ski produces a wake.
- Reduce your speed before you reach a speed marker, not after you pass it.
- Obey all posted speed limits.
- Operate your boat or watercraft only in appropriate water depths.
- Avoid cutting through aquatic plant beds.
- Operate your boat or watercraft so that no wake is created within 150 feet of the shore.
