Clean Boating Guide
There's nothing like a day out on the water. But imagine the water had a film on it and an unpleasant odor, garbage bobbed about, and dead fish and other aquatic creatures floated amongst the trash. Each of us is responsible for working to prevent that disaster from coming true. Help keep our rivers, streams, and oceans clean, beautiful, and alive by following these best practices:
Fuel and Oil
- Never spill fuel from the air vent
- Never use detergent on spills or bilge oil
- Never pump oily bilge water overboard
- Put oil-absorbing pads in the bilge water (and take them to a household hazardous-waste collection site)
- Clean engine parts over a container or in a parts washer
- Take waste oil to a used-oil recycling center
- Never mix wastes
Sewage and Garbage
- Empty sewage only at pumpout stations
- Don't dump untreated sewage inside 3 nautical miles of shore
- A No-Discharge Zone means no sewage (treated or untreated)
- Never throw plastic in the water
- Never dump food or fish wastes within 12 nautical miles of shore
Painting and Sanding
- Find out what maintenance is allowed at your marina
- Never spray paint in the slip
- Leave nothing on the dock to fall into or blow into the water
- Ask your supply store for environmentally friendly or least-toxic paints and cleaning products
- Use phosphate-free and biodegradable cleaning products
- Share left-over paint, varnish, and teak cleaners or take them to a household hazardous-waste collection site
- Spread tarps between the boat and dock when you sand, paint, or clean
- Use a vacuum sander in the slip or hand sand small areas and wipe as you go
Hull Maintenance
- Don't clean soft-sloughing or ablative paints underwater (or consider changing to dry boat storage and nontoxic paint)
- Wait 90 days after painting before cleaning hull
- Remove growth while it's soft; wipe gently and often
- Ask your underwater hull cleaner to follow this guide
Report oil, fuel, or hazardous waste spills or the disposal of plastics into marine waters to the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Environmental Response Center at 800-424-8802 or VHF/FM radio channel 16.
Print this page and post it in your vessel.
