Scrubbing Laws?

[DanTribe]

They take it quite seriously in Germany.
A few years ago, 4 of us went to Fehman Island to bring a boat back to UK She was on a trailer in a yard and plan was to wet & dry bottom and antifoul before launch. . We sanded and got 1 coat on and went to bed at dusk. I was up just before dawn for a pee, nobody about so I went in the yard gulley, just as a police car arrived. The peeing was no problem but he noticed some blue water from the sanding laying on the yard. That is verboten! I called the owner who got a rollicking and a promise to return later for punishment. He never came back so we got away with it.

 

[thinwater]

They take it quite seriously in Germany.
A few years ago, 4 of us went to Fehman Island to bring a boat back to UK She was on a trailer in a yard and plan was to wet & dry bottom and antifoul before launch. . We sanded and got 1 coat on and went to bed at dusk. I was up just before dawn for a pee, nobody about so I went in the yard gulley, just as a police car arrived. The peeing was no problem but he noticed some blue water from the sanding laying on the yard. That is verboten! I called the owner who got a rollicking and a promise to return later for punishment. He never came back so we got away with it.

Hear to.

Really, you knew better. Your punishment, really, not the owner.

 

[Daydream believer]

I have absolutely no idea about ecological/biological matters- (I still have no idea how my daughter turned up 9 months & 3 days after we got married)
But something occurs to me:-
There is the question of what is actually attaching to your hull. In one month you can expect an awful lot. Not just slime. This means that organisms from one area will be transported to another. Now just a short distance, may be of no consequence. But what if there are things in one area that, say, attack seahorses in another area. (Or better still, seahorse trust, "expert scientists" )
It may be a bit like spreading types of crayfish in fresh waters. That has proved to be a serious ecological problem.
So if one picks up growth in one area, travels to another & deposits it there; will it spread disease? Note, that it has not been mixed into an antifoul paint, that will already have killed it. Or is that a non event to be ignored

 

[Minerva]

I can’t believe that there isn’t a car wash for boats in most marinas by now - the ones big rotating brushes you find in petrol stations.

drive through the hull wash machine a few times a season and hey- presto a nicely scrubbed hull. You could get it done whilst filling up with diesel!

 

[thinwater]

I have absolutely no idea about ecological/biological matters- (I still have no idea how my daughter turned up 9 months & 3 days after we got married)
But something occurs to me:-
There is the question of what is actually attaching to your hull. In one month you can expect an awful lot. Not just slime. This means that organisms from one area will be transported to another. Now just a short distance, may be of no consequence. But what if there are things in one area that, say, attack seahorses in another area. (Or better still, seahorse trust, "expert scientists" )
It may be a bit like spreading types of crayfish in fresh waters. That has proved to be a serious ecological problem.
So if one picks up growth in one area, travels to another & deposits it there; will it spread disease? Note, that it has not been mixed into an antifoul paint, that will already have killed it. Or is that a non event to be ignored

This is definitely an issue between remote pacific islands, and between some freshwater lakes and river systems. A reasonable question. But on a single tidal river / estuary and nearby coastline, no. The tide transports organisms up to the fall line.

 

[Daydream believer]

This is definitely an issue between remote pacific islands, and between some freshwater lakes and river systems. A reasonable question. But on a single tidal river / estuary and nearby coastline, no. The tide transports organisms up to the fall line.

Fall line ??? new one on me.
But what happens when the yacht sails out of the single estuary & in to another say 2 estuaries along?
In a month one can easily travel 100 miles

 

[Daydream believer]

I can’t believe that there isn’t a car wash for boats in most marinas by now - the ones big rotating brushes you find in petrol stations.

drive through the hull wash machine a few times a season and hey- presto a nicely scrubbed hull. You could get it done whilst filling up with diesel!

I believe that there was such a system. But was it not too expensive & not actually so successful? How would one clean between bilge keels, for instance?

 

[Minerva]

I believe that there was such a system. But was it not too expensive & not actually so successful? How would one clean between bilge keels, for instance?

I'd employ the 80:20 rule in the design in that 80% of boats will be within the 20% variation of underwater hull shapes and design accordingly.

I'd hasten to guess bilge keelers make up a tiny proportion of boats generally floating 24 hours a day and are generally located to be quite capable to dry out between tides to do their own bum.

 

[Greemble]

I believe that there was such a system. But was it not too expensive & not actually so successful? How would one clean between bilge keels, for instance?

There is, but I doubt if it would be used for any boat that has anti-foul paint - not likely to be any paint left.
Drive-in boat wash

Or there's the hand-held type, but probably not really intended for underhull use.

Maybe a quick scrub - with the aid of a diver?

The Chinese have a system too, but I'm not sure if it needs a diver or if it's some kind of ROV. The video just shows a control pack with someone shouting in the background.

 

[ryanroberts]

Is that that Finsulate stuff? I've seen it in use, and found it quite underwhelming.

Well, it's probably better than a bare hull, probably. Does clean up ok underwater

 

[Birdseye]

Ok here goes! This is maybe as controversial as starting a post entitled “anchors”.

I can’t find any specific law prohibiting scrubbing yet. All I see is the Water Resources Act 1991 regulate any polluting matter entering controlled waters and this legislation applies to all marine businesses.

I appreciate some harbours have banned scrubbing but presumably that is a ban against polluting the water not specifically against the act of scrubbing.

My Point:

So this year I have taken back our boat to bare gel shield. All antifoul gone. I want to attempt a season without antifoul for environmental reasons.
We’re lucky enough to have legs and can dry out. I figure I can happily do a season if I scrub once or twice over a 5-6 month period providing we’re living aboard and moving around a fair bit.

You should be OK in the bristol channel without anti foul.

Have a cousin in the CI and he never antifouls. Instead he pressure washes a couple of times a year using strong bleach to kill anything growing.

 

[DanTribe]

You should be OK in the bristol channel without anti foul.

Have a cousin in the CI and he never antifouls. Instead he pressure washes a couple of times a year using strong bleach to kill anything growing.

Is bleach less polluting than antifouling paint?

 

[Minerva]

You should be OK in the bristol channel without anti foul.

Have a cousin in the CI and he never antifouls. Instead he pressure washes a couple of times a year using strong bleach to kill anything growing.

Putting bleach directly into the ecosystem entirely undermines the whole purpose of not applying anti fouling. Also seems especially pointless if they are also jet washing the hull.