Sustainability and environmental concerns in the Yachting Industry

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EJC

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I am a professional sailor and have a background in the environmental field and as such I am curious as to whether any forum members are involved with projects concerned with monitoring or reducing the environmental impact of the yachting industry, whether it be through alternative fuels, construction, or other. If you or someone you know is involved with such a project then please post a reply!

I would also be interested in any discussion or comments from other forum users
 
I sail a wooden boat that should last about as long as it takes to grow a new set of trees, does that count? Sailing should always be minimal impack Its windpoered. The entire electrical system going flat out uses the same in a day as a one bar electric fire does in an hour. You cant erode the sea (OK watch where you chuck the anchor down). Only area I ever have problems with is fuel spills/seepage which is only small amounts but impossible to clean up if it gets in the water, oh and trying to avoid new shiny bits of of plastic and silicon.

Ok that a bit of a flipant reply to a serious question but at personal level unless someone invent an enviromentaly feindly anti-fouling and paint I cant see I can do much more but any suggestions welcomed.

The problems seam to me to stem from the fact that yachting HAS become an industry and wearas local craftsmen used to make low impact boats from mostly local materials to be sailed by people who understood and related to thier environment. Now big buisness makes serious money from very unfriendly plastics, marina culture and work deadlins encourage big engins and high fuel use to 'get their on time' instead of working the tides and there is an endless stream of 'safety' or 'comfort' products to frighten or tempt us into the chandlery.

The sad thing is that most of this was done to make sailing more 'accessible' ie cheaper and that the ecconimics of scale and marketing have driven much of the local traditional 'industry' to the wall so now its is both hard to find an alternative and its very expensive! So what was inacessible because of the high labour costs of traditional craftsmanship has again become inacessible because of the high cost of all the hight tech' stuff and 'mod cons' we have become convinced we need.

OK on a positive note:
This season the local port authority has been runnin a campaign to get people to fit bilge filters and doing frequent polutioon monitoring plus (importantly) chasing and tacking action against offenders.
The national parks regularly organis beach cleaning sessions and particularly try to get the kids involved
There is an ongoing project to report wale sightings in St Georges channel
 
Monitoring achieves little other than jobs for monitors, monitor managers, monitor co-ordinators and equal monitoring opportunity occifers. And I'm not convinced about projects either.

Yachting is a relatively low environmental impact activity unless you class mobos as yachts. If you do then the major impact will be fuel use, and the best way of limiting that is via price. This will bring about some new more economical designs but will show the real underlying problem - the life of GRP.

Cars have become more eco friendly as new technology has come along and old dirty cars are scrapped. That doesnt happen with grp boats - they go on "for ever". And the problem then is that the eco improvements are limited by old hull designs and the reluctance of the owners to spend lots re-building a boat.

So I reckon that the best eco improvement project we could have would be the compulsory scrapping of all boats older than 10 years, unless not fitted with an engine at all. Combine that with strict rules about new designs and the jobs a "good un" /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
When I was laying, freezing, on my boat, on Saturday night, I thought how an electric motor would suit people like me. I put my sails up as soon as I can so only use a motor for mooring. Using all the latest technologies for motor, batteries, solar and wind charging, and maybe a small generator, I'm sure it would be enough for me.
Allan
 
My Boat, (a Westerly Nomad 38 years old) says you are an ageist ratbag! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Although sailing itself is pretty low impact, I think it's about time there was some further serious attention paid to the ecological impact of water sports generally - incluidng the places and quality of associated land-side development, the economic value and structure of the leisure marine industry etc. Sadly, I don't know of any good studies, but SEEDA may have some to support the Cowes regeneraton work, and there may be some in Cornwall.

As individual boaters - fuel, anchoring damage to sea/river bed, toilet discharge and grey water, antifouling, driving to/from moorings (liveaboards not included!), and a high turnover and waste culture (look in any marina skip) seem to be obvious starters for study/concern.

I will be interested to see if you find any further studies or research
 
[ QUOTE ]
So I reckon that the best eco improvement project we could have would be the compulsory scrapping of all boats older than 10 years,

[/ QUOTE ]

Words fail me - you think this will improve the environment? Te energy needed to replace, and the pollution from the scrapping would massively outweigh any possible improvement.
 
Re: Oh Come On

Dirty old cars might be an issue but linking them to more mature yachts is ill considered. One of the attraction of fibreglass is its longevity - if one were to calculate impact as a function of years of use then mature fibreglass yachts have much to offer - it is the consumption of resource at the time of build that is the key issue. For most yachts use of the engine is limited but lets try comparing the electrical and other demands of a new yacht vs an older one: the fridge, microwave, DVD, heating..... the list goes on. I get fed up with being told that shore power is included in my berthing fee, I don't need it, like many older boats we are self sufficient; can you say that about the average AWB or MOBOer?
 
Oh well here we go another cottage industry/job opportunity/research fellowship offshoot of global warming. This thing is like a monstrous bit of pyramid selling!

We are being brainwashed!

We must be TAXED HEAVILY immediately as a punishment for our sins! Only the seriously rich must be allowed to use energy! We should be ASHAMED to put diesel in a BOAT for mere PLEASURE use!

And then there are the popular misconceptions that be it car or yacht or mobo that it's green credentials relate solely to it's fuel use and yet ignore it's total-lifetime effect from manufacture to scrapyard.

Get REAL guys. The climate WILL change regardless of our puny efforts, just as it has changed in the past. Divert research into finding solutions that allow the world to live with any change, whatever or wherever they arise - or do folks really believe that the world, let alone little old UK, can be better than King Canute at stopping the tide coming in?

This is getting seriously ridiculous. Every day brings another gloom and doom report for the PPC (Public Propoganda Corporation) to repeatedly broadcast to prepare us for the pain we must suffer in the name of saving the world, MORE TAX MORE TAX!!!
 
Well words clearly didn't fail you, or me either.

Unlike a car that either becomes less economical with age, or at least falls behind that of the latest models, yachts do not suffer this at all, so why scrap them?

Cars generally reach a point where they are worth less than it costs to make that final running repair, yachts seldom do.

Setting serious accidents aside, it is rare that a regularly used and maintained GRP yacht would require so much work at once that it was uneconomic, especially given the price (whatever that is) of grinding it up and disposing of it.

As for the impact of renewal every 10 years, where will the 2,3 4, + tonnes of oil based polyester per hull come from?

Sounds about the worst eco improvement idea yet!
 
well said. It only takes one Pinotuba, or Mount St. Helens to spew more crap into the atmosphere, than man has managed in his whole puny existence on the planet, and probably more than he ever will. Of course we should all takes steps to minimize our effect on our environment, but for goodness sakes use some intelligence and do not accept everything the tree huggers come up with. The figures just don't stack up.IMHO
In Britain, we currently live in one of the most dirty 'civilised' countries in the west. Try cleaning up the embankments, streets, canals railway lines etc. It will have more impact on our everyday lives. I hate litter, and I hate dog crap even more. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
This season the local port authority has been runnin a campaign to get people to fit bilge filters and doing frequent polutioon monitoring plus (importantly) chasing and tacking action against offenders.

[/ QUOTE ]

Roland

You are mistaken, you see, newer boats (GRP) generally arnt as dirty as you imply. Often they don't have bilges that fill up with water that gets in from old leaky hulls and decks, mixing together with oil dripping from out dated engines; bilge water that needs to be pumped out, into the sea, hence the need for filters.

No, in our 13 year old grp boat, any oil leaks (only ever occurr spilling oil topping up) can be mopped up with a rag, then disposed of properly. No mucky bilge water into th esea, little polution /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
I am running a project that is aimed at lowering the sea level by encouraging boatowners to keep their boats on land.

We calculate that if every pleasure boat was placed on land that the sea level would drop by 437 mm (and if all the world's ships were too that the level would drop by another 3,583 mm).

This means, of course, that if one assumes a rate of 5mm sea level rise per year due to global warming we will control the rise for approximately 88 years just by gradually keeping more and more pleasure boats in dry berths .

Do you think this is a worthwhile project?

John
 
[ QUOTE ]
I am running a project that is aimed at lowering the sea level by encouraging boatowners to keep their boats on land.

We calculate that if every pleasure boat was placed on land that the sea level would drop by 437 mm (and if all the world's ships were too that the level would drop by another 3,583 mm).

This means, of course, that if one assumes a rate of 5mm sea level rise per year due to global warming we will control the rise for approximately 88 years just by gradually keeping more and more pleasure boats in dry berths .

Do you think this is a worthwhile project?

[/ QUOTE ]

John

That is a thoroughly worthwhile project.

I would like to commence a supporting project which will establish the different effects of lifting ashore MABs versus AWBs. I'm sure that if we give priority to the former which are generally of heavier displacement it will have a more immediate and visible effect, this in turn will encourage the populace to believe in the SCT (Ships_ Cat Theorem).

I would suggest that another worthy project will be to investigate bulk sales of icecap ice. This will reduce demand worldwide for refrigeration and remove the ice from where it might contribute to rising sea levels. I have a very well qualified crony (well the wife's 2nd cousin actually) in mind for this project already.

With luck we will find jobs for all the new university graduates this year.

Robin

Robin
 
Aside from the ships itself, there is one more factor to include: the detoriation of the sides of canals and lakes due to the waves caused by the pasing ships, in particular fast moving MOBO's.
 
Our ultimate aim is to get countries to sign up to an international regime of "Days Out of Water" credits which will be able to be traded. For example, if you want to have your boat in the water for 3 weeks and I have mine out then you will be able to buy the necessary Days Out of Water credits from me to set off your Days in Water.

We are currently trying to arrange a venue for an international conference on establishing agreement on these credits somewhere in Japan next year.

Naturally the credits are based on displacement so AWB's will be at an advantage here and the cost of credits needed by heavier MAB's to spend time afloat will be quite discouraging to their use they being very unfriendly towards conservation of the sea level. But, of course, also due to their heavier displacement the value of their Days Out of Water credits will be higher than those for a similar length AWB which should provide further encouragement for MAB owners to keep their boats ashore, trading the credits instead.

I do like your ice ideas.

John
 
I have heard lots of talk of climate change and global warming. It now seems well proven and something we need to work on. One of the biggest problems seems to be all the polluting things that are being sent out to Eastern Europe and the East. If we are serious about changing things we need to stop buying things that are made cheaply because the factories don't have to think of the results of their by-products.
Allan
 
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