Water restrictions - effecting boating ?

[Capt Popeye]

Well recently read on a Boating , sorry Yachting column , someone asking if the Water Use Restrictions actually apply to Yachts being washed down , etc

Am really supprised by some of the answeres /comment from Yachting types

Cripes with Yachts as well as Boats usually floating in Water I guess that there is enough Water around to wash down , as water used that way usually returns to whence it came

Seems never over estimate some Yachties abilities

 

[jaminb]

My Southampton marina has posted details of the Hampshire hosepipe ban which includes not washing leisure boats. I saw this as a bonus but it was being ignored by some.

 

[stuartwineberg]

Yep, signs up in Clarence Gosport and over in Bembridge banning anything but filling water tanks

 

[SaltyC]

We will have a distraught Berth holder if he isn't allowed to spend 1hr twice a week rinsing off his 40 footer with the hosepipe!

 

[johnalison]

One reason for washing a boat down is to get rid of all that salt, so a seawater wash wouldn’t appeal. It’s a week or two since I have washed my boat down and think it is sensible to desist for the time being, though I will probably fill the odd bucket for getting grime off. The water flow at my berth is so low that the actual amount I use can be very small anyway. They used to have an alternative non-potable supply at the Sixhaven for boat washing, but no longer.

 

[Robin]

Hosepipe ban in force in our area, IOW, yard staff are still pressure washing lifted boats, but not seen any owners washing their boats except one with bucket and sponge. We fill up with water by hose a full tank lasts us about +;-10 days I think a small pressure washer can be run with its input hose in a bucket which can legally be filled from a tap, Ours could do with a pressure wash clean but will get the on site yardies involved as commercial operations are excluded from hosepipe bans anyway.

 

[Frogmogman]

Hosepipe ban in force in N Brittany too, with the washing of cars and boats specifically prohibited other than in professional car or boat wash facilities (which would allow a yard to jet wash a boat, for example).

In Saint Quay plenty of people seemed to be ignoring this, berth holders and visitors alike, despite notice of the ban being clearly displayed at the gate of each pontoon.

 

[xcw]

I understand that Portsmouth and Gosport are supplied by Portsmouth Water Company who do not currently have a hosepipe ban.

 

[oldharry]

Correct. Portsmouth Water relies on underground aquifers, so no current bans as they are actually getting all E Hampshires water seeping through to the underground reserves! Very few of the Hants/ Sussex border streams and rivers on which Southern water rely are running now.

However PWC are asking customers to be careful how much water we use, and not to waste it.

 

[davidej]

I remember sailing to Bermuda where water is so scarce that homes have it brought by Road tanker.

An American yacht at the end of the jetty hosing of the deck! Not just a quick spray but nearly half an hour while the brushed every nook and cranny.

 

[laika]

I understand that Portsmouth and Gosport are supplied by Portsmouth Water Company who do not currently have a hosepipe ban.

Interesting...I can confirm post #3: Royal Clarence do indeed have a sign up referencing a hosepipe ban. Maybe they've made a mistake? Or maybe the got sent a blanket message by southern (who manage waste water in the area)?

 

[Capt Popeye]

Thank you for the many comments , appreciated ; it paints a picture of any Water Ban accross our country

Might mention that it was traditional plus encouraged to wash boats , especially Decks down with Sea Water

These were the days of mostly Timber Construction , where Rain Water was accepted as assisting possible Timber Rotting , often Sailing Boats were sailed hard with decks awash in order to wetten the top sides and the decks , the Salt Water was thought to help preserve the Timbers

Now we have mainly Plastic Boats where the washing down is to actually Clean the Decks and Top Sides , removing any Salt deposits ; so I guess washing down with the Water around our Boats is not a common common practice these days ?

 

[The Q]

At our club using the water supply to wash boats has always been banned, you wash the boats with water from a bucket.. but since we are on a river we don't generally have salt.. Sahara sand recently has been a bit of a problem.