At the Halloween cruise last fall, Barb and I had the pleasure of being on the same finger pier as Al, Susan and their grand daughter. Al and Susan’s grand daughter found a sea slug and as you may know some of these are beautifully colored fascinating creatures to watch. This one was particularly beautiful being white with a purple line down its back. There were close to forty boats and over a hundred people on that dock; all of us enjoying, using and abusing the waters of Puget Sound. There in lies the dilemma for those of use who boat and want to enjoy Puget Sound and yet pass a sound worthy of love and wonder on to our children and grand children.
The South Puget Sound Ecosystem is predisposed to problems. It has large areas of tidelands exposed to sunlight and low water in the summer. These mud flat and tidelands collect silt and nutrients and are a great place to be an algae for most of the year. Then in summer when the mud is exposed to extreme heat and drying during the mid day low tides; much of the algae dies and is then decomposed by bacteria in the water. This process uses oxygen that was dissolved in the water. That same oxygen that larger marine life like clams and fish need to survive. This silting fertilizing and dying is known as eutrophication, the natural aging of bodies of water.
Along come humans and we log forests, adding soil nutrients; we fertilize fields adding fertilizer; we use septic tanks, build roads and contribute to LOTT sewer sludge. These factors and more add nutrients to South Puget Sound. Because of these nutrients even more algae growth builds up on the mud flats and shallows. Along comes summer and the dissolved oxygen levels plummet to levels that cannot support life. In the words of an executive summary of the 2008 study of dissolved oxygen and nutrients done by the Dept. of Ecology “the results show that human-related sources of nitrogen must be reduced to keep the South Sound healthy” (W.A. Dept of Ecology 2008). A dead zone is a possibility.
There are many of these dead zones along the east coast of the U.S. (Clyde Ford 2008) Dead zones have already been identified in Hood Canal. My point in all of this is because of the existing conditions; in South Puget Sound a little is a lot when it comes to nutrients being added to our waters. It’s already close to the edge, let’s try not to push it over.
I don’t plan to chainsaw my boat and deliver it to a landfill in eastern Oregon. So, I’m going to try to use practices and products that can at least lower the impact on Puget Sound’s sensitive ecosystem. I hope you will try some of these things with me and report back to the environmental committee. We can use that holding tank. We can minimize gray water impact by reducing the use of dish soap, and use that sink strainer. We can choose products with fewer harmful substances in them and choose practices that minimize the amount of harmful substances that enter the water. We can keep an ongoing dialog going about the products and practices we all try to use.
With respect to our spring cleanup, what can we do?
Spring Cleaning the Exterior, the Big Job. I plan to try the following.
1. Clean boat and decks with 1/2 cup vinegar to 1 gal hot water.
2. Spot clean with Simple Green sol. Follow dilution directions.
3. Baking Soda and Boraxo for more stubborn stains
4. Wax with a cleaner wax.
Routine Maintenance I plan to try.
1. Fresh water wash
2. White vinegar wash
3. Spot cleaning with Simple Green in a spray bottle
Bright Work
1. Doing nothing is recommended in Boat Green by Clyde Ford
2. Teak cleaners (Oxalic acid is an organic acid) Materials safety data sheet @ http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/4070fact.pdf
3. Sanding: Wet sand to touch up and have oil absorbent pads at the ready in case you get some in the water. If dry sanding, use a skirt and a dustless sander as recommended by Boat Green.
4. When varnishing, have oil absorbent pads ready.
Give some of these alternatives a try and let me know how it goes.
| Item to Clean | Traditional Product | Alternative |
| Stains | Cleaners with Bleach | Hydrogen Peroxide |
| Counters & Deck stains | Soft Scrub Cleanser | Baking soda or Boraxo |
| Counters, decks, & floors | Dishwashing detergent | ½ cup white vinegar in 1gallon water |
| Windows | Windex | 1 cup White Vinegar 1qt warm water |
| Brass polish | Brasso | Worcestershire sauce, or paste of salt vinegar & water |
| Stainless Steel | SS Polish | Baking Soda & water paste |
| Fiberglass Stains | Soft Scrub | Baking Soda paste |
| Mildew remover | Something with bleach | paste of vinegar & salt or paste of salt & lemon juice |
| Hand cleaner | Waterless hand cleaner | Baby oil |
| Drain cleaner | Drano liquid plumber | Put baking soda down drain, then vinegar, snake? |
| Dirty stern | Soft Scrub | Baking soda paste |
| Sails and canvas | Laundry detergent | IOSSO http://www.zcare-cleaners.com |
| Rubber dingy | Inflatable Dingy Cleaner | Baking Soda, Baby Oil on the black smudges |
| Toilet | Cleanser | borax, allow to sit for couple of hours |
I will not be perfect, but do I think about the environmental cost of what I do on my boat? Yes. I would love to discuss the choices I have made with you and if we all discuss what we are trying to do to minimize the impact of our boating activities on the Puget Sound environment, maybe we all can reduce our negative impact on the waters we love and want to share and pass on to our children and grand children.
Rick Bergholz, Inati
1. W.A. Dept. of Ecology 2008 http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0203021.pdf
2. Clyde Ford 2008 Boat Green, New Society Publishers, CA