I’ve had the sailboat in it’s new Florida home now for 10 months. I happened to be on the docks on a weekday and there were two divers cleaning the boat’s hull next to me. I struck a conversation with them of course much of it was related to growth on the hull. Apparently the Daytona Beach water quality is fairly good at our marina and the constant flow of the tides adds to the health of the creatures that love to attach themselves to the bottom of our boats. They told me that within 10 days their will be growth. I started thinking ” I really need to get under the boat and have a look.”

Fast forward a few weeks. We were motoring against a 2-3 knot tide and I notice that we were making headway but not as much as the kayakers that just passed us. Maybe it is time to get under the sailboat and take a look. I started thinking back to the conversation and what would 10 months of buildup look like. If I don’t get to this quick it will probably be designated some sort of natural habitat.

The next weekend with mask, snorkel and other assorted cleaning utensils I went under to take a look. I was surprised! The hull looked amazingly clean. Apparently the new paint I put on before launching the boat paid off. The propellor was unrecognizable. I hadn’t put any anti-fouling paint on the prop after reading mixed reviews on the value of this.

I cleaned the hull first with a stiff brush and a plastic scraper. There were about a dozen barnacles to be found which easily came off when a little pressure was applied. Next I attacked the fouled propellor. i used a 1″ wood chisel for this. It was slow and tedious but eventually it started to look like a propellor. I had a little help from the channel catfish that were inches away each time I scraped off a few morsels. After an hour of repeated surfacing and diving the prop was clean.

The local Daytona Beach divers charge about a dollar a foot. Was it worth cleaning myself? Probably not but I did gain some satisfaction from it. When the water gets colder I will look into subcontracting this chore out.

In atlanta cheap flights is an easy way to make your travel expenses less. In denver cheap flights arent available readily and same is the case with the apartments here. The only thing found in abundance is rental cars.

I am passing this on:

For 34 years the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has exempted discharges from recreational boats from the Clean Water Act permit system. Regretfully, a recent court ruling cancelled this permit exemption. EPA is required by the court decision to develop and implement by September 30, 2008 a national permit system for ALL vessels in the United States for a variety of normal operational discharges.

We have been working behind the scenes with other boating organizations to get the exemption reinstated for recreational boats. Fortunately, the Recreational Boating Act of 2007 (H.R. 2550) has been introduced by Representatives Gene Taylor (D-Miss) and Candice Miller (R-Mich) which would protect recreational boats from being swept into this unnecessary and expensive permitting system.

It is critically important that H.R. 2550 be passed and your support is essential. Please contact your Congressman and Senators TODAY and ask that they co-sponsor or support H.R. 2550.

If the permit system becomes a reality, you will be required to pay for a state permit for each of your boats. EPA will be monitoring your deck runoff, grey water, bilge water, engine cooling water, and the use of copper bottom paints.

The original lawsuit that led to this court decision sought to address ballast water discharges from large ocean-going ships, which can introduce damaging aquatic invasive species into U.S. waters. Keeping our waterways clean and preventing the spread of invasive species is of utmost importance to the future of boating. But taking a complex permitting system designed for industrial dischargers and applying it to recreational boats will not yield significant environmental benefits and it will come at a very high cost. Requiring recreational boaters to purchase a permit would not prevent the spread of invasive species.

BoatUS has been a leader in educating boaters about Clean Boating practices for more than a decade. Our nonprofit Foundation has funded local education projects on invasive species prevention, helped develop voluntary Clean Marina programs, and authored much of the country’s Clean Boating outreach. These positive education efforts are making a difference.

Please ask your elected federal representatives to support H.R. 2550. It is common-sense legislation. As you send your emails to your Members of Congress, please copy BoatUS at GovtAffairs@BoatUS.com . We’d also like to ask you to send a copy of your correspondence to the EPA, so they can see how this will affect citizens. However, please know that if you choose to send it to EPA, it will become a part of the public record. EPA’s email is ow-docket@epa.gov, and your email needs to have a subject line with Docket ID No. OW-2007-0483.

For More Information:

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions

Click here for a sample email letter

Click here to easily send an email to your Members of Congress.
Forward this Action Alert to your friends, your fishing and boat club, your
marina neighbors, and your local press!

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

Margaret Podlich

BoatUS Government Affairs
GovtAffairs@BoatUS.com <mailto:GovtAffairs@BoatUS.com>
703-461-2864 or 703-461-2878 x8363

Staying at hotels is an easy way of recreation. In this regard the best deal is that of new york hotels. Although the san francisco hotel is also great, as well as the orlando hotel, the luxury is incomparable.