Attention San Diego Area Boaters >>> New Regulations

[Rick D]

For those of you in San Diego, see this notice of meeting and PowerPoint regarding a proposal to restrict in-water hull cleaning and require yards, marinas, and boat owners to maintain records. Interestingly, it references boaters required to have a bottom paint certificate. Oh oh. By the way, so few boaters show for these that the regulators can only think there is little interest.

 

[sail sfbay]

Rick D, Thanks for the heads up!!

I will be on the look out to see if a similar proposal gets enacted in the San Francisco Bay. With annual diver training, record keeping and enforcement I anticipate higher hull painting and cleaning costs passed on to the boat owner.

 

[Brian D]

Wow, they sneaked that crap in under the radar. The meeting has already past. I think we can still comment. I just had my boat painted in March. No sticker given but I was told no bottom cleaning for three months. So I am sure the yard was aware of the pending new requirements.

Thanks, Rick D

 

[Michael Davis]

How many thousands of people will it take to police that? Recreational boating seems an easy target sometimes. I'm sure the San Diego naval base will pay close attention.

 

[Brian D]

Yeah, I want to see the Port Authority pull over an Aircraft Carrier and ask, "where's your sticker?"

 

[Joe]

Every dive service I've used over the past twenty years already follows the standards laid out in the proposal. What's the big deal?. It's not the pro divers that are the problem. For racers that clean their bottoms more than monthly, most don't use copper based paint... they use non copper ablatives. So.... requiring a "sticker" or inspection certificate seems to be adding another bureaucratic layer. It is also proof that Calif isn't interested in promoting affordable boating. For that matter, in an area dominated by naval vessels that still use the "good stuff",,,,,, think "tin" it seems ridiculous that the recreational boating community be given so much culpability, Especially from a city that still dumps its raw sewage directly in the ocean.

 

[Michael Davis]

it seems ridiculous that the recreational boating community be given so much culpability,

Especially from a city that still dumps its raw sewage directly in the ocean.

Is that a fact????????

 

[Joe]

Is that a fact????????

Actually....no... not raw sewage... but rather processed …I apologize for the dramatics.... however the recent Tijuana River spill involved raw sewage from Mexico reaching beaches and bay. The processor pump broke because a BODY jammed it.... And a number of years ago there was a big ta da when the treatment plant's five mile long discharge pipe was found leaking effluent just a mile or so off shore.
The joke among surfers and divers that recreate the Pt Loma area, where the treatment plant is located, is that it
" Ensures city poop doesn't make it into your wetsuit in big pieces"

 

[Michael Davis]

" Ensures city poop doesn't make it into your wetsuit in big pieces"

LOL

 

[Brian D]

South San Diego Bay is so acidic. I used to clean my own boat when I was there. The water made my skin sting and my eye tear up even though no water was entering my mask. I hated that water.

 

[SG]

Ablative vs. hard bottoms are a bigger issue. Ablative paints for sailboats are more an illusion about effectiveness because the speed of the sailboats is so slow that practical ablation doesn't happen. When you use a pad on an ablative paint, there is no mystery that you're send a plum of stuff into the water.

There are hard bottom paints with a decent amount of copper that are effective and don't "spread the joy" when you wipe them down.

P.S. I finally switched about 13 years ago, or so. Big difference in the Chesapeake. I switch from Micron 76 to a hard paint. First I used VC offshore, but then I switched Petite Trinidad SR. That seems to have a better balance of inhibiting "fuzz" while being hard enough to wipe down easily and relatively cleanly.

 

[Serenity on Hudson]

Hard bottom paint doesn't work in fresh water. Had Trinidad on the bottom when I bought in Florida (salt water). Had Ablative put on but the marina forgot the rudder inside the boat. At the end of the season, the rudder has a 1/2 inch of barnacles covering it. Had to practically chisel them off. Won't forget the rudder again. The wing keel had some barnacles that I attribute to the Ablative wearing off in the mud in my shallow marina. The hull had a few barnacles that rubbed off easily. The paint kept them from adhering, so mostly worked. I do not race so the barnacles on the rudder didn't bother me much. It gave me an auditory measure of my speed. Still got to hull speed easily in spite of the extra drag.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Hard bottom paint doesn't work in fresh water. Had Trinidad on the bottom when I bought in Florida (salt water). Had Ablative put on but the marina forgot the rudder inside the boat. At the end of the season, the rudder has a 1/2 inch of barnacles covering it. Had to practically chisel them off. Won't forget the rudder again. The wing keel had some barnacles that I attribute to the Ablative wearing off in the mud in my shallow marina. The hull had a few barnacles that rubbed off easily. The paint kept them from adhering, so mostly worked. I do not race so the barnacles on the rudder didn't bother me much. It gave me an auditory measure of my speed. Still got to hull speed easily in spite of the extra drag.

Many hard paints lose their anti fouling properties if kept out of the water for any significant length of time. Sounds like that could be the cause of your problems, rather than any problems between the hard paint and fresh water. Certainly there are others who use hard paint in fresh water successfully. Having said that, I prefer ablative as it doesn’t build up over time. It does ablate adequately to wear off almost one coat per year.

On the original topic - What does this mean for those who paint their own bottoms? Could they just shoes their paint can to their yard to get the sticker, or would they be prevented from DIY?

 

[Davidasailor26]

Also, I wonder what @fstbttms thinks of the proposal? Would the requirements be a burden on hull cleaners or reduce their ability to do an effective job, or are they already best practices anyway?

 

[fstbttms]

Here is a post I made this morning in the hull divers Facebook group:


I'm surprised no San Diego hull cleaners have posted about this, but the shit is getting ready to hit the fan there. The Unified Port of San Diego is proposing to make sweeping changes next year to its regulations regarding in-water hull cleaning and none of them are good for the dive services working on Port tidelands. Amongst the changes are:

1.- A shit-ton of new and onerous record-keeping and reporting requirements.
2.- Annual hull cleaning training for all divers.
3.- Specific language banning the cleaning of ablative paints.
4.- Cleaning of copper-based anti fouling coatings limited to no more frequently than once per month.
5.- Independent contractors may NOT be used by hull cleaning services.

Here are links to the proposed changes to the Port Master Plan and the In-water Hull Cleaning Permit. If you are doing business in San Diego (or anywhere in California, honestly), you need to read this stuff:

https://pantheonstorage.blob.core.windows.net/environment/December-2-3-4-2019-IWHC-Regulation-Draft-Red-Line-Public-Meeting-FINAL.pdf

https://pantheonstorage.blob.core.windows.net/environment/Draft-Revised-In-Water-Hull-Cleaning-Permit.pdf

 

[DrJudyB]

On the original topic - What does this mean for those who paint their own bottoms? Could they just shoes their paint can to their yard to get the sticker, or would they be prevented from DIY?

I'm following this closely. I typically do my own bottom paint. I use Micron 66, since I occassionally keep my boat out of the water on the trailer for a couple of months a year. Micron 66 ss a “hard ablative” or “hybrid” paint that incorporates both leaching of biocides and ablating for the purpose of discouraging growth. It's maintained by a pro - Matt from Fastbottoms.

@fstbttms : what does this mean for hybrid paints such as Micron 66?
What does this mean for boats from other homeports who visit San Diego and don't have an approved sticker?

 

[fstbttms]

I'm following this closely. I typically do my own bottom paint. It's maintained by a pro - Matt from Fastbottoms.

What does this mean for boats from other homeports who visit San Diego and don't have an approved sticker?

The Port has never regulated owners who want to clean their own bottoms and this does not change with the revised ordinance.

BTW Judy- got your email. Thanks.

 

[jssailem]

"where's your sticker?"

I think that is supposed to be.... "Where is your BOTTOM sticker... Sir?"

 

[fstbttms]

Hard bottom paint doesn't work in fresh water.

100% not true.

 

[capta]

Golly gee. I guess I'm taking San Diego right off my list of must sail to places. And from what I've been reading, all of California by the time I get there, would be a sail right on by, too. You California residents do have my sympathy.