Weird Survey Response

[Rick D]

According to a report in the Log newspaper, the findings of a 2007-2009 Boater Survey Report conducted by California's Department of Boating & Waterways and the Coastal Commission include a response that "...nearly 96 percent of boat owners said their boats leak oil most of the time or every time they go out on the water. Only 2 percent said their boats rarely or never leaked oil."

Maybe it's just me, but that sounds bizarre. 20% of those surveyed owned sailboat auxiliaries; 15% were motoryachts. I sent an e-mail to the department asking for the actual question or questions. I suspect there is something wrong with them. I however, hold little hope of getting a response.

I don't remember ever leaking oil in 50 years of boating, and don't know of many others who have, including power boaters.

 

[Phil Herring]

Agreed. My boats never did. Maybe they meant ship owners.

 

[MrUnix]

My sailboat puts oil in the water every time I use my 2-cycle outboard..

Cheers,
Brad

 

[zeehag]

they never asked us.......mebbe is just the ones captured by the uscg.....

 

[Rick D]

Yea, but does it "leak oil"? I suppose if I analyzed the exhaust from my diesel, I would surely find some oil content too, but that sort of begs the question. The problem here is this is just the sort of outrageous and (I think) inflammatory statistic that generates policy.

 

[wetass]

If someone were to ask me if my engine leaks a little bit of oil when I use it - My response would be YES it does - I find a couple drops below it ever time I use it. The W30 has no rear seal and its inevitable that a couple drops make it down there. NONE of it ever reaches the sea though - I wipe it up with a rag once in a while and it is isolated from the rest of the bilge. So my guess is the question was likely worded to get a specific response, written by someone who knows nothing about boats, or taken out of context.

 

[tommays]

I would NEVER allow it BUT do not find it be at all rare in older rundown boats

 

[Roy10289]

Wow I am really shocked. My boat or the outboard on the dinghy has NEVER leaked or need oil to be added. In the water is not like your car with an oil drip on the driveway.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

When you consider that 90% of boats are <20'...

That's not such a surprising survey result, because all those in that size range--and prob'ly up to 23, 24'--that have any engine at all are likely to have outboards...and outboards often do leak.

 

[Rick D]

So, Maybe There Is A Big Difference...

...between "leaking Oil" and leaking oil that enters the water.

That's an example of how the wording of a question makes a huge difference in a survey's validity.

Even at that, 96%, seems absurdly high, IMHO.

I'm sure you can easily foresee action taken on the basis that 96 percent of boaters admit to polluting... etc.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Oil, Splashing and Spraying ......................

..................... up, down, sideways, black, hot, stinking, and dirty. Happens every time I start the engine, without fail.

Mind you, that's inside the crankcase. And then there's the one or two drops under the engine which are from the #^$%&*! oil pan gasket which would be a monumental task to re-do for such a small leak.

And not one drop of this oil ever makes it into our B.C. waters.

The survey is purely a case of misrepresentation, perhaps in the hopes of introducing some new pollution tax.

Here in B.C. we have an environmental tax on paint, tires, and other products which have the potential to harm the environment. All the taxes just go to general revenue. Not a dime of those particular taxes go to the environment.

 

[Steve Dion]

Rick: Excuse me but someone is full of S--T, and it is not you!

If this were the case we would have harbors & bays looking like the Exxon Valdez came in for a visit.

This is just another one of these things like copper bottom paint and the list goes no. No scientific evidence just crap spewing out of some group/politicians mount.

 

[RichH]

Rick: Excuse me but someone is full of S--T, and it is not you!

If this were the case we would have harbors & bays looking like the Exxon Valdez came in for a visit.

This is just another one of these things like copper bottom paint and the list goes no. No scientific evidence just crap spewing out of some group/politicians mount.

This 'survey' and its expected 'target results' does not come even close to passing the 'smell test' ... or there would be a naturally occurring government listing of those fined and prosecuted through the USCG enforcement of some pretty drastic yet necessary already established rules & regs. ... which have or include the signature wording: "produces a SHEEN on the water", etc. etc. etc.

Sounds like someone pushing for 'discovery' for yet more rules and regs. to solve imaginary problems. A witch hunt by an unknowing 'true believer' of some kind.

 

[Sequitur]

Where's the Leak?

A occasional drop of oil into an absorbent pad in the catch pan beneath our Yanmar shows that our engine leaks. I would have had to answer that it does leak on a survey.

If the question was about leaking into the water, then the surveyors must have asked the question to boaters in the Galapagos. That was the filthiest and most polluted place we had seen to that point. Only Ecuadorian boats are allowed to do tourism in the Galapagos, and Puerto Ayora in Academy Bay is the hub. There are hundreds of derelicts and near-derelicts at anchor in their own pools of effluent. We watched oil filters and drained oil being chucked overboard from several of the tourist boats alongside us in the anchorage. Oil cans and oily rags floated throughout the harbour. Our watermaker filters clogged within a few minutes.

 

[rgranger]

Yea, but does it "leak oil"? I suppose if I analyzed the exhaust from my diesel, I would surely find some oil content too, but that sort of begs the question. The problem here is this is just the sort of outrageous and (I think) inflammatory statistic that generates policy.

I feel this way about almost all survey statistics I hear on the radio. You have to ask yourself "who is home in the middle of the day to answer the phone and who has the time to answer all of these questions". And it is these people's opinions that policy makers use to decide what course of action to take.

Shameful.

 

[Bill Roosa]

so let "take our own counter survey" and "prove" that this stuff is incorrect.
Does your boat pollute the waterways? If yes, in what ways?
Do you have a gas, diesel, or other fuel engine? Multiple choice
Inboard or outboard motor?
How many hours is your boat in the water a year?
How many hours is your engine used a year?
Do you cross dress?
..
..
..

 

[Tommy T]

The information from a survey can be twisted to fit the needs of who ever is taking the the survey. It all depends on how the survey is worded.

 

[fstbttms]

Most recreational boats are powered by outboards. I would hazard a guess that most outboards are still 2-stroke. If you've ever used a 2-stroke outboard, you know that the exhaust carries oil and that oil goes into the water. My guess is that the survey was worded so that most outboard users who answered were referring to that oil output in their response to the question about "oil leaking."

These boater surveys are typically fairly ambigous (being written by non-boaters) and I can see how the question may have been poorly worded but the gist was the survey was trying to determine if the respondant's boating activities caused oil to be introduced to the water.

 

[fstbttms]

This is just another one of these things like copper bottom paint and the list goes no. No scientific evidence just crap spewing out of some group/politicians mount.

Oh brother.

 

[RichH]

Most recreational boats are powered by outboards. I would hazard a guess that most outboards are still 2-stroke. If you've ever used a 2-stroke outboard, you know that the exhaust carries oil and that oil goes into the water. My guess is that the survey was worded so that most outboard users who answered were referring to that oil output in their response to the question about "oil leaking."

These boater surveys are typically fairly ambigous (being written by non-boaters) and I can see how the question may have been poorly worded but the gist was the survey was trying to determine if the respondant's boating activities caused oil to be introduced to the water.

I would offer that far more 'oils' (in the form of undigested lipids and 'oleic' compounds) are excreted from human orfices into the water (indirectly through sewerage systems and sewage treatment plants), than all the combined 2 stroke engines in the entire world. The only way to stop that type of 'oil pollution' would be to strictly enforce the prohibition of 'excretion' or severely restrain / reduce the human population :-o