You may have seen a headline like this in your paper: Lawn-Mower Emission Rule May Be Costly. Mentioned briefly in Megan Greenwell’s Washington Post article:

“All gas-powered recreational boats must reduce emissions by 70 percent [by 2010].”

Wait a minute…What?! “ALL”? Not just “newly manufactured” boats or engines?

The article doesn’t focus on boats, so I did my own research. Here’s what I learned from the EPA’s website:

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adopting new exhaust emission standards for marine spark-ignition engines and small land-based nonroad engines.  EPA is also adopting evaporative emission standards for equipment and vessels using these engines.  These standards apply only to newly manufactured products. The standards will reduce the harmful health effects of ozone and carbon monoxide from these engines, equipment, and vessels.”

Ah, OK. That’s fine, then. I’m all for it. Newer, cleaner engine technology provides benefits all around, in my opinion.

For instance, I love the 4-stroke, electronic-fuel-injected Johnson (but-manufactured-by-Suzuki) outboard motor hanging off Two Lucky Fish’s transom. It’s relatively quiet, relatively clean, and incredibly reliable. Except, you know, for the unacceptable corrosion failure mine experienced and BRP/Johnson’s clever-but-disingenuous liability-dodging on the issue.

Even if you’re comfortable refilling disposable propane cylinders, eventually the valves will fail, or they’ll get so rusty they have to be retired. So what do you do with them?

Coleman has launched a new recycling program for disposable 16-oz. propane cylinders.

“Green Key: Your Key To Being Green”.

Whuh-huh?

It’s a tool that “durably marks the propane cylinder as empty for steel recyclers.”

Again, whuh-huh?

Here’s Coleman’s video demonstration, and here’s my own attempt to explain how it works:

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Now THIS is pretty dang cool. Green Boat Stuff sells a product by Green Marine Products called the Fuel Whistle. That’s a lot of green, but even if you’re not an ultra-liberal tree-hugger, you’ll appreciate what this product does.

Here’s how it works:

While the tank is being filled a ‘whistling’ sound is produced by the Fuel Whistle. The sound is loud enough to be heard from any point on the boat. It will be audible in a strong breeze or with any normal surrounding sounds. As the tank approaches full, the sound turns to a ‘warble’ and when completely full it immediately stops. This is the signal to stop the fueling process before any spill occurs.

I’d love to give it a try. I’m always trying to balance my desire to fill my tanks as full as possible with my dread of overfilling. It would be great to have some warning!

I’m on a few different email lists, and recently I’ve received two very different calls-to-action from two sources, both of which I respect. I’m not going to try to convince you which side to take, but I think you ought to be aware of the arguments on both sides. And then, if you feel strongly about it, contact your senators and representatives.

On the one hand, we’ve got Jerry Fraser, Editor & Publisher of National Fisherman. On the other hand, there’s Michael Campbell, President of the Northwest Marine Trade Association. These aren’t the only two with something to say on this topic, by any means. But they’re the two from whom I happened to receive email.

At issue is the the Clean Boating Act (S.2766/H.R.5949), which Mr. Fraser summarizes pretty clearly:

Two years ago, a federal court, hoping to prevent further transmission of potentially invasive species lurking in the ballast tanks of high-seas cargo ships entering U.S. waters, said the Environmental Protection Agency could not continue to exempt incidental discharges of deck wash, engine cooling water, and the like under the Clean Water Act.

As a result, by Sept. 30, thousands of previously exempt commercial vessel operators and millions of recreational boaters will be required to obtain permits for discharge “incidental to normal operation of commercial and recreational vessels.”

You know, things like weather run-off, bilge water, engine cooling water, and even the drain from the galley sink.

If they do not, they could be subject to potentially severe fines for almost anything that might accidentally wash out the scuppers, even spilled milk.

Penalties for non-compliance include fines of up to $32,500 per day per violation, and citizen lawsuits. OK, I’m paying attention now.

Vessel operators in states that report (by Sept. 30) to the EPA how they intend to implement the regulations will not have to obtain individual permits. However, all states may not impose the same rules.

In short, a well-intentioned decision by the court is begetting regulatory hell.

The Clean Boating Act would exempt recreational vessels from the permit requirement. But it does nothing to address the needs of smaller commercial vessel operators. And therein lies the conflict.

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We’ve made no secret of the fact that we’re enamored with Hobbie’s Mirage-drive-equipped pedal-powered kayaks. So what would you get if sailboat people, rather than kayak people, made a pedal-powered boat?

You might get something like the Nauticraft line of pedal-powered boats:

Where did these unusual boats come from? Glad you asked! Fisheries Supply has the Nauticraft’s forerunner on display just now: The 1985 Hoyt-Harken Waterbug. In keeping with our recent James Bond theme, let me point out that

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Here’s a great gift idea for the ostentatious mega-yacht owner in your life. This would be especially appropriate if the boat has a dinghy "garage" in the transom. What better vehicle for a "garage" than a "car", eh?

Plus, it’s a zero-emission electric vehicle, which should appeal to all those nutty eco-friendly tree-hugging mega-yacht owners.

But I joke. This is a genuine, operational vehicle, after all. Rinspeed’s "sQuba" (see the big "Q"?) made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show, as reported on AutoBlogGreen.

I grew up on James Bond books and movies, so there’s no use denying it: I love this thing. It’s hard to describe the sheer elation young gentlemen of a certain age experienced during this scene from 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me…

Just imagine little 12-year-old Tim: "THE CAR’S A SUBMARINE! OhMyGod, THAT IS SO COOL!!"

Alls I’m sayin’ is that it would make a great Navagear.com "company car", if anybody wanted to donate one to us.

Edison Marine, located in Portland, OR, has an electric boat at the Seattle Boat Show. My 8-year-old daughter said “Wow, that’s really shiny for wood.” Clever girl.
It is shiny, indeed. Constructed of mahogany, she looks for all the world like a 1940 barrelback runabout. Lovely, but not really innovative by itself.

The magic of the Edison boat is hidden inside, and below the waterline. This is a twin-prop 17-footer powered by a bank of 12 batteries.

The basics: She’ll run plenty fast…see the video under “Gallery” on the Edison Marine website. But to maximize battery life, run her at 5-6 mph and the batteries will last 8 hrs or so. Full recharge takes 4-5 hours. How much? About $120k as shown.

Here are some pictures I took at the show.

When fishing for deep-water varieties such as rockfish, walleye, black bass, lake trout, or groupers, you can run into a problem if you happen to hook smaller ones; you know…ones you have to throw back. This is because you can’t just “throw ‘em back!”

See, they can suffer from barotrauma—expansion or rupture of air bladders—when they’re brought up from deep waters. Barotrauma can cause stress, injury, and sometimes death. Especially if they float on the surface instead of sinking back down to their normal depth.

Über-fisherman Bill Shelton is not amused. “Ethical fishermen don’t leave floaters!” He sells all kinds of clever gadgets on his website at www.SheltonProducts.com. Among them, you’ll find the Shelton Fish Descender (SFD), a simple device used to decend fish with bloated air bladders back down to depths greater than 30 feet, allowing water pressure to recompress the fish’s air-bladder.

Shelton is all too aware that fisherman may be reluctant to spend extra time on fish they can’t keep anyway, so he’s designed the SFD to be quick and easy to use. With practice, it shouldn’t take much extra time at all, perhaps five or ten seconds per fish released. Here’s how it works: (more…)