I think we are all aware that careening your boat in order to scrape and repaint the bottom is illegal in many if not all places around Australia although obviously it is done in less populated areas.
The question then becomes however what is the difference between that and sending a diver down to scrape the bottom which is a common practice in Sydney harbour and other built-up areas and doesn't seem to attract any fines or negative comment?
Either way lots of antifouling and barnacles from who knows where end up in the water.
Careening on a pristine beach in The Whitsundays. It's was collecting a bit after 5 weeks in the water. No anti foul and just high pressure water and a piece of marine carpet attached to a wooden block for the scrub down. Nothing but slime, weed and baby crustaceans which I am sure the scavengers enjoyed when the tide came back in. Water used was from the 730litres of ballast water my yacht uses instead of lead. The ballast tank and water is clean as it's cycled most days. I have plumbed the tank with a take off line for this and other use reasons. Advantages of a trailerable, water ballasted, retracting keel cruising yacht. 
Select to expand quoteGrith said..
Careening on a pristine beach in The Whitsundays. It's was collecting a bit after 5 weeks in the water. No anti foul and just high pressure water and a piece of marine carpet attached to a wooden block for the scrub down. Nothing but slime, weed and baby crustaceans which I am sure the scavengers enjoyed when the tide came back in. Water used was from the 730litres of ballast water my yacht uses instead of lead. The ballast tank and water is clean as it's cycled most days. I have plumbed the tank with a take off line for this and other use reasons. Advantages of a trailerable, water ballasted, retracting keel cruising yacht.
There are a few nut cases that frequent this site and will dob you into authorities so I would remove that post while you still can or ask an administrator to do so. Sad but true. Someone else on here got prosecuted after posting how they caught a water rat on their boat. They were dobbed in by some mental case.
I get that no toxic anti-fouling is involved but I bet the way legislation is written it doesn't take account of that and is poorly worded to try and protect against crustaceans from far away places being introduced to Australia or Queensland or wherever.
And heaven help you if some Queensland authority finds that you come from out of state. The days of common sense are a long gone.
Select to expand quotejulesmoto said..Grith said..
Careening on a pristine beach in The Whitsundays. It's was collecting a bit after 5 weeks in the water. No anti foul and just high pressure water and a piece of marine carpet attached to a wooden block for the scrub down. Nothing but slime, weed and baby crustaceans which I am sure the scavengers enjoyed when the tide came back in. Water used was from the 730litres of ballast water my yacht uses instead of lead. The ballast tank and water is clean as it's cycled most days. I have plumbed the tank with a take off line for this and other use reasons. Advantages of a trailerable, water ballasted, retracting keel cruising yacht.
There are a few nut cases that frequent this site and will dob you into authorities so I would remove that post while you still can or ask an administrator to do so. Sad but true. Someone else on here got prosecuted after posting how they caught a water rat on their boat. They were dobbed in by some mental case.
It's all Agenda 2030 under the disguise of environmental control we are all being slowly herded into a pen , quietly incase someone wakes up.
I guess when you careen, you end up with a little circle of debris around where the hull was, whereas in the water there is natural dispersion of the detritus?
I have heard that if rubbing down in the water causes a plume or cloud in the water then they can ping you for environmental pollution, but no plume then all good.
So in-water scraping of a non-antifouled boat with heaps of growth is okay but a light sponge-down of the slime on an antifouled boat is bad?
I was visiting a guy who lived at The Basin. He had a tinnie for commuting. He told me that none of the tinnies were antifouled because National Parks said it was fine to scrub the tinnies down and keep them clean if they didn't release antifoul. So it was easier to scrub the non painted tinnie every few weeks than to antifoul it and have to do it on a slip/trailer every year or so.
I started getting more worried by the slow increase in regulation and converted my cat to coppercoat. One idea was to stop the plume of paint released when I scrub. As a bit of a greenie that does worry me as well. When coppercoat is scrubbed no plume is visible, but whether the Coppercoat works as well as antifoul will be found out later. Also I am slowly running out of slipways to work at and worry that the last one that can take my cat may get closed by regulations becoming too onerous for the non profit to be hassled about.
Select to expand quoteKankama said..
I was visiting a guy who lived at The Basin. He had a tinnie for commuting. He told me that none of the tinnies were antifouled because National Parks said it was fine to scrub the tinnies down and keep them clean if they didn't release antifoul. So it was easier to scrub the non painted tinnie every few weeks than to antifoul it and have to do it on a slip/trailer every year or so.
I started getting more worried by the slow increase in regulation and converted my cat to coppercoat. One idea was to stop the plume of paint released when I scrub. As a bit of a greenie that does worry me as well. When coppercoat is scrubbed no plume is visible, but whether the Coppercoat works as well as antifoul will be found out later. Also I am slowly running out of slipways to work at and worry that the last one that can take my cat may get closed by regulations becoming too onerous for the non profit to be hassled about.
What blows all that theory away is the ships both with ballast and what they paint their bottoms with , all fine if your at the top end just the bottom feeders who need to do as we are told.
Here are NSW regs. Careening is allowed in Aust. unless otherwise declared by local authorities and you SHOULD check beforehand . Careening is effectively beaching the boat scrubbing and scraping the hull is another matter. In regard to Qld. regs. I read somewhere a few years ago it was ok to clean an anti fouled boat provided it was done in the local area where it accumulated the growth but not strip any antifoul in the process which IMO flys in the face of ablative antifouls . From what I can read you can do it anywhere for non antifouled boats . Ie tinnies or ts. www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-11/Fact%20Shhet-Cleaning%20boats.pdf
Select to expand quoteBananabender said..
Here are NSW regs. Careening is allowed in Aust. unless otherwise declared by local authorities and you SHOULD check beforehand . Careening is effectively beaching the boat scrubbing and scraping the hull is another matter. In regard to Qld. regs. I read somewhere a few years ago it was ok to clean an anti fouled boat provided it was done in the local area where it accumulated the growth but not strip any antifoul in the process which IMO flys in the face of ablative antifouls . From what I can read you can do it anywhere for non antifouled boats . Ie tinnies or ts. www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-11/Fact%20Shhet-Cleaning%20boats.pdf
Interesting thank you. Mind you it is usually hard to know what the local authority is much less find out what the local rules are.
Obviously marina slipways who have to put in all sorts of water recirculation and filtering apparatus would be pressuring local authorities to prevent anybody else doing it privately.
Imagine the toxic cocktail getting washed out of industrial estates when it rains, and the waterways around the Gold Coast apparently aren't safe to swim in at the moment, but the occasional yachty scraping his hull ohh nooo lmao
Select to expand quote
Interesting thank you. Mind you it is usually hard to know what the local authority is much less find out what the local rules are.
www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/aircraft-vessels-military/vessels/marine-pest-biosecurity/biofouling/inwater-cleaning-australia
Go on the link and that lists the local authorities. Look for the recreational boat part.
In water cleaning is a solution,
"Frequent in water cleaning can be an effective strategy for controlling biofouling if suitable cleaning equipment is available when required and the planned frequency is considered.."
Slime and heavy fouling can be treated differently. National biofouling management guidelines for recreational vessels, page 4.
"Wash down your vessel to remove slime layer. Using a soft cloth , wash down your vessel as often as required to prevent the build up of heavy fouling, if permitted in your area".
Yes . Do not make a spectacle of the activity - remember everyone now has a camera !
We all know the rules when you run aground grab a brush and make out you did it on purpose, I suppose you can reverse that and make out you ran aground by accident ??
Select to expand quotejulesmoto said..Grith said..
Careening on a pristine beach in The Whitsundays. It's was collecting a bit after 5 weeks in the water. No anti foul and just high pressure water and a piece of marine carpet attached to a wooden block for the scrub down. Nothing but slime, weed and baby crustaceans which I am sure the scavengers enjoyed when the tide came back in. Water used was from the 730litres of ballast water my yacht uses instead of lead. The ballast tank and water is clean as it's cycled most days. I have plumbed the tank with a take off line for this and other use reasons. Advantages of a trailerable, water ballasted, retracting keel cruising yacht.
There are a few nut cases that frequent this site and will dob you into authorities so I would remove that post while you still can or ask an administrator to do so. Sad but true. Someone else on here got prosecuted after posting how they caught a water rat on their boat. They were dobbed in by some mental case.
I get that no toxic anti-fouling is involved but I bet the way legislation is written it doesn't take account of that and is poorly worded to try and protect against crustaceans from far away places being introduced to Australia or Queensland or wherever.
And heaven help you if some Queensland authority finds that you come from out of state. The days of common sense are a long gone.
The nutcases can go right ahead and report me!
I have actually read all the relevant regs and no chemical abrasive hand scrubbing of an unantifouled hull/boat in the area it accumulated the marine growth is legal in virtually all locations around Australia. High tidal range and super low draft just makes it easier than walking in waist deep water or swimming around the boat to do it.
The original French antifoul I had was awesome stuff but highly illegal in Australia, so I went through all this when I first landed the boat. The Dep of Fisheries/Ag guys were very helpful and awesome to deal with, this is a very useful doc for careening and anti fouling that gave me most of the answers.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rxrty8qibiblapklbfonm/exposure-draft-australian-anti-fouling-and-iwc-guidelines.pdf?rlkey=cb5g7vlj9bseu3tddzcu0wv6b&st=l6smzq6w&dl=0
Select to expand quotejulesmoto said..
I think we are all aware that careening your boat in order to scrape and repaint the bottom is illegal in many if not all places around Australia although obviously it is done in less populated areas.
The question then becomes however what is the difference between that and sending a diver down to scrape the bottom which is a common practice in Sydney harbour and other built-up areas and doesn't seem to attract any fines or negative comment?
We do this weekly - Hulls are hardpack epoxy painted not antifouled so only the natural growth is removed I would be certian the same case in Sydney
