Pollution, sewage and invasive species

Kerry-Ann is forty-two. She spent the morning fishing an inland lake, and this afternoon she wants to launch on the Saint Lawrence. She winches the boat onto the trailer, sees a clump of weed hanging off the axle, and thinks, it'll blow off on the highway. The drain plug is still in. She's in a hurry.

So here's the question. What does the law require before she drives away? And what's allowed to go over the side of a boat in Ontario? This is general information, not legal advice.

Start with the trailer. Under Ontario's Invasive Species Act, since January first, twenty twenty-two, you may not haul a boat over land unless the drain plugs are removed or opened, and you've taken reasonable steps to remove any plants, animals or algae from the boat, the gear, the vehicle and the trailer. You also can't put any of them into the water with anything attached. Fines can run very high.

It covers canoes, rowboats and sailboats too, and gear like ropes, fenders and anchors. Transport Canada's guide explains why. Zebra mussel larvae are tiny, hard to see, and they survive on wet gear. Its routine is clean, drain, dry. Clean off plants, animals and mud on land, away from drains. Drain the bilge, livewells, coolers, bait buckets and the engine. Then let everything dry to the touch.

Now sewage. Ontario's regulation on sewage from pleasure boats is short and strict. You may not put sewage from a pleasure boat into any water. And in that rule, sewage includes garbage, litter, bottles, plastic and fuel, not just toilet waste. If your boat has a toilet installed, the toilet and its holding tank must be permanently installed, and emptied only at a shore pump-out.

Fuel and oil have federal rules too. The Small Vessel Regulations forbid fuel leaking or being discharged from your boat. Transport Canada's guide adds the habits. Don't top off your tank, and wipe up spills. Pump only water from your bilge. Soak up oil with absorbent bilge cloths, not detergent, because detergent only breaks the oil into smaller drops. And report any pollution you cause or see.

On the water. At the ramp I do the same thing, in the same order, every time. Pull out, plug out, then one slow walk around the boat and trailer, pulling off every weed and bagging it for the garbage, not tossing it back in the water. It takes a couple of minutes. And before a long weekend aboard, I know where the nearest pump-out is.

Let's change one fact. Kerry-Ann leaves the boat at home and brings her canoe on the roof racks instead. The Ontario rule still applies. A canoe counts as a watercraft, and her car is the vehicle carrying it. So she checks the canoe, the paddles and the racks before she drives off.

The mistake boaters make is trusting the highway to clean the trailer. The law says reasonable steps before you haul, not somewhere along the way. The other mistake is dropping a can over the side and calling it litter. Under Ontario's sewage rule, it counts as sewage, and it can't go in the water.

Here's the rule, in one breath. Plug out and weeds off before you haul, nothing goes over the side, toilet waste goes only to a pump-out, and only water leaves your bilge.

This week, build plug out, weeds off into your ramp routine, and find the nearest pump-out to where you boat. Next time, a new module on emergencies, starting with what cold water does in the first minute.