This is a reposting of my original message that was deleted when I tried to EDIT the message.

I need suggestions about how to clean Mirador’s decks and hull without using any kind of soap. I recently received a letter from my Marina Management telling me that the Puget Sound Keepers Alliance (PSKA) will be aggressively monitoring marinas and anchorages for any boater who PSKA feels is violating the Clean Water Act. PSKA spends a lot of time in kayaks and small boats patrolling all the waterways. I see them around my marina quite frequently.

The PSKA specifically says they will report any boater who uses any soap or detergent to clean their decks or hulls. The letter carefully explains that biodegradable soaps are just as offensive as regular soap. They will report the offenders to the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE). The fine is $10,000.

PSKA will also start a civil suit against offenders who are not adequately punished by DOE. Here is their statement:

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance enforces the Clean Water Act through citizen lawsuits against serious violators. Our goal is to achieve negotiated settlements that bring polluters either into compliance with the law or into the permitting system.More than $1 million in mitigation fees have been recovered from PSA legal victories. Those funds have been given to local environmental groups to help them repair damage done to the Sound. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance receives no money from these settlements; however, the lawyers on the cases receive repayment of attorneys' fees.

Here is a link: http://pugetsoundkeeper.org/programs/enforcement

My problem is that I keep Mirador in a very nice urban marina just 4 miles from home and 15 minutes from good sailing on Commencement Bay. The main BNSF/UP rail line connecting Seattle/Tacoma to the rest of the world passes just 200 yards from my slip and about 60 heavy trains pass by every day. Additionally, just ¼ mile NE is a large classification yard where heavy switching engines makeup trains all day long and 15 – 25 locomotives sit idling 24/7/365.

Consequently Mirador is showered with a fine mist of grey and back soot and diesel exhaust. I used to clean the decks with soap and hot water and then find them coated again in just five days. Now – with no soap I do not know how I am going to keep the boat clean.

And – how do I clean Mirador’s Yanmar exhaust off the transom? AND - as an afterthought - all that gray water from your boat (dish washing, showers, cockpit cleanup when you spill beer) is also prohibited if soap from deck washing is prohibited. So - Puget Sound becomes a no discharge zone for any water from a boat that is not plain tap water. WHAT am I supposed to do with shower water and dish washing water during a three week cruise?

Any suggestions how to clean sooty, oily residue off decks and hulls without using soap or chemicals or even how to clean myself or my dishes?

PSKA is currently trying to sue a large Seattle boatyard under the same Clean Water Act. That yard is working with the Washington State Department of Ecology to develop and test three different methods of controlling boat yard runoff and water contamination. PSKA is suing under the Citizens Lawsuit process because they do not like the DOE approved methods used by the boatyard.

However, it is reported in both 48 North and NW Yachting magazines that PSKA has said they are willing to drop the suit if an adequate contribution is made to their non-profit organization.

You can read more about this at the NW Yachting website.

I can find nothing in the Federal Clean Water Act nor in local regulations that prohibit the use of soap by individuals. Does anyone know what regulation or rule or finding prohibits the use of ordinary soap to clean boats?

Am I so out of touch with the “Green Boating” revolution that I was unaware that no soaps can be used to wash boats and it is common practice elsewhere? Do other states/regions have similar organizations with the stated purpose of nothing at all made my man gets into the water?