Tell me it is not true!

My dive service here in San Diego just informed me that as of November 1, 2011 it is MANDATORY that any boat on a regular periodic bottom cleaning schedule must be cleaned as least once every 21 DAYS. YES - a boat bottom in San Diego must be cleaned no less often than every three weeks!

The Port of San Diego has put a rule into effect that I must pay $50 every 3 weeks to have Mirador’s bottom cleaned with a soft rag.

How can that be?

My current cleaning schedule is every 90 days. There has been almost no bottom growth at the end this summer and last summer.

If I follow the new port rules my bottom cleaning bill goes from $200/year to $850/year with no improvement to the cleanliness of Miradors bottom.

The dive service says that the Port of San Diego requires every dive service to submit 17 PAID bills each year for each boat they have on a regular schedule. The dive service will only receive their next annual certificate if the Port’s auditors accept the paper trail of payments for each boat. No annual certificate - no diving allowed.

Am I getting the correct information from my dive service?

I asked to be removed from the periodic schedule and I would occasionally ask them to check my zincs and maybe clean the bottom. That was OK with the dive service BUT they said the regulations also stipulate a $25,000 penalty if a diver is observed cleaning a bottom and a plume of paint or bottom coating residual is seen emanating from the area the diver is working. The dive service, the boat owner, and the Marina are all liable for the penalty.

The dive manager said they are very concerned that if they only clean a bottom every two to three months, like most of their boats now, they will not be able to clean without a plume – even if the plume is just the growth coming off the bottom. Apparently the Port observer does not need to determine what the plume is comprised of – just the generation of a plume from cleaning can trigger the penalty. My dive service is not sure they will accept one time bottom cleaning assignments.

So what happens to a transient boat stopping in San Diego - are they not allowed to clean the bottom?

And… of course none of this applies to military or large commercial vessels.