2012 Year in Review – Clean Boating Foundation style

January 2, 2013 | by Ben Lee

As end-of-the-year rituals go, we found ourselves reflecting on what happened over the last twelve months for CBF. We laughed, we cried, we even stubbed a few toes. Here is a run-down of what we accomplished in 2012:

We exhibited at our first Seattle Boat Show and engaged with over 200 boaters to talk about clean boatyards and non-copper bottom paint. There, we raffled off eight gallons of copper-free paint (thanks ePaint, Interlux, Pettit and SeaHawk!) to lucky boat owners throughoutPuget Sound.

We took the newly-minted Clean Boatyard Program checklist on the road. With it, we visited 26 yards (of the total 69 permitted yards in WA state) and helped get 10 of them to Clean or Leadership Clean certification – see our boatyard map for which yards made the cut.

We started collecting stories from boaters about the effectiveness of non-copper bottom paint in Puget Sound– see what we’ve learned here. And we started taking the message of copper-free paint and zinc-free anodes to the people, presenting at yacht clubs and at the NW Marina & Boatyard Conference, which brought us to a captive audience of boatyard owners and managers. These products make sense both environmentally and financially.

That’s not to mention all of the meetings, phone calls and emails that we’ve stayed on top of, all in the goal of improving water quality in Puget Sound and keeping boatyards in business.

Here’s to a great 2012 and to an even better 2013!