DBW is Accepting Grant Applications Until Aug. 10 to Help Keep California’s Waterways Clean.

By: LOG STAFF

California State Parks’ Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW) is currently accepting grant applications for t he Clean Vessel Act (CVA) Education and Outreach Grant Program. A maximum of $276,937 is available in federal funding per targeted region to organizations for educating coastal and San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary recreational boaters about proper vessel sewage disposal and the use of pump-out facilities, a nd monitoring pump-out and dump stations.

Congress passed the CVA in 1992 to help reduce pollution from vessel sewage discharges into U.S. waters. The g rant program operates as an important educational prospect for all boaters on how to help keep California’s waterways clean. Releasing sewage overboard creates environmental and human health concerns. To reduce the negative impacts of this harmful action, all recreational boaters are urged to use sewage management facilities, including pump-out stations, dump stations, and mobile pumpout services.

The grant program targets two geographic regions of California:

San Francisco BayDelta Estuary Counties of:

Alameda

Napa

San Mateo

Sonoma

Contra Costa

Sacramento

Santa Clara

Marin

San Francisco

Santa Cruz

GetMyBoat

From page 3 by allowing boating enthusiasts to pay for a boat only when they use it. There are no club, slip, maintenance, or expensive membership or startup fees like many marinas and boat clubs charge. GetMyBoat helps users to rent what they want w hen they want it and only pay a onetime booking fee.

According to Strief, some of the top occasions GetMyBoat sees booked on the platform include birthday parties, proposals, bachelor and bachelorette parties, weddings, family reunions, city tours, retirement parties, corporate events, and f un family days with kids who want to enjoy water sports like tubing and wakeboarding.

GetMyBoat is also a tool for people who want to buy a boat but are curious about trying different styles, makes, and models.

Other opportunities to utilize GetMy-

Monterey San Joaquin Solano

Southern California Coast Counties of:

Los Angeles

San Diego

Santa Barbara

Orange

San Luis Obispo

Ventura

Proposals that cover a portion of the above regions will be considered if, over time, the agency can expand the program(s) to the entire area.

A s part of DBW’s dedication to furnishing clean, safe, and enjoyable recreational boating in California, the division serves as the state CVA grant coordinator. DBW will fund two grants— one for each targeted California geographic region— to design and implement a 12-month CVA Education and Outreach Program. Each regional grant must include education and outreach efforts a nd a pumpout/dump station monitoring program. According to DBW, applications will be evaluated and ranked according to how each application proposal demonstrates comprehensive and proven methods for meeting grant program goals. The application submission deadline Aug. 10, at 10 a.m.

B elow are examples of accomplishments from the CVA Education and O utreach Grant Program grantees San Francisco Estuary Partnership and The Bay Foundation from the last two grant cycles:

• Created and aired ten episodes of the podcast Dockside to educate the public on clean and safe boating practices.

• Participated in three boating events and conducted nine presentations on

Boat can be to host a company boat party or charter a yacht to shoot music videos and T.V. scenes. Users have even booked a yacht for model photoshoots.

How the Boat Owner Benefits:

Boat owners can benefit from GetMyBoat by turning their boats into income-producing assets. According to q uicknav.com, on average, boat owners only use their boats for 54 days of the year, leaving the boat untouched the other 311 days of the year. To add to this, boats are an expensive asset to purchase and maintain. They depreciate and have high monthly costs. GetMyBoat changes this by enabling boat owners to rent out their watercraft when they aren’t using it, turning it into a profitable side hustle instead of a money drain. This is also helpful because it keeps the boat in tune during the off-season or when the boat would otherwise be sitting for a long period of time, rather than sitting and having equipment expire or break due to not clean boating and sewage pollution prevention best management practices, reaching over 700 individual boaters and stakeholders.

• Produced various educational videos about sewage management, such as the “Consider a Marine Composting Toilet” video and the “Marine Sanitation Device & Y-Valve Information for Boaters” video.

• Distributed more than 250 universal deck fitting adapter kits to boaters and marina managers. The adapter kit is a pollution prevention tool that helps boaters to pump out their boat hands-free.

• Continued to provide boaters with a sewage pump out Nav App (more than 19,800 downloads since March 2018) that helps them locate near - being used.

G etMyBoat is easy to start — owners create an account, set their availability, prices, requirements, photos, and videos, and promote the experience. Once a guest books the boat, the owner can work with the guest and approve or create a custom quote for each guest, all while facilitating the payment for the booking. There i s also a 24/7 customer service team to help sort out any issues and a sales team to help with onboarding.

In addition to one-day rentals, multiday charters and sleep-aboard boat trips are available on the platform. You can also rent a boat you don’t sleep in for multiple days or over a week. Houseboats, l arge yachts with bedrooms, and other boats equipped with galleys and bedroom cabins are available on GetMyBoat t o charter on various lakes, rivers, and the ocean.

Renters can also travel with the vessel. These reservations are typically charter vacations where renters have a captain by participating, functioning sewage pump out stations, dump stations, and floating restrooms.

• Monitored 152 sewage pumpouts and 15 dump stations in 19 counties eight times during the last two grant cycles. Developed the 2021 and 2022 California Clean Vessel Act Pumpout and Dump Station Performance Reports summarizing the monitoring results and efforts. Monitoring provides effective means to encourage better maintenance of and accountability for the pompous condition.

For more information on the grant program, current grant application, requirements, and complete guidelines pa cket, please visit D BW’s website. http://www.dbw.ca.gov/ and crew onboard to cruise to a new location. It’s common in the Caribbean and Mediterranean, where island hopping is a popular choice for people on vacation. However, the most common type of rental on GetMyBoat is a half-day or full-day rental. Still, people have rented for multiday trips and longer excursions to multiple destinations, too, according to Strief.

L astly, GetMyBoat allows people to book fishing charters like any other boating experience. It has thousands of licensed fishing charter operators with their experiences available to book on GetMyBoat in great fishing locations worldwide. Users can filter by “Fishing charters” for a set destination and see all available options. When you see a fishing charter in your price range, you can read the description to get more information on what is included and what to expect.

For more information about GetMyBoat, visit https://www.getmyboat.com/.