photo contest - Yacht Essentials

The Trash Man
towards the Panama Canal, stopping off in Bermuda
and the Caribbean en route. In the Pacific, they called
at the Galapagos and Tahiti, sailing so far as New Zealand
before turning north again for Hawaii, Alaska and,
ultimately, San Diego.
He was proud when I asked him how they handled
their debris: “We did a lot. On ocean crossings, we
separated all of our garbage so that we could recycle
once we arrived. We only threw organics — food waste
and paper — overboard, and only once out of sight of
land. Bilges were always clean, so there was little or
52 YACHT ESSENTIALS
no oil going overboard when bilge pumps ran, and we
even had a Hamann waste treatment plant on board
so our black water was clean enough to pump directly
into the sea.”
Pete’s trash scheme was motivated by an overarching
green philosophy that I suspect had its roots in the
simple fact that the yacht was a sailing boat. The owners
were on board nine months of the year, so they ran
a tight, clean ship. “A lot of countries wanted to see
our garbage on arrival,” said Pete. “So, separating it
kept it clean and not so stinky for when we arrived.”