Related Pages: Oil Spill Response
ATTENTION BOATERS!
In 2000, all of Buzzards Bay was designated a boat waste No Discharge Area. Go to our boat waste pump-out page to see where you can pump-out your marine toilet (head).
Tips for Environmentally Safe Boating
- Do not top off fuel tanks.
- Do report spills.
- Place an oil absorbing “bilge sock” in your bilge compartment. Use the type that polymerizes with the hydrocarbons.
- Check with marina operator as to what kinds of vessel maintenance are allowed.
- Only use “green” cleansers on your boat to minimize damage of them spilling into the water
- Do not scrape or sand your boat near the water, in a wetland, or in a parking lot where stormwater runoff will wash paint chips into surface waters.
- Buzzards Bay is a no discharge area. Use holding tank pumpout stations.
- Use shore-side trash cans
- Dispose of waste oil, batteries, paints and cleansers at your towns hazardous materials collection stations, not in a public dumpster or barrel.
Important Numbers:
U.S. Coast Guard Station: Cape Cod Canal, Sandwich, MA 508-888-0020
U.S. Coast Guard Station: Woods Hole, MA 508-457-3253
Search & Rescue Emergencies: Cape & Islands – 457-3210
The Coast Guard Monitors Channel 16 (2182 kHz) & Channel 22 (157.1 MHz),
Call the Coast Guard on Channels 12 & 22
Links to Boating and the Environment
- Environmental Boating Tips from the American Boating Association
- Fast Facts about Vessel Maintenance Pollution
Boat Safety Information
- Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management Boat Safety Course Schedule
- USCG Auxiliary Flotilla 65, 1NR, (New Bedford/Fairhaven, MA)
- Coast Guard Auxiliary National Web site (CGAUXWEB)
- United States Coast Guard Home Page
- United States Coast Guard Office of Boating Safety Web Site
- US Power Squadron
- USCG/MSO Providence
- Of interest: US Army Corps of Engineers, Cape Cod Canal Field Office, Buzzard’s Bay, MA (508) 759-4431call (508) 759-5991 for prerecorded TIDE and WEATHER Information.>
Massachusetts Boating and Recreational Vehicle Laws
Chapter 90B Motorboats and Other Vessels
Register Your Massachusetts Boat Online!
Also gives location of boat registration regional offices.
Mass General Law Chapter 91-10A: Assignment of Moorings
Research and Look-up Data on a Boat or Vessel
NOAA Fisheries Documented Vessel Search By Name (fishing and other commercial vessels)
USCG Commercial Vessel Look-up Port State Information eXchange (PSIX)
Massachusetts Commercial Fishermen Permits (including vessel look-up)
Articles & Reports
Read the Buzzards Bay NEP’s May 2000 Review of Bilge Socks for Boats in response to a RFP
(This is a 435K PDF file and requires Acrobat Reader[TM])
BBP funds municipal oil spill training.
NBST article 7/23/00: Oil Spills in Buzzards Bay: Preparing for the worst
NBST article 7/28/00: Another Mystery Oil Spill in New Bedford Harbor
NBST article 8/5/00: Motor oil contaminates Clark’s Cove
Other Links
US Coast Guard – First District Web Site
NOAA National Data Buoy Center BUZM3 station data – Buzzards Bay, MA
Near real time wave, current, and other data.
Federal Anchorage Regulations for Buzzards Bay and surrounding areas.
Federal Navigation Regulations for Buzzards Bay and surrounding areas.
Federal Navigation Regulations for the Cape Cod Canal and approaches.
Massachusetts Boating Law Summary
323 CMR 4.00: Operation of Personal Watercraft
Cape Cod Canal Boating and Regulations
