Kristen Berry's blog

 I have always wondered why marine diesel engines (the most common engine types on sailboats) don't run on biodiesel or even veggie oil.  It just makes no sense to combine a beautiful activity that is so in tune with nature with a black smoke belching noisemaker.  Well, we are a step closer to cleaning up our oceans and waterways because Yanmar Marine announced that it has approved the use of B5 biodiesel fuel in a number of its marine engines.

Biodiesel is the name given to clean-burning alternative fuel produced from domestic renewable resources. It does not contain any petroleum products and is blended with petroleum diesel to produce a cleaner burning fuel releasing less particulate matter and greenhouse gas emissions. It is biodegradable, nontoxic and free of sulfur and aromatics.

The B5 blend contains a maximum of five percent biodiesel mixed with standard diesel fuel. It must conform to ASTM D6751 or ISO EN14214 specifications. Yanmar warns that biodiesel blends can adversely affect certain metal, rubber and plastic engine components in the fuel-supply and return systems and recommends customers contact their Yanmar dealer before using the fuel. Owners must verify that the correct fuel-supply and return system materials are being used or risk voiding their engine warranty.

We are just a few weeks away from the start of the Volvo Ocean Race - a race with an incredible history, remarkable public attention, and now a robust effort to raise awareness about ocean conservation issues.

The race itself is making an effort to use an onboard crew member to take regular water samples to obtain and catalog data to analyse the biomass of the water in open seas not on the regular shipping routes, and to find out the kind of micro-organisms that are regularly transported in ballast water.  With an ever-expanding shipping sector that moves over 90% of the world’s commodities transferring an estimated 3-5 billion tonnes of ballast water internationally each year, the problem is an ecological, economic and health threat.  Learn more about the conservation efforts of the race here.

This past weekend was the Larchmont Sperry/Sailing World NOOD Regatta held in Larchmont, NY. 

The remnants of tropical storm Hanna rolled through Saturday afternoon, but the race committee did a great job of getting off all the necessary races.  

In addition to the good fun of sailing the event we had great feedback from our "Don't Trash the Ocean" plastics pledges. I was really impressed by the willingness of many of the sailors at this event.

Welcome to the Ocean Conservation Yacht Club, the only club dedicated to connecting sailing enthusiasts with ocean conservation issues.

 What Does the OCYC Do?

It's a good idea to stop and think about the organization you support. Here are a few of the things we bring to the sailing world: