As we forge ahead in our fantastic voyage of technology, we see a horizon where the oceans are glorious and abundant with sea life. We whistle along in our silent vessels, listening to the wind, dipping our hands in the crystal water. We all love something about this. Whatever our interest in boats is, a part of it is the great, life-giving mystery of the water. It is as if we are water creatures ourselves, bound to it with our hearts and souls, but shackled without the ability to live in it like other water creatures. This is the reason we love boating. We marvel at the natural mysteries of the sea, the power of the oceans, the mythical stories, the fantastic blue-green beauty.
Yet, immediately in front of us we see our own destruction happening at incredible speed. Great garbage patches the size of Texas thriving, producing mutated ecosystems of their own in the middle of the ocean. Plastics are quickly dissolving into the waterways, into our drinking water sources, the ground, the air. The march of human progress leaves a terrible wake, our vision lacking the ability to plan for the future, just grabbing the now. A few pioneers give us the statistics. An ice shelf the size of Delaware has broken off and is drifting. Microplastic levels are increasing at unseen rates. The half-life of our bodies grows exponentially (well, so say the scaremongers).
But don’t let this get you down. Humanity’s growing concern, and our ingenuity, are bringing this era of spoilage to a new awareness. A huge shift is happening. We are embracing clean technologies. We’re going electric at an incredible pace. We are spending money on unproven ideas in the hope that they will be the next clean energy source. And we have done big shifts before. Since we started regulating automobile pollutants, cars are 99% cleaner today than they were 50 years ago. Boat engines don’t have the same regulation and they generally consume more gas than cars, but with the advent of electric motors, we will see a massive shift in the impact that boats have on the waterways.
The electric revolution can help clean our planet, but it is not the only salvation. We must be aware of the downstream effects of our actions. Humans need to move away from disposable plastic containers, bags, cups and the like. Those things find their way into rivers and oceans. Industry needs to have controls over pollutants. It’s a small price to pay to preserve the blue-green beauty we crave when we go out on our boats.
