Washing your boat during the drought...

How do you guys feel about washing your kayak/pb during this drought?

The last couple of times we've taken our family PB out we always get death stares while washing our boat. We don't have the water running the whole time and only hose down when we need to. The only real water consumption is when we flush the motors.

For the kayak, I try to use very little water washing the yak but I always have this feeling that the neighbors are secretly filming me... Maybe I'll see myself or one of us on Stanley Robert's People Behaving Badly!

Is there an alternative for us that fish the salt primarily?

As long as you have a spray nozzle on the hose, you should be OK. More so if you're doing a good job in conserving otherwise.

The only reason we are in a so called drought, where water needs to be rationed, is because the government has oversold permits building houses.  Not only did they over sell them, they collected the permit fees, fees which are SUPPOSED to be used to increase the infrastructure for the additional burden those houses put on the resources.  Such as water for example.  But the government collected those permit fees and didn't spend it on increasing the infrastructure.  They built no dams, or any other method to provide an adequate water supply.  Here in El Dorado County, every new home pays at least $20,000 for a water hook up/meter.   That's supposed to be used to increase water source and storage capacity for that home as it ties into the water main.  (Then there's a flat $50 every other month to maintain that water source.  Add on the cost of the water that is actually used.)
Instead, they tell the rest of us, who's fees that were collected decades ago and were used to build dams and such, that we all have to conserve due to man-made global warming which is causing the drought. 
Why should I have to cut back on resources my fees ensured would have adequate resources when the government misspent (That's the politically correct way of saying stole) the dollars collected to build more resources for the new construction?  How was that my fault?  Oh, yea.... Global Warming.  THAT'S how it's MY fault. 
Talk about misdirection.  "Ignore the man behind the curtian".  What a diversion; to not only tell me that I have to conserve because they mismanaged the fees of new construction, but then to place the blame on me and try to guilt me into thinking I'm a bad person for using the resources my dollars bought and paid for. 

Some day people are going to wake up to the facts;  First; that the government is robbing people blind, collecting taxes and fees earmarked for specific projects and spending them on exactly those things the voters do not want them spent on.   And second; that their attempts to rule with a state of fear, like the one about MAN-MADE global warming, is as bald a faced lie as when the snake told Eve the apple would give her the wisdom of God. 

When that day comes, there will be armed men standing in front of the government officials bodies as they hang by the neck in the public squares, ready to shoot anyone who tries to cut them down before the rot off at the neck and they drop. 

Whew!!  Feels great to get THAT off my chest. 

In your situation, wash your boat as needed and tell the damn 'neighbors' to mind their own f'in business.  This isn't Nazi Germany and Brown Shirts ratting out their 'neighbors' isn't what a free society should be spending it's time on. 
Geez!  The government is telling it's citizens to report on their neighbors when they see them use water.  What is happening to our country??!! 

In the meantime, if you want to know when we are truly in a drought, you'll know it because the government will have a building moratorium.  Until then, as long as they keep building houses, there MUST be enough water.   After all, who would build more homes if there wasn't enough?  So use all you need until then. 

I wash mine on my lawn to eliminate run-off and the water irrigates my grass.  My water usage is down 60%.  I have a shitty neighbor who would probably report me for washing the yak if he saw me do it but there's no laws prohibiting it.  As long as you're meeting the conservation goals, an occasional boat or car wash is no big deal.

my neighbors watch me wash my kayak every weekend.  only thing they ever say is "what's for dinner?"  i stopped washing it on my "lawn" because it's dead and turns into a mud pit.  now i just wash it on my driveway.  paddles, pdf, rods, i wash over my plants/trees.

When I lived in a neighborhood, If My neighbors complained about washing gear off, I would start cleaning fish at home the day after trash pickup. Worked every time.

You guys wash your kayaks? Why?

found leaving salt, blood attracted critters...and gnawed on plastic....

Good reason to wash. 

It sounds like you may have a bit of a guilty conscience due to water restrictions, but it also sounds like you are aware of the issue and conserving where you can. Many of the states I've lived in (Oregon, Washington, Utah and Arizona to name a few), require rinsing/washing of a vessel after each use or at least, prior to launching in order to reduce the spread of invasive species... Its the law! Don't let your nosey neighbors, or your suspicions (read: conspiracy theories) ruin the sport for you. Should anyone actually say something to you, I'm with the others who have replied...Tell them to pound sand

You guys wash your kayaks? Why?

I should re-word it ...Rinse,not wash.no soap...why ...found leaving salt, blood attracted critters...and gnawed on plastic....

Ah, I do all my blood'n'guts management when I'm in the water, and my fish bleed out on a stringer until I paddle in, so I don't really get much blood

i carry a Hose/Nozzle with me now ( another idea from a NCKA`r) and wash if there`s a spot where I'm at, if not..small items in the yard over the shrubs..The kayak I leave on the rack and hit the coin operated self wash near my house ..2 birds..wash the yak and the truck..BUT rinse the truck well dont want salt build up

I try and wash my Hobie every couple of weeks on that big water source west of California.  On a serious note, I'm down to just rinsing the Mirage drive and reels at Albion.  They are on a well and have posted conserve water signs.

wash it at the dock.

Bushy

Front yard, no runoff and unashamed 

My wife and I made huge reductions in our water usage when we ripped out both lawns, switched to drip landscaping and updated a few appliances. (Yay rebates) My dog Pungo, who is the most drought conscious member of our household made further reductions by ripping out all of the landscaping and drip irrigation in our back yard.

Front yard, no runoff and unashamed 

same. my rinse sink drains to a clump of redwoods that are doing really well. I'm growing future lumber!
funny, right this moment I'm trying to actually use more water, as I need to drop our existing 2500 gal tank level to about 12" for the auxiliary tank install scheduled for the 15th. it feels strange.

...
Some day people are going to wake up to the facts;  First; that the government is robbing people blind, collecting taxes and fees earmarked for specific projects and spending them on exactly those things the voters do not want them spent on.   
...

+1

And I've spent most of my career working for the government, in one way or another...