Washing your boat during the drought...

wash it at the dock.

Bushy

When possible, this is the way to go, although it might not solve all of your problems...

A while back, after a long morning of fishing, I was rinsing off my kayak and stuff at the "A" dock in Santa Cruz. Some bozo came by and started bitching at me about how I was wasting water, we're in a drought, etc., etc. I didn't respond, although I did proceed to use way more water than I would have otherwise, just to piss him off.

Stop at a coin op on the way home.

Stop at a coin op on the way home.

I do this too and for some reason it is a ritual that I really like.

I wash inside and out every time, and all my gear as well.  I set up a dunk tank and a rinse dunk in two old plastic bins.  I also wash the inside out, my boats go back forth between ocean and fresh and inspectors love to run their hands inside the hull. If it isn't clean you are not going in.

Salt corrodes stuff, and it gets into everything as does sand, causing premature wear on moving parts.  Rudder controls, hatches, seals, peddle drives and the like.  Not to mention it will also add drag to the next outing as salt, sand and mud build up.

I wash everything that goes in the salt water! we let our shower run in a 5 gallon bucket, until the water is hot, and have made other sacrifices, but washing my gear will not be something we give up. I also try and wash everything at the ramp/harbor area.

Both my kayak and my car tend to get covered with sand whenever I fish the ocean, so I hose off my kayak while it is on top of my car, and my car gets a quick rinse in the process.

I fill up my top loading washing machine with warm water, and dunk all my gear in there. And then reuse that water for my weekly laundry.

Pass by HMB and rinse it after cleaning fish, sucks that I have to unload and load again. If not, I use a 5 gallon bucket to rinse everything dip my gears and use the remaining water to rinse yak..

Answer is easy from California Fish and Wildlife

Kayaks, Canoes, and Inflatable Rafts
1. After completing the basic checklist, inspect and clean any components that
apply specifically to the craft.
2. Allow the craft to dry thoroughly before using it in any other water body.
3.    Take special care to dry inflatables before rolling them up.

Kayaks, canoes and all inflatables need to be
cleaned, drained, and dried.
Any equipment that goes into the water
needs to be inspected and cleaned.

http://www.dbw.ca.gov/PDF/BoatingQuaggaGuide.pdf

Stop at a coin op on the way home.

I do this too and for some reason it is a ritual that I really like.

Likewise.  It's the only time my van gets cleaned, so the more I paddle, the better my ride looks.  As a bonus, it gets the dripped salt off the van and racks ASAP.  It's amazing how corrosive salt water is to metal.

It doesn't really take much water to clean my yak. use a wet towel and scrub off the bloods and bait junk and just rinse it over with a nozzle. its really fast and take little water. washing the gears takes a little more but still way less than someone taking a shower. people take showers everyday I wash my gears once or twice a week. not guilty at all.

Last year after crabbing I though that I got every thing out of the kayak and since it did not have that much sand on it that I just did a quick spray. well guess what? my dumb ass left some squid inside, that smelled so bad after a couple of days at 100- 102 degrees.
now I rinse it inside out every time.

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.

Don't hold back bro, tell us what you really think LOL.

Last year after crabbing I though that I got every thing out of the kayak and since it did not have that much sand on it that I just did a quick spray. well guess what? my dumb ass left some squid inside, that smelled so bad after a couple of days at 100- 102 degrees.
now I rinse it inside out every time.

Careful! People might mistake your kayak for mine!

 "I always have this feeling that the neighbors are secretly filming me."..
[/quote]

That is what we were taught in grade school about Communism. Neighbors are rewarded when they catch their neighbor doing something the State declares wrong.

Do you washing at the boat launch might be the best Idea as these people understand why you have to wash your boat. Your yak use your back yard there isn't that much salt to hurt anything.

Don't hold back bro, tell us what you really think LOL.

The older I get, the less I care what people think about me.  That liberates me to give my honest opinion.  These days, I rarely hold back.  Ha!!