Captain Anthony DiLernia, the Director of Kingsborough College’s Maritime Program, created the Green Boat program as a service learning project. His idea was that in addition to increasing the boating skills of students enrolled in the Maritime Tech Program at Kingsborough, he would also provide a service to the community.
DiLernia noted that one of the skills that maritime students need to master is small boat handling in tight quarters. The Green Boat program helps students master this skill while retrieving floatables (plastic bags, bottles, etc); items that are subject to wind and current.
Since time perfecting boat skills equals money, the program needed a cost efficient fuel. The Green Boat started out as an older variety of a diesel powered recreational boat but was transformed into an eco-friendly machine. Nicknamed the “French Fry Boat”, the boat runs on vegetable oil that was used to make fries for the campus. The cost to convert the boat was around $4,000 and students helped to restore it. The boat goes out on weekends and picks up about 6-7 bags of trash per day in Sheepheads Bay and Jamaica Bay. They are out patrolling the waters from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Kingsborough’s Maritime Program offers a course in diesels which is necessary especially if one intends on converting a diesel system to vegetable oil. DiLernia states that it is not very difficult to convert an older diesel engine, and if someone wants to take the effort they can do it.
High schoolers who are interested in participating in the Green Boat Program should talk to their teachers about using the experience as an environmental science internship. Students also need to ask their teachers about obtaining school credit at their high school and take safety and survival training before going out on the water.
DiLernia wants the students in the Green Boat program to come away with five things: strong boat handling skills, an appreciation for the environment, a sense of community, a sense of volunteerism, and willingness to give. The program started last year and already students are using their skills in launches (bringing boaters from the shore to their sailboats) and ferry boat management.
CUNY Kingsborough Community College Maritime Technology Program trains men and women for careers at sea and ashore. Website: http://www.kbcc.cuny.edu. Tel: 718-368-5525 Email: maritime@kbcc.cuny.edu
Interview conducted by Alisha Austin (A.A.) with CUNY Kingsborough Maritime Technology Program’s Captain Anthony DiLernia. (A.D.)
AA: What was the motivation for starting the Green Boat program at Kingsborough?
AD: It is known as service learning to handle the boat in close quarters while maximizing student time on the water. Don’t forget all floatables are subject to wind and current. So a student working the Green Boat in close quarters must be aware of wind and current. We know people had converted cars but no one had done it with a boat.
AA: So yours is the first boat to run on cooking oil?
AD: As far as we know. We were invited to a conference in November last year to present our findings. It’s not very difficult to convert a vessel, but only certain vessels can be converted.
AA: What vessels are those?
AD: It has to be a diesel powered engine, an older variety. Some of the more modern hydro-pressure engines may not convert.Basically, what we did was take an old wreck boat and convert it. We said let’s see if we can convert this thing. Well, we did such a good job converting it, everyone wanted to see it. It was a mess. So then we had to totally renovate the boat. Restore it to its original condition. It turned out being a bigger project than anticipated and the bigger made it better.
AA: The Green Boat works in Jamaica Bay and Sheepshead Bay. Have you seen the Green Boat make a difference in your area?
AD: We like to think it does. In terms of bags of trash we remove on the weekend, if we didn’t take it out it would be floating up on a beach somewhere. Six or seven garbage bags a day. It’s unfortunate there are that many floatables in local waters.
AA: High schoolers can volunteer on the boat?
AD: Right now we don’t have any high school students in the program. But if a high school teacher said to a kid you could do an environmental science internship, we would accept them into the program. It has to be something they will get credit for in their home high school. They can’t just volunteer. They actually have to be sent by the high school.
AA: How long would the internship last?
AD: Could go out every weekend if they wanted to. We normally go from Memorial Day to Labor Day weekends, on Saturday and Sunday. Everyone is a volunteer on the boat except the captain. It’s service learning and the captain already has a license.
AA: Talking about boating safety, do they have to take a course before they actually go out on the Green Boat?
AD: All maritime students have training beyond boating safety. Its maritime safety for the maritime trades. They have man overboard training. Just by being in class here at Kingsborough, students will get extra training.
AA: Do you think your Green Boat program will encourage other boats to switch to greener energy?
AD: It could show anybody how converted diesel engines could run on recycled cooking oil. It cost us up to $4000 to convert our boat. The average boater is going to need a place to store fuel.
AA: What do you want someone who participates in the Green Boat program to come away with?
AD: Naturally, I want them to have perfected their boat handling skills. That’s the primary goal. That is a marketable skill that hopefully they will use to find employment after graduation. Beyond that, we want them to develop an appreciation for the environment. Finally, a sense of community and a sense of volunteerism. If they are involved in this program they’re achieving all three goals.
