Fenders : The UTBs did not come with fenders to protect the boat 

 structure from hitting the pilings and other objects and crafts. Two 

 fenders, 5-1/2-inch diameter and 20-inch long on the port and the 

 starboard sides of each boat were found to be useful in protecting the 

 boat. It is, therefore, recommended that fenders be used on the UTBs 

 during harbor oil spill removal/recovery operations. An alternative 

 to fenders is to install permanent bumpers as recommended in reference 8. 



Speedometers and tachometers: A speedometer was used on each boat for 

 speed measurements during this evaluation. However, various attempts 

 failed to provide a steady state reading on the speedometers. Therefore, 

 speedometers were considered unsuitable for accurate measurements. In 

 this test program, all measurements were made over measured distances 

 outside the Port Hueneme harbor. The measured distances used were 

 0.367 and 1.0 nautical miles. 



Except for the purposes of measuring speeds during test and 

 evaluation, it was felt that speedometers and tachometers will be of 

 little use in actual oil spill situations and, therefore, they are not 

 recommended. 



Nonskid deck: Although no effort was made to provide a nonskid deck 

 on the UTBs because the test program did not call for spilling any 

 oil, treatment of the deck to produce a nonskid surface was felt to 

 be essential in harbor oil spill cleanup operations. Evaluation of 

 various methods of providing a nonskid surface was completed earlier, 

 reference 8, and therefore, not duplicated in this test program. 



Towing lines : The towing lines purchased for the test program were 

 3/4-inch diameter, polyester cover, polypropylene core, 2-in-l stable 

 braid, with a thimble at one end. Mooring lines for the UTBs were 

 0.5-inch diameter nylon. Because the towing lines were not 100 percent 

 polypropylene, they did not float. It is, therefore, recommended that 

 all towing lines be 100 percent polypropylene, so that it is easier to 

 pick them up during deployment and retrieval. 



Test and Evaluation 



Fuel Capacity: To determine the fuel consumption rate at maximum 

 engine throttle, and therefore the operational capacity of a 6-gal 

 fuel tank, two test runs were made, one with no load and the other 

 while pulling the 900-ft boom. The time required to consume 6 gallons 

 of fuel was measured. 



In the straight run at maximum throttle with no load, 6 gallons 

 of fuel lasted 39.2 minutes. However, when the same test was repeated 

 while towing the 900-ft boom, 6 gallons of fuel lasted 49.75 minutes . 



In most oil spill removal situations, there would be no need to 

 r\in the engines at full throttle, and, therefore, the fuel tank will 

 last much longer than the above measured times. However, to ensure that 



