Haslar Marina in Portsmouth Harbour has teamed up with The Green Blue to test out a cleaning product and reduce the risk of spreading invasive species to local rivers and creeks.
Everyone likes a clean hull – fouling looks unsightly, makes the boat less efficient through the water and can even host unwanted hitch hikers, otherwise known as invasive non-native species.
These are a major threat to our native species as well as causing damage to infrastructure, equipment and other sectors such as aquaculture. Invasive species often arrive in UK waters in the ballast water of large ships. Once established they spread around the UK on the hulls, chains and equipment of smaller craft including recreational boats.
If you haven’t used your boat for a while and fouling is building up, it’s better to scrub it off in situ before you venture further afield.
The Brizo Hull Mate in action
To show how quick and easy this can be Haslar Marina has teamed up once again with The Green Blue – the joint environment project of the Royal Yachting Association and British Marine Federation – and has a Brizo Hull Mate available for berth holders to use, just ask at the marina office if you would like to try it out.
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The Brizo Hull Mate is a rollerpad on a telescopic pole made from marine-grade stainless steel. There are two different cleaning pads available, one for soft antifoul finishes and one for harder coatings, and the buoyant cleaning head holds the pad against the hull to ensure good contact.
The idea is to make in-water cleaning for light fouling as easy as possible. As well as reducing the risk of spreading invasive non-native species, it will also reduce drag and help with speed and cost depending on whether you are racing or cruising and under motor or sail.
Haslar Marina is located inside Portsmouth Harbour, on the south coast of England, just to the west of the entrance.