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SoapJet Eradicates Boatyard Grime

This soap-emitting spray nozzle helped associate editor Tony Bessinger clean his boat after a dirty winter. "Gear Up" from our May 30, 2007, /SW eNewsletter/

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Soapjet

After a long winter in the boatyard, my boat was so dirty that I regretted my decision not to have it shrink-wrapped. The yard workers had placed my pride and joy next to an abandoned wooden boat that was in the process of turning into a pile of rotten planks, and between that boat’s chipping paint and sawdust, and dirt from the unpaved storage area, I faced hours of cleanup before I’d be able to start my season.Coincidentally, I received an email from Allan Salzman, the inventor of a product called the SoapJet, the day before my boat was to be launched. I’d featured Salzman’s first-generation SoapJet-a spray nozzle that carries an internal supply of detergent and allows the user to spray water, soap, or a combination thereof-in the pages of Sailing World last year. Salzman emailed me to let me know that a newer version was out, and asked if I’d like to try it out. Needless to say, I replied in the affirmative and explained my predicament. Salzman was kind enough to FedEx the latest SoapJet to me in time for the Memorial Day weekend.I arrived at my yacht club frazzled because only one of my twin outboards was running, the result of a dead bank of batteries. To add insult to injury, in the process of docking I fell into the water between the boat and the dock. It was a tough afternoon all around, right up to the moment when I started using the new SoapJet. I filled it with some environmentally friendly soap, hooked it up to the hose, and started blasting away at the layers of grime and dust. In a relatively short amount of time, my boat began looking more like a yacht, and less like an abandoned relic. Having the detergent integrated in the hose nozzle saves steps, and gives the sprayed water the extra oomph it needs to blast away the dirt imbedded into a boat’s nonskid. I could spray water, water with detergent, or just detergent by using the two triggers on the pistol-shaped SoapJet. I also had the ability to adjust the spray from a solid stream to a wide mist, depending on what surface I was cleaning. Any setting I chose could be locked in place using an adjustment knob at the back of the nozzle. The grip was comfortable, and the triggers didn’t induce any discomfort, even though I used the SoapJet for well over an hour. I sprayed water, then detergent, and gave the boat a good scrubbing with a brush. Then I sprayed a combination of water and soap, and then just water to rinse the boat off. It was dark when I left the boat, so I really couldn’t see how well the SoapJet had worked that night. I could see that the worst of the grime was gone, but fully expected to spend the next morning doing the whole job over again. The next day, under bright morning sunshine, my boat looked great, and I moved on to my next maintenance project. Allan, I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to send the demo SoapJet back until, well, late September or so. $19.95, www.soapjet.com

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