Keel is on its way
Our vision
Clean boat. Clean mind.
Your boat is where you go to switch off. The hull shouldn’t be one more thing to worry about.
Stop thinking about the hull
You rarely see the underside of your boat, so the hull is easy to put off until the boat feels slow and the paint has gone.
On a plan, we schedule five visits a year and send you a film after each one. You see what is under there without having to decide when to clean.
Better for the water too
A rough, fouled hull drags more water. Pushing it through burns more fuel, and more fuel means more emissions over the same stretch of coast.
Soft, thin growth keeps that penalty small. The figures on this page come from the IMO and published research on ships.
- +25%fuel and emissionsThat thin slime layer can raise greenhouse gas emissions, and the fuel behind them, by 20 to 25%.Source: IMO / GloFouling, Impact of ships’ biofouling on greenhouse gas emissions (2022)
- +55%with light barnaclesA light layer of barnacles or tubeworms can raise emissions by up to 55%.Source: IMO / GloFouling, Impact of ships’ biofouling on greenhouse gas emissions (2022)
- +86%power, heavy foulingHeavy calcareous fouling needed 86% more shaft power at cruising speed in a study of a naval frigate.Source: Schultz, M.P. (2007), Biofouling 23(5): 331-341
Hitchhikers on the hull
Organisms living on a hull can travel with the boat and settle where they don’t belong. The IMO names biofouling as one of the main pathways for invasive aquatic species.
Source: IMO, Biofouling and invasive aquatic species
Gentle, and on film
At one visit every 8 to 10 weeks, Keel only meets soft growth sitting on the coating, so nothing needs hard scraping. We film every visit, and the owner keeps the film.
What pollution can cost a marina
Marinas and ports answer for what goes into their water. The maximum fines for the most serious offences:
- Portugalup to €5MLei n.º 50/2006, the most serious category of environmental offence
- Spainup to €3.005MRDL 2/2011, serious pollution of the sea
What we hold ourselves to
- 1
No diver in the water
Our operator flies Keel from the pontoon. Nobody works underwater.
- 2
Soft growth only
We clean often enough that the coating never has to be scraped.
- 3
Everything on film
Every visit is filmed, and the owner gets the film in their account.
- 4
Honest numbers
We only publish figures we can point to a source for.
The club
Owners who share the water.
Every owner on a plan is a member. Today that means one get-together a month on the pontoon. We want it to grow into the place where owners on the same water get to know each other.
- 1Every plan is a membershipThere is no separate fee and nothing else to sign.
- 2No sales pitchYou meet the people berthed around you and the crew who look after your hull.
- 3One get-together a monthAnnounced to members, who reply from their account and can bring guests where there is room.