Shurhold System

On a cruising boat we often look to items that serve multiple purposes. This one fits the bill. We were at the Miami Boat show having breakfast one am and I was watching all the prep work that goes into getting the boats looking their best. One worker had this extendable brush. Cool! Working under something he shortened it and then he could easily move it about. After washing I watch him switch the end to a chamois like they have in car washes. I was sold.

When we entered the show I immediately looked for the guy using the cleaning equipment and discovered it was part of the Shurhold system. We bought one of the poles, and 3 attachments, a gaff, a boat hook, a brush, and a chamois. It has been most everything I could imagine. While the boat hook isn't the kind you can wedge into something like the old bronze hooks on an Ash pole, you can't (I'm guessing here), hang by it, the hook is plastic. But it works well to pick up a mooring line, pick up a line off a marina post, and hand someone on a dock a line. The brush has rubber fenders so you can't easily bruise your boat. The bristles are soft nylon at the ends so if you have a painted deck or topsides you don't scratch it, and the chamois after 4 years has remained as it should, soft and supple when wet, soaking up any extra water, hard and firm when dry.

It must be said here that should you purchase one; do NOT get the orange colored synthetic chamois ( I believe it is the cheaper of the two). After about a year it began to shed orange flakes all over the place. The natural chamois is.... the best.

The only down side I had with the product and why there is aB Grade not an A grade is that: 1) the plastic handle discolored and then started sliding off. I called Shurhold and the representative apologized and sent me out two replacements, just in case. For 3 years now I've not had an issue with the rubber handle. Obviously the plastic material in the handle has been changed, and 2) I dropped it in the water.

We were in Granada and heading down towards Trinidad and while moving around the boat I set the boat hook down. Obviously I set it in not so great a location and the boat rolled from a passing wake. She rolled just a little. I watched in slow motion as the handle with the boat hook slid into the water and sunk! The following day I tried to snorkel for it in 40' of water but it was either too murky or the bottom too soft to see it. Although it is my fault I would like to see some flotation built into one part of the handle to either make it float or stand upright on the bottom. Just my 2 cents.

I would purchase again. Shurhold System Grade B


Grade B...