1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suction cup mounted holder which is adapted to be grasped by the hand, and which is useful in cleaning and maintaining the exterior hull surface of a watercraft while the watercraft is waterborne. The invention further relates to a waterborne watercraft which has one or more of the holders of the present invention releasably attached thereto whereby the exterior hull surface of the watercraft may be cleaned and maintained while waterborne. In another aspect, the invention is concerned with a novel method of cleaning and maintaining the exterior hull surface of a waterborne watercraft which employs the holder of the present invention releasably attached thereto for the purpose of securing swimmers and/or divers in the water.
2. The Prior Art
As is well known in this art, the exterior hull surface of a watercraft, and especially below the waterline, becomes fouled with a variety of substances which tightly adhere thereto. These fouling substances damage the exterior hull surface in some instances, and they are always unpleasant and unattractive. They additionally tend to seriously hamper the ability of a watercraft to operate and manuever.
Examples of hull fouling substances include living organisms such as bacteria, algae and barnacles, and non-living organic and inorganic substances such as oil, dirt, and other particulate matter initially present in the water. These substances gradually accumulate on the exterior hull surface, and eventually they must be removed by scraping, scrubbing, sandblasting, or other methods of cleaning. Also, the exterior hull surface must be properly maintained periodically by painting, calking, and repairing as necessary to assure that the hull is always in a seaworthy condition.
Heretofore, it was the usual practice for watercraft owners and watercraft servicing facilities to drydock the watercraft or otherwise move the watercraft from the water onto dry land. The exterior hull surface was then cleaned and maintained by individuals working on the dry land. This mode of cleaning and maintaining watercraft is objectionable as it is both expensive and inconvenient.
Efforts have been made heretofore to clean and maintain the exterior hull surface of a waterborne watercraft. These prior art efforts required that one or more divers or swimmers be positioned in the water alongside the waterborne watercraft. Maintenance equipment was provided such as scrub brushes, sponges, detergents, tools and the like. When the divers or swimmers attempted to use the maintenance equipment, it was difficult for them to maintain their buoyancy and a suitable position in close working proximity to the watercraft as there was no convenient stationary item to grasp. As a result, the divers or swimmers could not perform the necessary tasks. It was also dangerous as often the divers or swimmers tended to become snarled in anchor lines, rudders, propellers and the like due to their inability to maintain buoyancy and a desired position in the water relative to the watercraft.
It is apparent from the foregoing that the art has long sought an entirely satisfactory apparatus and method which will avoid the great expense and inconvenience of having to clean and maintain the exterior hull surface of watercraft in drydock or on dry land, and yet overcome the disadvantages and deficiencies of the prior art efforts to clean the exterior hull surface of waterborne watercraft by means of divers and/or swimmers. However, there was no entirely satisfactory method and apparatus for accomplishing this prior to the present invention.