S2. Ep.11 - When Washing Boats Might Be Breaking The Law, with Sarah Wallbank - August Race

There’s a quiet contradiction at the heart of modern sailing.

We head out onto the water because we love the ocean - its freedom, its beauty, its power. And yet, in the most routine moments, whether washing down a deck or cleaning a hull, we may be contributing to the very damage we care about.

Not through negligence, but through habit and through products labelled “marine safe” or “eco-friendly” without really questioning what that means.

Because the reality is this: many everyday cleaning practices in leisure boating could already be non-compliant and most of us sailors have no idea.

This all comes back to International Maritime Organisation and MARPOL, the global convention designed to prevent pollution from ships - not just major spills, but the small, cumulative impacts of daily life on the water.

And that raises an uncomfortable question: are we cleaning our boats…or polluting our oceans?

Tune in to hear host Holly Manvell speak with Sarah Wallbank, CEO of August Race, a MARPOL-aligned marine cleaning brand.