We were wandering the Seattle Boat Show last winter and came across Mark Pampe who continuously had a small crowd at his Vent-Tender booth. Turns out Mark had recently "resurrected" a very popular old boating product that used to be called the NoSpill.
"I used to have one, but it broke and I misplaced it." He explained. "I found out the original manufacturer had stopped making them years ago, so I decided to re-invent it."
After seeing Mark demonstrate what the Vent-Tender did, we knew we wanted to help him get the word out. After all, something that inexpensively keeps fuel out of the water at fuel docks is a worthwhile exercise! So we shot a short video:
Mark further explained that his Vent-Tender has some design and manufacturing improvements over the old NoSpill product. For instance, the suction cups which temporarily adhere the Vent-Tender to the hull are more robust than the ones that sometimes broke on the old unit. He also used a slightly thicker gauge of plastic, and improved the tether line for attaching the Vent-Tender to the boat enabling true hands-free use.
He also stressed that the Vent-Tender is designed to contain the problematic "burps and burbles" of fuel that can spill out the fuel tank vent lines on many boat models. It is not meant to catch overflow that might happen if you continue fueling after the tank is full.
The Vent-Tender has quickly found a strong following, especially among boaters that used to have the old NoSpill that either broke or got misplaced. And there is now a whole new audience of boaters that have to deal with their vent line "spitting" fuel that never even knew about the previous product.
Available to purchase as single units for $39.95 or in a case of 12 for $430:
Purchase Vent-Tender
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There is a common misconception among boaters in North America that because the gas and diesel we buy is essentially the cleanest in the world, we needn't worry about the dreaded "water-in-the-fuel" problem encountered in other countries. And though the fuels we buy in the U.S. and Canada are typically fine, once we have it in our tanks we still need to guard against water contamination and the subsequent problems those can manifest in our engines down the road.
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Darren OBrien
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