What is the best boat for saltwater? inboards get really messed up fast in the saltwater so i was looking for an outboard or inboard/outboat that will put a big wake but ride well in the rough seas. any comments or ideas will be helpful.thanks. later

I have a 2001 SAN that is holding up fine and I ride almost exclusively in salt water. We are super meticulous, flush the engine with Salt-Away, and make people rinse with fresh water before they step in the boat after riding. We also never have the boat in salt water for more that two days. We usually pull it right after we're done riding. Inboards should hold up fine as long as you stick to the "Salt is the enemy" mindset. It's kind of a pain, but my boat is still looking and running good. I've put about 120 hours on it since March.

I run my Launch in salt too. I have the same cleaning regiment at Matt here. My boat looks as good as the day I bought it. I'll have to replace the risers and exhaust faster than normal, but what's 600 bucks every 4-5 years? There are so many more places to ride in salt water here, it's worth it. Just cover everything in grease! <BR> <BR>I'd say the trailer is the big concern. I had mine galvanized after it had already been in salt for a season, so I know that's a large expense that will be due sometime.

i like I/O's for salt, cost less then v-drives and weigh more then outboards, can add perfect pass to mercs easily also

Although I do most of my boarding in Fresh, My boat spends about 10% of its time in the salt water. Definetly go with a galvanized trailer. I always go to a hot water car wash as soon as I get out of the water. I also spray the engine, transmission and drive shaft with anti corrosive before I put it in the water. I have never had any rust or any other problems using this method. And now most trailer manufacturers will paint a galvanized trailer (I just ordered one for my 3rd wakesetter). <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/73210.jpg" alt="1">

Where do all you salt water boarders live? I'm just curious. <BR> <BR>FlipsidE

I run 10% of the time in salt. At 250 hours, I reworked the seat slider brackets with an aluminum system after the galavanized rusted. The mounting brackets for the gas lifting shocks on the engine cover and rear deck were replaced with stainless as the rust started to stain the vinyl and carpet. The interior lights have holes on the topside. They filled with water during rinsing. They were replaced with sealed diode lights. The engraved writing "wedge" on the wedge seems to pit immediately. I paint it before every other salt water run. The stereo under the armrest has been replaced once as water runs to the edge of the head unit. One dash speaker has died. How do you rinse a boat and not fill the horizontal mounted speakers? Plastic tubing was added to the cup holders drain hole to route the water to a harmless location. For some reason, a couple of nuts and washers supporting the windshield have rusted. There must be a few bad nuts in the factories stainless nut bag. <BR> <BR>I spray the engine and exposed metal before launching and wash, rinse and flush. But, the salt has a way of exposing every weaknesses. <BR> <BR>The galvanized trailer gets dipped in fresh water as the boat is put back onto the lift. The plastic fender step pads that say malibu are glued to the trailer--bad idea. The rust loved breeding on the underside of the plastic. The six step pads have been removed and the fenders hit with galvanized paint. <BR> <BR>There is no excuse for the crappy galvanized seat brackets and steel mounting hardware. But I also noticed the other design issues still exist on newer models. I have owned Nautiques, Mastercrafts and a Supreme. All had similar problems. <BR> <BR>These guys should do some salt water testing.

Hey thanks for all the input. flipside- im in st. petersburg, florida. Where are the rest of you saltwater guys located? thanks

Brad, <BR> <BR>I live in Hawaii and we have put 390 hours on our boat since last July all in saltwater. Our cleaning methods are similar to Matt's. We have seen similar issues as Tim's. We don't make people rinse with fresh water prior to getting in the boat. We wash the entire boat inside and out after each use. We have left the boat in the water for as many as 3 or 4 days at a time. We wash the inside and topside of the boat and flush the engine when it stays in the water overnight. The only trailer problems we have had (ours is galvanized) is rust on the axles, hubs, and leaf springs. <BR> <BR>Check my profile for a picture of our boat. <BR> <BR>Happy 4th! <BR> <BR>(Message edited by razz on July 03, 2003)

Can't you get a closed cooling system in the Nautique's? <BR>

do all of you guys use closed cooling system with salt or normal? I'm about to buy a boat myself and will be in salt a lot and want to know if its worth it.

Rene &amp; Ron, <BR> <BR>We do not have closed loop cooling on our 2002 SAN. In fact we orginally ordered and paid for it. As is turns out '02 was the first year for the PCM Excalibur engine in the SAN's and they had not completed the design for the closed loop cooling. We could have returned the boat to WCCC to have it installed probably 6 to 12 months after we took delivery of the boat. Of course that would have been problematic for us since shipping to and from Hawaii to the mainland is expensive and time consuming. So in the end we did not get closed loop cooling. <BR> <BR>Out here in Hawaii where we run out boats year round in saltwater there are probably 12 to 15 Nautiques varying in age from the early 80's to '02. None of these boats have closed loop cooling. We run the boats all the time and flush them all the time so maybe that helps. One of the boats is an '01 Pro Air and it has over 1600 hours on it. Of course it was used at the local wakeboarding shop. Anyway my opinion is the closed loop cooling is nice to have but if you spend the time and effort to maintain your boat and engine it is not necessary. FYI, in closed loop cooled engines, the exhaust manifolds, the heat exchanger for the Closed Loop Cooling System, and the raw water intake piping all are still cooled by saltwater. <BR> <BR>Sorry for the long post. Don't be scared of saltwater. It just means more time, effort, and as always $$$$$.

Thanks razz, how about the trailer, that must be galv or aluminum right? I know salt will tear up a trailer quick.

Ron, <BR> <BR>I have a galvanized trailer. Trailer has held up pretty well. We rinse it after we put the boat in the water. We also rinse it again after we pull the boat. We do have rust on the axles, leaf springs, and hubs. Of course aluminum would be the best but man is that pricey. A guy out here has an aluminum trailer and it always looks nice.

I ride exclusivley on the ocean, we just ordered a 2004 Sea Ray with tower and board racks. I've heard the wake is really wide it'll come in towards the end of July, I'll let you know how it works out.