Hi there, Maybe someone could help me. I quite new to wakeboarding and thinking of buying a boat. Im looking at a nice Mastercraft (2001) X-Star, now called the X-2 i think. Im a bit wary of boats from salt water for the obvious reasons. This boat has spent the last 3 years on fresh water, and 1 on salt water. The ballast pump and bilge pump were replaced about 1.5 months ago and also a new battery. Service history looks good. Is it advisable to buy this for fresh water use only. Any help would be greatly appreciated.Cheers

I'd have that boat THOROUGHLY checked out before I did anything with it. It doesn't take long to have a boat messed up with salt water. Having said that, if it was properly maintained, and flushed out after every salt excursion, it should be ok. Check out the trailer, too... most inboards don't come with galvanized trailers and the steel painted trailers will fall apart if launched (especially for a year) in salt water.

I put my boat in salt 4 or 5 times and washed er down super good every time, I mean tower carpet everything, when I went to sell it I found all kinds of bolts (stainless) and crap that were rusted. The trailer was fairly messed up too. I would be very hesitant to buy a boat that was in salt water for a year based on my experiance. <BR> Good luck <BR> Oh ya X2's are freakin great.

I would be hesitant with buying a boat that's been in the salt water; however, as a regular rider in the salt water, I will say that there are some boats out there that are just fine. I would highly suggest that you get the manifolds checked out before you buy it. Also, pull off some of the hoses check the color of the water that drains out, if it is discolored or brown that's a sure sign. <BR> <BR>I usually ride behind a buddies MC prostar 209 in very salty water. We wash it with soap and water from tower to carpet and flush it out for a while every time. The engine had to be replaced last year after five or six years of being in the salt water and the guys at TSR were very surprised at how clean everything was, including inside the engine. So I'm told. <BR>The main problem I hear about other boats in the area is that their perfect pass goes out really quickly. And the ones that don't take proper care of them have to be serviced often. <BR> <BR>Moral of the story, If it's been taken care of you should be fine; but you have to do some digging to find out if the owner has taken care of it or not.

Check out the trailer VERY well also- The trailer is the neglected one usually and takes a beating from the salt