Saltwater Checklist?

Has anyone ever created a saltwater checklist? Like what to do before you put it in saltwater, and what you do after?
Could the salt screw up my internal ballast? I guess I can rinse them when I flush it, right? Since its a Malibu, should I get a fitting or will a universal plunger looking device work to flush? Which works better? What about the wedge, board racks, speakers, and my propeller, will they get pitted? Should I coat them with something? Its very rare that the boat will be in salt, but I want to be prepared - I've only had the boat for a month. Any help would be appreciated.
I did the search, lots of info everywhere...

1) do you have a galvanized or aluminum trailer? salt water will KILL a painted steel trailer.

We ride almost exclusively in salt water, on San Diego Bay.

The boat and trailer are specifically outfitted for salt. Galvanized trailer then certain parts are epoxy or zinc painted and covered with urethane or something.

Numerous modifications to the boat. Almost everything is stainless including the through bolts for the exhaust manifolds. Joey at M2O in San Diego has modified wake boats for salt, for years as part of the Mission Bay Acquatic Center. Joey has a list that I'm sure he'd sell you for all the things they do to new 210s to defend them against corrosion.

With the hard tanks, they soder the wires then shrink wrap them so no part of the system inside the tank can corrode.

They take the dash apart and put corrosion guard on the electronics. There's grease in all the 12v. Every screw is stainless.

MBAC (where I bought the SANSE) explained the maintenance, but, basically, it only works they say if the boat is set up for salt. If not, it looks like you will have problems.

After riding, we soak the trailer and the boat, flush the motor, rinse the inside, clear out the bilge and then wipe everything down.

Once a week, we shower the motor in WD40. Once a month we strip the wax and redetail the boat. The boat also has grease fittings for the steering cable and the rudder so no or very little saltwater gets in there. The steering cable is apparently one of the first things to go otherwise. Once a month we pump new marine grease into those fittings.

Little things with the trailer: the trailer jack is galvanized; we replaced the lug nuts with grease packed closed head nuts.

Galvanized Trailer or you will be sorry......

Just to name a few others.....

1. Put anti seize on the lug nuts so you can remove them later.
2. Put anti seize on the spare tire lug nuts so you can remove it later.
3. Remove all nuts from your trailer bunks and put marine grease or anti seize on them so you can remove them later.
4. Pay attention to the seat mount brackets or they will seize on you.
5. Spray every single nut and bolt with Boshields T-9 or STP white lithium grease they are a greaseless lubricant that prevents rusting.
6. Put "liquid electrical" on all the connections on your trailer lights, this will make them water proof and prevent the connection from rusting and failing.
7. If you have a tower make sure to put some kind of lubricant on the screws that fold the tower down, if not you will have to drill them out in the future.
8. WD40 is ok to use on the engine but Boshields T-9 is cleaner and not as "drying" WD40 is harder on rubber than Boshields or white lithium grease.
9. Put a heavy coat of Marine grease on your motor mounts so they can break it lose when and if they need to do work on your motor.
10. Use some sort of polish on the aluminum so that it doesn't "pit" the aluminum.
11. Flush with freshwater and finish by running "salt terminator" or "salt away" thru the boat and actually let it stay in the motor since it will continue to break down salt residue.
12. Rinse the carpet on a regular basis and use a shop vac to remove the water...it helps sucking out the salt residue.
13. Leave the boat out and open to dry for a few hours and after covering put some "no damp" in the boat to help remove any dampness from the carpet and salt moisture.
14. Remove the jack housing and liberally put marine grease or a heavy grease on the gears and leg of the jack.
15. If you have a painted trailer get a "channel" framed trailer versus a "tube" framed trailer I would highly recommend it, the channel will dry out faster after cleaning and you can clean every part of it. The "tube" framing will rot or rust from the inside out since it cannot be cleaned on the inside and they take longer to dry out.
16. Get the boat "TEFLON" coated so you won't need to wax it or have the boat wax stripped. Wax deteriorates or drifts off at a rate of 1-2% a day. Just wash the boat with soap and water and dry if you have any tough spots just use vinegar/water 50/50 or 60/40 and it will come right off.
17. If you can get "closed cooling" for the boat I would highly recommend it.
18. All your electrical under the dash needs to be sprayed with Boshields or white lithium grease it's what you can't see that is wrecking the boat.
19. Most boats come with stainless this or stainless that but there are different grades of stainless so be pro-active and spray them anyways.
20. When you get home really rinse the brakes on the trailer they will get worked in salt water and will need a thorough cleaning.

Good luck, I hope this helps......

If it only goes in salt maybe 4 times a year - tops, cant I just rinse the trailer? Its not galvanized.

Thanks for the help, now its not likely that I will put in salt - too much work. I would like the boat and trailer to last for a while...

Gramps, awesome. I'm printing that list out and putting it in the book.

I agree, the list is helpful but I just got the boat and it looks like that list will take some time to implement. I will use it, just not as soon as I was hoping. We were going to use the boat in the Keys over Memorial Day, but I will just use my Dads fishing boat instead - save the trip for next year. Thanks for your help.