Saltwater series Mastercraft Questions

I'm a newbie to boating a such. I live on a barrier island (salt water) and have just started getting into Wakeboarding and wakesurfing. Mainly wakesurfing. I grew up surfing. Anyway, I've been looking at several boats. I'm in the buying mode right now. I've been looking at the Enzo, a Moomba and the saltwater series Mastercrafts. I've heard nothing but good things about the Enzo. We have a dealer locally who installed a flush kit and the boat comes with a galvanized trailer. It's 47K. The Moomba dealer has a similar set up with a flush kit and galvanized trailer for around 38K. We also have a MC dealer around here with the saltwater series boats and they are priced around 80K. I guess my main question is what is the difference between the boats in to the saltwater? I don't plan on leaving the boat in the water. Thanks in advance.

Which Mc are you looking at? You can get a Saltwater X2 in the 60s. MC SW series has a whole different motor almost complete closed cooling, composite motor mounts, sealed wiring harness,all stainless hardware including SS shocks under storage compartments,under water anodes for corrosion, SS windshield frame, hydro steering, raw water strainer,self bailing cockpit, compass and galv trailer. A little more than just a flush kit and galv trailer. Saltwater will eat a boat alive thats not properly taken care of.

Get the MC!!! Throws a great wake, well made, and as Billy said, is built for those conditions.

X80, XStar, X45, X10.

I am leaning towards the MC just because of the saltwater. I live in the panhandle of Florida and we do not have much freshwater around here. But I'm surrounded by saltwater.

The X10 is gone for 07 and is replaced by the x15 which also comes in a SW Series.The X15 is only a few inches shorter than the X30 but drives and handles much, much better. The X10 never came in a SW pkg.

I say go with a saltwater series MC, I have a regular X2 used in salt and it has held up great, my guess is that a salt water series would be even better and if you get a non salt water series boat in my opinion flushing wont cut it, you should get closed cooling

Dare I ask, what about the new Mastercraft CSX?

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/382837.html

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/383641.html

http://www.tmcowners.com/teamtalk/showthread.php?t=7282

(Message edited by P-hat in Cincy on November 30, 2006)

(Message edited by P-hat in Cincy on November 30, 2006)

CSX throws the 2nd best wake in the MC line per some pro's i've talked to. They ride great, was on one last month. Solid.

I live in the Florida panhandle too and have been extremely pleased with my X-15 SS. I have only just over 50hrs on it so far but it has shown absolutely no saltwater damage anywhere. I do spend a lot of time flushing and cleaning after use but that's fine with me. I almost bought a one-year old, 50hr non-saltwater X-10 but the motormounts and other things had quite a bit of corrosion in such a short time.

I went and looked at a Moomba today. It was used in "brackish water". My buddy who has been into boating / wakeboarding / fishing etc... pointed out several areas of corrosion already on that boat. It was a very nice boat though. I'm going to look at the SS MC's tomorrow morning. Charlie where do you live? I live in Gulf Breeze.

I live on the north side of the bay in Niceville. Send me an e-mail if you want to look at my boat or if you have any questions about it. BTW, I did have a pleasant buying experience with Jason Howard at Destin Sunrise Marine not far from you and I thought they gave me a pretty fair price.

Charlie, thanks. I am headed to Destin Sunrise Marina to look at their boats either today or one day this week. Where do you guys usually go out at? My main area will be either Santa Rosa Sound or Pensacola Bay.

Go with the salt water series. A flush kit isn't going to do much for saltwater. Take it from someone who has put 1000 hours on a normal boat with in brackish water.

If you are looking at the saltwater MCs don't skip the X-2 it has a great wakesurf wake. Also if you are in salt the bow is easier to dip in an X-45 or X-star. The X-2, X-15, & X-30 all ride a little more bow up. Good luck.

Matthew, we spend all our time in Choctawhatchee Bay wakeboarding in Tom's or Boggy Bayou or hanging out at Crab Island at the Destin Bridge.

Hey Matt, did you decide on a boat?

Get the boat you like the look, wake and package on rather than buying a SS just because its got more corrosion resistance.

I know of two enzo's here in the UK run soley in saltwater and they both are still good as new.

I've run MC, CC, Supras and currently a V drive maxum in the saltwater for over 20 years. Closed cooling is good and shouldn't add too much on a new boat but its not essential. A quick flush, rinse and wd40 after each use and you'll see nearly as many hours as you would in fresh water.

My maxum is 10 years old. 4 of them years have been soley in saltwater and you wouldn't know by looking at the boat or motor. But the trailer sure gives it away. Make sure you get a galv'd one!

Thanks Jay.

Charlie, I've kind of narrowed it down to three boats. The MC x15, a 2005 Enzo, and a Moomba. I drove the enzo yesterday. I liked it. I am going to drive the Moomba this weekend. They are all priced different. The Enzo (the 23 foot version) around 48K (2005), the mastercrafts (SS up into the mid 70's), and the Moomba (2006 Mobius) around 36K. We are going to use it mainly for wakesurfing to fight off the lack of surf we have here in the summer.

For mainly surfing nothing will touch the ENZO. BEst surfwake out there. Pull all the Boardstocks and Centurions lead the industry in surf wakes. Enzo especially was designed with that (sruf) in mind.


HEre's a few (well 2 are small)pics of the Tsunami

Knowing what saltwater does to a boat, I would not use a fresh water boat in salt water for permanant use. Once or twice a year would be fine if you cleaned it up, but for permanant use, I would not do it. If you plan to keep the boat for a long time, it will decrease the life of some components, like the electronics, which will cost more money for maintenance. If you are only going to use it a few years and upgrade to newer boat, the resale on it will suffer because of the corrosion.