Taking my boat out in Salt Water...?

Guys, I'm thinking of taking my http://www.pbase.com/blueplastic/image/37382750 to the Florida Keys last week of February. It's a direct drive ski/wakeboard boat.

The boat has never seen salt water. It's only been in fresh water lakes.

How bad is a day in salt water for my boat?

What do I need to do to make sure I don't damage it?

I've heard that I need to thoroughly flush the engine with fresh water... How do I do this?

What other tips do you recommend?

You will need to buy a Fake- A- lake that hooks up to your boats raw water pick up under the boat. Do not run the boat with out this ! You will burn up your impeller if you run it dry.
Salt water is really hard on everything including the trailer and brakes so make sure you rinse it after you drop the boat in and again when you pull it out. A light coat of WD-40 on your engine might not be a bad idea either since your likely going to get salt water in your bilge.

I wouldn't do it. Go without a boat for the day. Or rent a boat. Or charter a boat. But if the boat's never seen salt water, why risk the corrosion? Inboards aren't made to be corrosion resistant. Salt water will splash inside your bilge all over vulnerable metal. Engine flushing won't get that off. Walt's got a good point about your trailer and brakes too.

If salt water is the only place you have to ride, that is one thing. But I wouldn't do it just to do it.

Use WD-40 or Corrosion Block from West Marine on all metal if you feel like you have to take it, but you probably won't be able to get it everywhere that saltwater will splash.

wow, these responses seem very over the top.

I have run all my boats, inlcuding my current 2005 super air nautique in salt.

one dip will do, and i am confident of this - absolutly NO DAMAGE. how can it? so long as you rinse it off after and flush the engine i think its very niave to think that a heap of rust is going to just pop up!

Sameer, my recommendation would be to go have some fun in the salt. and when you are done, wash her down and put her away. once shes been in fresh water a good few times there won't even be a noticable trace of salt on her!

at the end of the day, its only a boat. when you come to sell it will the next buyer notice its been in salt once... i think not. will it decrease your selling price? no. will one exposure to salt reduce the engines life? no.

go have some salt water fun!

I disagree with Bret! Being in in the Navy I know first hand about salt water corrosion, I even had to take a 2 week course.. Once any bare metal is touched by the salt water it start to corrode right away, even though you dont see it. salt water affects different metals in different ways (speed of corrosion etc.) flushing you engine is a start but the entire boat(top to bottom, front to back) will need to be cleaned in such detail I wouldn't think it would be worth the time. sea spray is a pain in the rear,trust me its not worth it!!

Sameer, I already posted to this question on epicmarine.com, but... Brit Rider spurred me to comment again...

I would not buy an inboard that had TOUCHED salt water, whether it be one time or its entire lifetime.

My current boat has never and will never see salt but my prior boats were used exclusively in salt water so I have a really good idea of what salt water will do to a boat.
Is one time in salt water going to ruin your boat ? The answer is no but it will speed up rust on your trailer and brakes. I'm guessing you don't have a galvanized trailer so any little ding or pit in the paint is exposed to salt and will speed up the rust process.
I'm also going to guess that your brakes don't have a flush kit and don't have galvanized backing plates so expect the life of them to be a little shorter too. The thing about salt water is it gets every where not just in the places you can see. I remember doing some wiring work on my last boat and finding a bunch of green(corroded) wires. Apparently just from the salt in the air the wire would get damp and it would actually corrode way up under the wire insulation where I couldn't see it. Seeing how you have a inboard you can expect to have salt water splashing around in your bilge and there is no way in hell your going to be able to clean it all.
Brit may right when he says that when you go to sell it most people wouldn't know if the boat has been in salt and that may be true but that doesn't mean there wasn't damage done.
My current boat is a 1990 and it's not worth nearly what yours is and I would never put it in salt knowing what I know and spending what I've spent for repairs on my last boat.

Hey maybe Brit will give you a pull in his boat ?

Brit, gonna hafta disagree with you on this one. I have a close friend on a promo team, and he has to pull comps throughout the year, 2 of them being in salt water. He has had some strange problems, electrical and mechanical. The technician/mechanics have attributed these problems to the saltwater exposure.

Another thing to factor in is the all aluminum Toyota block...

I have a SANTE, and won't put it in salt even though I live in Hoston, and am fairly close to some salt riding.

My pop has an old outboard that we started putting in the salt about 8 years ago. Yes it still runs like a champ, but you can tell the salt has taken a toll on it. We always washed it down thouroghly after every salt exposure, but the corrosion still took hold. The parts that have taken the most abuse are the chromed parts such as rails, and the snaps on the canvas. He does have a galvanised trailer, and it is just about as good as new (25 year old trailer and boat).

For these reasons, when I bought my boat, I said it would never go in the salt, and I insisted on a galvanised trailer.

Hey Brit,
I will back you on this one.
I have a friend with a 1991 Nautique that has been used in salt from day one and i belive is at about 1600 hrs.
I ride exclusively in salt and I am on Season #2 with my first inboard ( prior to this I had a I/O). After 128 hrs in the salt I can honestly say my only complaints are crusty carpet and my drivers seat became difficult to slide forward and back from salt water dripping off my shorts and onto the tracking mechanism (nothing a bit of grease couldn't take care of).
It all depends on how well you take care of your boat, I have a closed cooling system, Zincs, flush kit, spray down my motor with anti-corrosive spray a couple times a year, keep all my tower bolts and cover snaps lubed etc.
Walt makes some very good points about the trailer, although most current trailers have disc brakes and therefore a flush kit for the brakes is useless as these were desigened when drum brakes were the norm. With discs you can do a much better job with a hose. Keep in mind the most damage occurs in the first 15 mins your trailer is pulled out of the salt, corrosion starts when metal comes in contact with the air. This is why it is key to rinse or preferably wash your trailer immediately after you pull it out of the salt water.
Kenny makes a good point about the sea spray, I can literally see the dried salt build up around the edges of my wind shield and it is a pain to clean!

Having said this go enjoy a ride in the salt and make sure you give it a good cleaning when you are done. After all you did buy your boat to have fun with right????

Please talk to an engineer at a marina but remember they make their money out of punters with boats so you're not likely to get a truly straight answer.

Salt does affect boats in several ways. The main problem is that salt (like any substance in solution) will migrate from an area of high concentration to low concentration. So, by washing thoroughly with fresh water, it is possible to remove the vast majority of salt. However.....

When you try to wash salt water away, all you do is increasingly dilute it. It's almost impossible to remove the last vestiges of salt. Salt is hygroscopic (attracts moisture) so even with the smallest of residues, the material in which the salt is trapped stays damp. And what do you need for rust and corrosion (and most but not all forms of decay) to take place? Air (oxygen) and water. So, the presence of salt more or less guarantees the presence of water. So, over time, steel and alloy parts slowly corrode - especially where two different metals meet and an electrolytic cell is set up.

And it's not just metals that decay, stitching rots too so seats tend to fall apart over time. The vinyl is OK, just the bits that holds it all together decays.

The micropores exist in cast iron, of which most engine blocks and all manifolds are made of. Cast iron is crystalline and hence contains lots of microscopic cracks and pores into which water (and the salt dissolved therein) penetrates.

When the insides walls of these cracks and pores corrode (as they inevitably do), the rust that forms is larger than the orginal metal so it begins to crack the surrounding part. The strength of the iron keeps everything in place to start with but as the effect it builds up, the pressure takes it's toll and flakes of metal fall off and corrosion starts to become visible big time.

Having said all the above, the vast majority of boats are used in salt water and go on for years quite happily. However, their cosmetic and physical state after a year or two will always be far inferior to their fresh water-only cousins of the same age. And the gap gets bigger over time.

If you want to witness the increased effect of salt on iron/steel compared to fresh water, get two pieces of bare mild steel and some wet and dry paper. Abrade one with the wet and dry lubricated by tap water only. Abrade the other part in water into which you have added a generous squirt of washing up liquid. Let them both dry naturally and compare the finish. Washing liquids leave salt residues (that's why you shouldn't use them to wash your car) and this will be apparent on the surface you washed with the washing-up liquid.

And as stated earlier, rust is larger than the original metal from which it is made so internal block corrosion can lead to blocked water ways and hence overheating.

If you have no choice but to use your boat in salt water, just accept that you will incur more maintenance and your boat will deteriorate faster than if used in fresh water alone. Engine life will be shortened - let's say you'll get 10 years rather than 15 out of it. It won't wear out faster (pistons etc) but the manifolds and block will rot from the inside out. The externals will also rust in any area not really well protected with paint.

From personal experience I can say it's disappointing to see your pride and joy deteriorate significantly in front of your very eyes year by year despite your best efforts to keep it looking great.

I wouldn't dream of putting my MC in salt water (say, an estuary) or the sea as it's been exclusively used in fresh water and I'm happy to keep it that way.

But if I had no alternative but to use my boat in salt water (the sea?) I would swap mine for one with a suitable hull for use in those conditions and get on with it.

P.S. You can also add a closed cooling system to your engine but typically these only protect the block. Raw water is still used to cool the manifolds. Replacing these after a while is relatively inexpensive and easy. It doesn't need a full engine replacement.
Quite obviously, closed cooling won't protect the upholstery abnd the rest of the boat!
_________________

Having skied in the sea for 20 years and have friends how have done the same I would not worry about dropping the boat in at all.

I just love listening to the horror stories that it will dissolve your boat in less than a week and that if you don't flush it when you come back to it a week later all thats left of the engine is the rubber hoses!

Use it in the sea, flush it and wash it down afterwards and just don't worry it will not look like a dog after just one dip in the sea.
Yes there is more maintenance and washing down required but as long as you do it straight away you'll be fine.

There is a reason why “salt water spray” is what governments and industries use for testing of products for corrosion resistance. It is one of the most destructive environments that normal “consumer goods” can be exposed to.

Ask WakeWorld leader Dave Williams how happy he is about his one time dunking of his trailer into salt water.

Will dropping your boat and trailer into salt water cause it to immediately turn into a pile of rust? Of course not. Will it negatively effect the life of your boat and trailer? Yes, it will.

When you go to sell your boat, and the prospective buyer asks you if it has been is salt water, you have two options. You step up like a man, and say yes – and potentially turn away many buyers (or they may offer less money for your boat). Or, you LIE.

Just adding one more opinion to the group.

Geoff

A couple more threads are discussing this topic:

Here: http://www.wakeboardatlanta.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5225

And here: http://www.cyclone-cj.com/forum4/index.php?topic=409.0

Thanks for all the comments and thoughts...

my boat has been a salt water boat for atleast 10 yrs and its fine. had to replace timing chain cover 220.00 and exhaust manifolds when i had to rebuild [had a rod knocking, not because of salt water} mine because it has 1600hrs on it. what am i suposed to do? move? that doesnt seem like a very good reason to move.

firstly, i think its very interesting that its those that actually use there boat in salt that are supporting sameer doing the same. i think a big problem here is people here so many horror stories that they get scared.

yeah i think we can all admit that prolonged salt exposure does lessen the life of your boat.
how much dpends on how well you care for it.

But in this case we are talking about ONE time here guys. it will d no harm and even if it does? so what? it would, if at all be minor damage which equals ZERO. its not going to affect resale or end up in th eboat going into the shop for repairs.. its fricken salt not acid!!!

if you feel a boat is not worth touching to buy because its been in salt once and then throughaly washed down then i'm afraid you are free to your opinion but in my opinion masively over reacting!

Sameer, my advice is go have some fun. forget all these over reactions and remember how many boats are running in salt every second every day!

Brit, Did you even read my last post ? I'll say it again.....All my prior boats were used in salt so I have plenty of experience with the pros and cons of using a boat in salt. It's really amazing to see what it does to water jackets, manifolds and exhaust risers.

If most people used their boats in salt, it would be a different story. But since most use their boats in fresh, it is so easy to find a good boat that has only been run in fresh water, and that is all that I would consider. That is the damage that it does. Whether it runs in salt one time or a lifetime, it doesn't matter to many inboard boat buyers.

That was my point...no inboard salt water experience, no horror story. Just my opinion.

You guys should know that Sameers boat does not have a Deetroit cast iron block and heads, it is an all aluminum Lexus Marine V8. List price is 16k for a replacement engine. It does have stainless exhaust manifolds

pysclone, yes, all the epics were engined my lexus (basically a toyota).

i'm also fairly sure the externals are painted. but the internals are still bare i believe....

(Message edited by brit rider on February 15, 2005)

Don't listen to Psyclone, he's probably half drunk in some airport right now ;-)

Corrosion sucks. If my time in Guam was any insight into how coastal Florida might be, I bet ANY towboat in Orlando, Cocoa, Miami, Tampa, even if run in fresh water exclusively, will show ugly nuggets in hidden places. In the tropics, it's nick today, rust tomorrow.

My advice to Mr. Blueplastic was to be careful, and then wash the crap out of the boat afterwards. Not just an engine flush, but a WAAAAAAASH.

Asking a guy in Florida if his boat's been in the salt is like asking if you took a puff when they were passing it around inside the limo.

Sorry, but you are wrong about the "Asking a guy in Florida if his boat's been in the salt is like asking if you took a puff when they were passing it around inside the limo."statement. Many of us do not use our boats in salt water.

I took a my 205v to Key West several years ago. At that time we lived in Missouri, long drive lots of gas $, it was the best trip we ever took with the boat. Now the bad news, Salt water! Every knick in the trailer paint soon had rust. Anything the salt water touched left its mark. The city marina in Key West has a nice ramp, good parking and an area to flush the engine and spray down the boat after a fun days adventure. I tend to think I keep pretty good care of the boats I have owned, but even washing to remove ALL the salt water is a different story than a regular wash. The next morning I went to hook up to the boat and had salt crystal's EVRYWHERE! Again, it was a great trip! Now, if I had a boat that I just used to use and not take the effort to keep in new shape.....I would take it in a minute. If I wanted to keep my boat in immaculate condition, as we all do, it would be staying comfortably inside the garage. Good luck. Where in the Keys are you going?

I love these threads! Judging from some of the posts, it is amazing that boats survive even being close to saltwater. Seems amazing that all boats slipped in coastal waters do not instantly disintegrate.

Our old prostar had 1200 hours on it when we sold it, many in salt. Ran and looked like new. Flush, hose it off, and hose off the trailer and brakes and you will be fine. Obviously, galvanized trailers will do better in salt than painted.

I keep my boat on a lift and ride exclusively in salt water. When I dunk my boat twice a year, I rinse the trailer off within 10 minutes. I use a product called Salt Away which claims to wash all the salt away and provides a coating to prevent the salt from adhering. I also flush the engine for 15 minutes with Salt Away at the end of the day.

My steps would be:

-spray your boat and trailer with Salt Away
-dunk your boat
-rinse your trailer right away with Salt Away
-PLAY
-drop the trailer and pick up the boat
-rinse the boat(inside and out) and trailer with Salt Away
-flush boat with Salt Away 15 minutes
-wipe dry

My bottom line is that your boat will wear no matter what and I think we can all agree a boat will wear faster being used in salt water. As long as you wash, clean and spray your boat/trailer down as much as possible, that is all you can do. Take your boat out and enjoy and wash it down as much as you can. That is why you have a boat.

I hate salt water, but the good news is that salt water will melt aliens, and so if one of those hairless bastids try's to make off with my nautique, I'll just give them a good splash! then rinse what's left of them with my h/c shower!

.. sorry guys but I thought the thread was getting a little to scary for me, I have a 25yr old boat , that has lived in salt. It's higher maintenance, but if it was the only place to ride, I'd do it!. Rinse the heck out of it, and have fun!

There is no way my boat would go in salt water!!! But i know guys who do, and its not been an problem for them!!

Barefooter, what I'm trying to say is that when you live by the beach, when it's 80 degrees, 80% humidity and salty, it's really kind of a mute point whether the boat ever goes in salt water cuz it lives every day in salty, humid air.

Whatever electrical contacts, fasteners, chipped paint that might be susceptible to salt water is already under attack before you ever launch the boat into fresh or salt water.

Glad to know you guys who've run your boats in salt haven't had many problems. I'd rather ride behind your salty boat than to watch my pretty boat age under under tarps on the side of the house.

I've taken my boat in the salt plenty of times. No problems, but I did have a fresh water cooling system. Most people make the mistake of washing they're boat and not the trailer. This is a must.

My .02

If you plan to use your boat regularly in salt water these are some things I would do....

Grease your motor mounts with a heavy grease this way if you ever need to break the bolts loose you won't have any problems.

Hit all your hinges with some type of corrosion protectant like Boshields T-9, pay attention to your seat mount so it won't freeze on you.

Spray down your engine with some Bosheilds, or STP silicon spray, in my opinion WD 40 is too harsh and can dry any rubber parts out.

Get a galvanized trailer and BEFORE putting it in salt water use "liquid electrical" on all the butt connectors to water proof them. This will basically make your electrical bullet proof, you won't have a light go out due to corroded wiring. If you have a painted trailer I would spray the whole trailer down with WD 40 this will help slow down the deterioration of your trailer. I would also get a trailer made of channel steel instead of tube frame steel, channel will dry out no problem at all while steel will rust from the inside out and flake off over time. No matter how much you dry the outside of your painted trailer the inside is rusting even after cleaning.

Pay attention to the lug nuts on your rims, take them off before putting it in salt water and put some grease or anti sieze on the stems and inside of the lug nuts. This will prevent them from rusting to the stem and prevent you from breaking them off to change a flat down the road sometime.

If you can get freshwater cooling it can only help you in the long run.

After each use rinse EVERYTHING that was in the salt water down completely, soak the carpet, rinse the motor and re-apply some type of silicon spray. Rinse your trailer and after drying the boat and trailer drive it around the block to heat the brakes up and force any water out of them. Brakes seem to get neglected the most on salt water boats and they will be the first thing to go........most people wash, dry and cover their boat. The brakes will tend to rust since they are bound to have water in them, driving the boat around the block will heat them up and force any water out of them.

Pay attention to your jack, use a heavy grease and check it often.

After rinsing the boat let it air out and dry.....if you have to put the cover on it right away put a fan inside and let it run, or get "no damp" from Home Depot. It helps in removing the moisture from the boat and carpet, it comes in a small bucket with crystals and deposits the water in the bucket.

I used my old boat in the salt water for 2 years and over 400 hours........to me on the outside it looked great, my concerns were what was hidden to the naked eye. Electrical corrosion that could not be detected, pitting of some aluminum from air and water exposure. It does do some damage but it can also be worth it for good water.

Don't be afraid of overprecaution and I think you will be fine.

Good luck

Gramps, (If you have a painted trailer I would spray the whole trailer down with WD 40)

Your not exactly a environmentalist are you ?