Fresh vs. Salt

This topic is strictly because i'm bored.
I ride primarily on salt water and i love it. Grew up on it, and its what i know best. Who out there enjoys riding on salt vs. fresh and on the contrary, who prefers fresh over salt? and WHY??

I hate riding in salt water but it's all I've got so I deal with it.

1) It wears the engine parts and the boat overall much faster than fresh water
2) It doesn't taste great
3) It stings your eyes

The one advantage of salt water over fresh water - it provides a real incentive not to fall and have to deal with 2) and 3).

I could not agree more with what Andy C said. Plus your board preforms a bit differently, at least I thought it popped a lot different the times I have been riding on salt water.

I think we should add #4)

4) If you swallow to much of it you spend a nice hour or so puking it all up. (us land-locked MN kids didn't get trained to keep our mouth shut in the water).

andy, I agree with you on the maintenance part for sure...it's a real bummer when you have a nice boat that the salt just attacks...over years, we have found products that works wonders in corrosion protection. Another thing is that it really makes you respect the boat and treat it with care, cuz if you dont, you're boat is gonna be toast within 2 summers at best. Not sure where you ride, but another thing i like about it is that we always have buttery conditions because people can't stand it...everyone is 'lake happy' and the lakes are always jammed packed [unless you ride eeeaarly or late in the day]

I'm right near the Long Island Sound with no lakes in the area so we don't always get buttery conditions.

I wish we had lakes so I could be lake happy.

thats lame...there are no little bays where you are? just open water?

I grew up around salt so i really don't mind it at all, i actually like the extra buoyancy. Every summer when i visit my brother the bay and hood canal are always empty and buttery. It's really weird because when i was younger they were always full. I'll add one more salt water negative: Jellyfish, although it is always funny to see people near them and freak out about getting stung.

I look forward to doing some salt riding this summer. I haven't really ever done any but I love the Saltwater. My grandparents have a house on hood canal in the Seattle area and we use to swim in it all the time. I am planning on heading over there a time or 2.

Jeff, I believe you know my roomate Bret. He is a fellow Horsehead Bay guy. May try and make it out there a time or 2 this year.

I do agree that it is harder on the boat, although I think tournament boat owners freak out too much about it. As long as you have FWC, Zincs and take care of the boat it will be fine. There are plenty of people with yachts that are set up the same as the new saltwater series tournament boats and they seem to work long periods of time.

My boat's in a bay but it's an inlet from the Sound so the conditions are just so-so most of the time. It does get buttery on occasion.

Hey Brett,
yeah i agree that people do freak about it. its understandable, but you know what you're doing, its definitely worth it.
Yeah i know Bret pretty well for HHB. And I actually met you a few weeks back at your guys' place on sammamish. It was that one HOT saturday. I was out there with eddie and trevor and all those guys. Very fun time. Thanks again for the hospitality...you guys have a dope setup there on the lake

I ride in both fresh and salt. To me salt has a nice pop and I like the landings. Probably because is more buoyant.

However, I would much rather be in nice clean fresh water. Nothing sticking to you skin, cleanup is easy, and equipment lasts longer.

I hear people talking about all the washing and cleaning they do after a ride in fresh water. Man, most times I throw it on the lift equipment and all and let it drip dry. Love the fresh.

Like Andy C, Im on long island, surrounded by salt water. I dont even ride with my buddies in these waters. Id rather drive the 4 or 5 hours up to my parents place every weekend to ride on the lake. Fresh water is WAY better.

4 hours every weekend? Damn.

I have a house on right on a brackish lagoon which leads out to the salty bay, and ultimately the Atlantic
Ocean. I used to keep my boat right in the water, right in my backyard. It was super convenient. But once I
towed to the fresh water Delaware River it was all over. Now my boat stays on the trailer and I tow an hour
each way to board. I'm so done with the evil salt.

haha seriously, 4 hours? you must REALLY hate salt.

Honestly, it's not that bad

Yeah, 4 hours. It helps that the boat is docked 50 feet from my parents front door. Almost easier just to drive than to deal with launching the boat every time. The boat stays there now, I dont trailer it back and fourth, lol.

We ride in brackish water. Most of the time you can't even taste it because our bayou is 30 miles from the gulf, but it definately wears the engine down quicker.

I don't mind saltwater at all. I grew up riding in it in sourthern NJ. I had gotten past the whole "saltwater stinks" phase before I had ever ridden in freshwater, so I guess there is something to say for perception. Although, falling in freshwater is a little more like a hug and less like a whack compared to falling in saltwater!

My boat has been in saltwater since I got it new in 2001. Only 4-5 times has it ever been in fresh and that is usually at the end of the season to really drive out anything left in the ballast tanks.

Yes it does require a whole lot more maintenance then freshwater, but I don't mind having the boat 20ft from the house all summer long. Several times I have debated writing up my experience of saltwater boating and general areas of maintenance...if I get the time. I have been one of the few that has experienced both a bad dealer and salt corrosion at the same time. The result was many hours of parts changing. Since I took control of the maintenance, I have not had anymore problems, nearly 400 hours later.

One adv & disadv for salt:
The water feels softer when you stack
The wake is smaller because of the extra buoyancy

But salt water is heavier, so if you have ballast it probably cancles out.

Anyways, I ride salt and fresh. Other than the taste and the cleanup, I do not notice any major change. Some of my best sets have been in salt water. After while you just forget about it.