salt water boating

The search does not seem to be working. I seemed to have found myself in a salt water environment for this season. I found a slip and my boat will be kept in the water from April until Oct. Any suggestions on what we should do, how often we should pull and clean, where to put zincs, and anything else saltwater related so I can keep my boat in good condition? Thanks.

How salty? Ocean salty? Bay salty? Lagoon brackish? A couple of us New Jersey guys know all about the
mooring of our boats in salt water.

well I'm up in Vancouver and will be doing most boating on the Howe Sound. It's not in the open water, and more like being in a bay but I don't know how to tell how salty.

The first thing you'll probably have to do is paint the bottom of the boat with anti-fouling paint.
I use Interlux http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa/default.asp
After every day out in the water I wash the whole boat down really well and then rinse it clean.
I use maguiar's 54. http://www.meguiars.com/?boat-washes/Boat-RV-Gel-Wash
I towel dry everything above the rub rail. I wipe down and clean the vinyl with 303. http://www.303products.com/store/category.cfm?Category=7&CFID=469375&CFTOKEN=271099 95
I close the raw water petcock and flush the engine with fresh hose water. It's important to let the engine
run long enough while flushing that it gets warm enough for the thermostat to open.
I go over the whole boat, wipe everything clean and make sure there's no salt left any where.
If I take it out of the water for any reason I immediately power wash the bottom and scrub off the scum line.
I make sure I take it out of the water every couple of months to power wash the bottom and put a good coat
of Maguire's Flagship Premium Marine wax. http://www.meguiars.com/?boat-liquid-waxes/Flagship-Premium-Marine-Wax
The lagoon I moor my boat in isn't very salty so I don't use any sacrificial annodes, but a friend of
mine does. I'll see if I can get him to post his knowledge here.

...something tells me I am that friend

Alex's advice is fantastic Ronia, Follow the course Alex has described and your boat will stay looking new for a long time.

I would add a monthly waxing above the rub-rail, mainly b/c you are washing it more often.

Regarding the freshwater flush, it is imperative that you follow what Alex mentioned about letting the engine run long enough while flushing that it gets warm enough for the thermostat to open. There is also the option to install the closed cooling system if you are really concerned, but it is pricey. Entirely your choice. I bought my boat with the closed system, but I still flush the raw water system after we ride to help keep the risers in better condition. Also saves the impeller from wearing prematurely.

April until Oct eh, that's 6 solid months. My reccomendation of how often to pull and clean the bottom would be once every 8 weeks. Careful after 2-3 washings though, the paint many actually become thin or wear off in spots from the pressure washer and thats a good thing. If you do thin out the paint from washing, your best practice should be to repaint the entire bottom to ensure you have solid protection. small amount of work to save a lot of cleaning in the fall.

Where to put zincs = EASY...Rudder & Shaft.
- Rudder, drill a hole just large enought to accept the bolt for a zinc that's about 2" round, then install. monitor this zinc when you pull the boat for cleaning.
- Shaft, Purchase a zinc for the size shaft you have and install very tight but 5-6" inches forward of the strut.

...and anything else saltwater related so I can keep my boat in good condition?
- Well Ronia, here is one that I can 'almost' put money down on that no one here on WW has ever experienced before or even heard of...
Do a good once over on all of the Electrical grounds in the boat. Dash, motor, batteries, transmission(if applicable) and any other grounds. Salt water has a tendency to better conduct stray electrical current then fresh water. This process is call Electrolysis. Good Grounds will keep your boat from being affected while sitting stagnant during the week or weekends.
The primary reason I say this is that salt environments tend to have a higher moisture content. This moisture leads to corrosion and the reduction of good grounds if they are not clean to start with. Clean them up real good, add some electrical grease for protection and your season will not be interupted by issues like this.

Rinse rinse rinse as Alex mentioned, the more the better!

Got more questions, feel free to email me or post them here.
KG

I live on saltwater.... and I wouldnt leave my boat in the water for a single day.... Barnicles grow almsot over night... A really good bottom paint might slow them down but wont prevent them... Also rust is a killer... everything on a wakeboard boat will rust unless its some saltwater series boat....you might want to look at high and dry storage... but don't let a nice boat go to waiste sittin in saltwater! my 2 cents

William, I totally agree with you, however I don't have the option of high and dry storage thus I need to leave the boat in salt water.

Alex, are you saying you flush the engine with the boat sitting in the water? how do you do that?

Thanks guys! Your replies help a lot.

I agree with w walters.....if you can find high and dry storage or a boat lift, that's a better option than bottom paint. Unless you're going to be in salt water year after year. I wouldn't bottom paint a ski boat for only one season of salt use. It will lower the resale value of your boat (sorry KG, Alex) Find a boat lift and do everything else that Alex recommended. He knows his stuff about salt water use.

When I bought my Super Air the dealer spliced a standard garden hose spigot into my raw water intake line.
I attach a garden hose, open the spigot and close the raw water intake petcock. This way the only water coming
into the engine is fresh, clean hose water. Then I start the engine and let it run for five or ten minutes.
When I'm done I make sure that I absolutely remember to reopen the raw water petcock AND close the
engine flush spigot. Air is lighter than water, and if didn't close the spigot the egine would literally suck
air. I made this mistake only once and I destroyed a new impeller. But I had saved the old one,
I put it back in and we still boarded that day! And yes, I hated putting that first coat of black Interlux
antifouling paint on the beatiful shiny bottom of the brand new Super Air, but it had to be done.
I have a house on a logoon and I moor the boat right there in my backyard. It's super convenient.

Another idea.... if you have a tralier for your boat... (if you don't, you might want to buy one) Find a place that stores boats at a monthly or yearly fee. I keep just my trailer in storage for real cheap... and if I needed too, I could keep the boat on the tralier for the same price. I keeep myne stored in a lot behind a condo that a guy rents out spaces.. its gated and has security cameras. Find a place liek that.. just make sure you feel it is safe... again don't let it go to waste sittin in saltwater!! If you are refering to a Supra launch... instead of lettin it sit in saltwater....I'll take it!

Thanks for the offer Will but I think I'll keep the Launch. Actually, we won't be letting the boat sit in the water, we found a dry storage place that we can put it but we will still be using it in salt water so I'll still need to follow the instructions of salt water boating.

Good move on not keeping the boat in salt water. I live in Hawaii and I keep my Air 211 on a lift, and it is still hell-a-work keeping it in good shape!

All of the advice has been good. The only thing I would add is use Salt Away everytime you wash your boat. It will really help with the corrosion. http://www.salt-away.com/BoatingPage.htm

Even if you pull the boat every use, you can not let your guard down! If you stay on top of everything, you should be just fine.

I AM VERY GLAD TO HERE THAT!!!


jsut remeber to let it flush out for atleast 5-7 minutes or more and spray everything any anything exspecailly things that rust... You won't have any problems.. Ive lived on saltwater all my life and have had many different boats and I have never had a problem with rust what so ever (theve all been on boat lifts and properly maintained)

GOOD LUCK AND ENJOY THE SALTY GOODNESS!!!

We ride on San Diego Bay. Boat's set up for salt. Last year we had a thread going on this and Aki Savage (gramps) came up with what I thought was the best list. Run a search for May or April of last year.

Steven,
Unfortunately, the search isn't working that great since the board redid the servers (or whatever they did last week)... now when I try and run a search, I get minimal threads from the archives. I don't know why.

Ronia, Here you go.....

By GRAMPS (akman) on Thursday, February 17, 2005 - 8:25 pm:

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

You also might want to check this link to some other ideas.

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/287167.html?1141690851

Thanks! You guys are the best!