Saltwater Cleanup Tips???
 

I love living next to the ocean and wouldn't trade it for anything, but I have to say it's a downer at the end of the day having to deal with the hour long flush and cleanup process after being on the water all day!

Sometimes I wish I had a fresh water ramp close by that I could dunk the boat/trailer in and flush everything out, that would make life a lot easier! :lolhit:


So what do you guys do for a flush and cleanup routine? Any good tips? Salt-Away, Dawn, flush systems, etc...

where do you ramp in i use the navigator on the peace river fresh water also further up the caloosahatche is fresh water

SS,
Always good engines flushes, (10 minutes per engine), just H2O, while that is going on, we unload the boat with all the crap that we take, then rinse the boat and lift cradle, wash the boat every other time out, and open the engine hatch, and let the heat out, (or the O/B cover off....) After 20+ years of boating in salt water here in Fl., I kinda have it down to a science for clean-up. It takes about 45 min. to an hour. Just the price we pay to boat in paradise!
Dean

As part of our de-salting program after a race we use lots of fresh H20 on everything and after its flushed inside and out we hose the engines and rigging down with WD-40. Its actually a practice i have adopted on my boats even up here in fresh water. I wash everything regularly with mild soapy water and re coat the WD-40 regularly and it keeps everything looking pretty good. Dont be afraid to hose the engines down good, if they are properly marinized this will have no ill affects and is better then any salt spray that might have gotten on them. I was always a little apprehensive about doing it till i realized how well Merc seals/marinizes everything.

SCOT for what it would cost additional to run up to the fresh water you could PAY someone to douche your boat for you.LOL:eek:

It costs kev an extra $100 to get up to east hampton at least from the mouth of the river!:drink:

Dave why WD 40 I hear it attracts moisture?
I use boeshield good stuff but expensive, ive used it on engine blocks in storage for years now.:drink:

I've been boating in the ocean for 25 years and have never had a salt water related failure on any of my boats because of routine cleaning after salt water use.

A) Flush with salt away. I know some on here say it rots seals but like I said, I've used it on every single one of my boats after running in salt water and never had a problem. I would flush the motors (straight fresh water for 10 minutes, then let the salt away run through until the suds slowed down, then turn it off, leaving suds in the system). I would also spray the bildge down with salt away and spray the whole exterior of the boat and trailer with salt away, paying special attention to the drives and gimbals.

B) I always sprayed the motor down with either WD40 or an aircraft lubricant. I never had problems attacting moisture.

That's pretty much it. People stress out about boating in the salt but with routine maintanance and care, it's no biggie.

I've always done pretty much the same as above, including the WD40. One think I've noticed with the WD40 over the years is it tends to leave a little bit of a milky sludge on things after it gets wet. Regardless, I hit everything metal on the drives and engines after they have dried, and had good luck with it.


Jeff,
I hear what you're say about being up the river. I wouldn't trade by any means, but it is nice to not have to bother with the flushing the boat and trailer... just rinse and you're done. :D

BTW, I've used the Boeshield (sp?), but it's way to expensive for my cheap azz! :drink:

I just use LOTS and LOTS of fresh water. I probably spend just as much time on the trailer as I do the boat. If its me and my wife, we can get everythign done in 30-35 minutes. if I am by myself it takes close to an hour and 15 minutes to clean, rinse, flush, dry, 2 covers...

Actually WD-40 stands for Water Displacement 40th trial. They got the formula right after only the 40th formulation. Def repels H2O.

I used to only spend a few weekends in salt water and did most of my boating in fresh. Now illbe in salt all year. I rinse and do the salt away. Lots of work but well worth it:drink:

Scot, dump your Active Thunder in the drink at Hayes Haven Marina(Deep River). Prolly 15 minutes of fresh water running before you take the boat out. PLUS!!! No public launch morons (30Sutphen) to deal with aaaaaand, no DEP or police there waiting for you to come in with "beer breath".:drink: Win, Win and Win.

Good tip Kevin, I'll have to see if my Sutphen can be launched there! Question though, how long does it take to get there from OS by river???

Do you guys have closed cooling or open?

I have been thinking of adding a closed system to mine.

Scot, I think its about 20 min. away by water, some of which is the Essex marina( no wake zone). Ask Justin, he keeps his boat there and it is fresh water.

I boat 100% in salt and took a 1988 engine apart that probably had 2000 hrs on it and the internal passages looked fine. I have heard you shouldn't closed loop cool an engine that has been previously run in salt, due to scale.

When I was a kid we used to throw thermostats in the trash every year, no questions asked, and they always were a mess. We started using Salt-A-Way and when we started pulling them the next summer they were always clean enough to put back in the engine. I am a believer.

Like everyone said spend lots of time spraying down everything. Drives, Transom Assemblies, Platform, Skidplates, and especially the trailer!!

I always run for about 10 minutes before I switch over to saltaway. I don't have stats, but if you do make SURE you get them opened before you let the Salt-A-Way flow...