I am thinking about keeping my boat in the water next seasons. I have a 2008 Sea Ray SLX 270. I have heard from some other people that Sea Ray has issues with the hull blistering if kept in the water. Does anyone know anything about this?

Unless it has bottom paint applied, it is common to get the hull blistering. I helped a friend with a boat purchase out of Loto a few years back and the survey disclosed severe blistering. It can lead to a huge expense to be repaired. It's much cheaper to find a good used lift especially if you want to avoid the bottom paint.

+1. If you cannot put it on a lift I would not slip the boat. No paint = blisters. Paint = no one wants the boat when it comes time to sell. If you have a Bravo III drive they do not fair well on boats left in the water even with a properly working Mercathode system and the extra zincs Merc has installed.

I keep my boat in a slip on a fresh water lake. I have no paint and no blistering issues. I use Vertglas bottom coating to provide a barrier coat. Can't say whether it does anything but again, no blisters. I pull the boat every few weeks and clean her. I would get a lift if my marina how shore power.

We had a Boston Whaler back in the day WITH bottom paint that sat in a well. It blistered just above the water line up the side of the boat.

Wells suck. I mean it's nice to be able to go down and hang out on the boat, but the boat gets dirty, covered with bird $hit, spiders, etc...YOu spend more time cleaning it than sitting there enjoying it
and you have to paint the bottom which killls resale on a performance oriented boat.

mb.

If you can take a walk around some boatyards in your area and look at the Sea Rays. They are one of the major builders and there hasn't been a significant blister problem.
ed

Yes, It will blister if left in the water. And no matter how clear the water you will still get a nasty mud ring around the hull and bottom. I have seen other hulls do the same, not just SeaRay. I would bypass keeping it in the water if you can. It is too nice of a boat to "skimp" on. Those are the 250's were my favorite model SR made.

Thanks for all the replies. I am looking in getting a boat lift. Jetfloat seems to make a nice one. I don't know how much they cost. I was planning on every 2 to 4 weeks pulling the boat out an cleaning the hull. I have some people tell me to paint the bottom, but I don't want to do that on that boat. It would just be nice to be able to jump in and go.

Some marinas require a particular brand of lift so do your homework in regards to the type of lifts that are the best application for your area. There are very reasonable used prices out there and I promise you the convenience of not toilet bowl or acid washing it every month will pay for itself 10x over! I've found that convenience makes boating so much more enjoyable. Good luck.

What lake? Covered dock?