Salt water boating
 

My wife and I are toying with moving to Florida from Chicago area, somewhere between New Port Richey and St. Pete. Looking for any info/opinions on salt water boating vs the freshwater we run now. Our boat has the 496HO with closed cooling, do you just have to flush it with freshwater everytime you come back? Any other maintanence issues with salt? We boat Lake Michigan and Illinois river both of which you can jump in and float all day without worrying about sea creatures. Any insight as to what you have to watch for if swimming or beached on the intracoastal? I appreciate any info that helps us make a decision. Thanks

No problems with critters. don't let shark week worry you. The biggest adjustment will be the shallow water outside the marked channels. Get a good GPS with the local chart, go slow and pay attention to markers. I dunno if you will store at marina or trailer, if you have a painted steel trailer sell it now, it is worthless in Florida and will be unsafe in about a year if you use it in salt water. Welcome to the area in advance and ask if you have more questions. (Live in St Pete)

Dave,

I too am tired of worrying about getting slapped in the face by an Asian Carp. :)

I kept my boat dry stacked in Fort Myers during the Winter. Flush the engines and spray everything down (cover carb and dist.) after each use and you will be fine. If you don't, the effects of corrosion will set in.

That being said, I won't keep the boat there next year. An outboat powered center console or deck boat is much easier to maintain. I'm not ruling out dragging the Cig down for a fun run though...

I have a question, when I look at boats used in Salt water I have noticed what looks like rust on the SS lines and even props?

What is this and how do you keep it off?

Thanks for all the input guys, not 100% sold on Florida but also dreading the thought of winter. Frequency we run the Illinois between starved rock and peoria, we are in an orange Baja stop by if you see us beached. What do you spray on the motor a fog of WD-40? What do they hit you a month to dry stack?

Check on insurance too, it's typically a lot more in FL.

Dave,

Probably be out on the river next weekend,then towing the boat to LOTO.

Paid about $600/mo to dry stack. When I brought the boat back they flushed the motors and sprayed the engines down (using Salt-Away the whole time). If I had the boat down there full time on a canal I would keep a coating of T-9 on the motors - recommended over WD-40.

Greg

Anybody? I didn't think SS could rust.

Trust me...I learned alot after growing up in the western basin of Lake Erie and then moving here six years ago...It is all true...just consider your possession a piece of ALKA SELTZER!!!!! I have learned to live with it and budget for it...but it will take two or three years of watching your **** dissolve before you truly get it....SALT WATER IS NASTY STUFF!!!!!!!!!!

Stainless can rust, there are many many types (alloys) of stainless and they have different degrees of resistance to cresting ferric oxide (rust). Alot of times stainless will get rust on it from the manufacturing process used to create whatever is stainless (screws etc.) They should always passivate the stainless after manufacturing to remove any iron that embedded into the part while it is being machined, stamped etc.

Thanks Happy,,,,,,,,,,, great screen name.

So what do you guys do to help this? I also see everyone say to spray the motor down after boating then some say to spray WD40 over the whole motor?

Belts and all? That seems strange to me.

Passivation is basically an acid etch to remove the top layer of the stainless. You might be able to do the same with some household hydrogen chloride (toilet bowl cleaner). I boat 100% in salt and IMO the most important step is a through flush with fresh water. I do sometime spray engine compartment down with WD40 or corrosion block or similar.

wash your boat everytime you use it. a layer of salt will dry on everything.salt away will become your best friend.a little in your soap when you wash your boat will help cut the salt.you also will want to flush it through the motor cooling system. i have been useing spray silicone on the motor.its a hold over thing from a jet boat i had.i had a new baja outlaw.and the motor bay looked new as the day i bought it.im now trying to play catch on a donzi i just purchased. t9 on all exposed bolts and silicone on the motor ect. i spend about 45 min doing clean up when we get home.
come on down to florida. 11 months of boating...life could be worse.

Make sure you flush engines and use CRC, every time you get home.

Use SALT-A-WAY when you flush the engines. It truly makes a difference.

I have boated on salt water every day of my life. It is not acid - you just have to be more anal. Flush your engines, spray down everything on both the boat, and trailer.

As for stuff in the water - it is a non-issue. I probably spend a couple hundred hours a summer standing around in the water. We usually have one or two weekends a year when the jellyfish get bad. They are annoying but nothing to worry about. We just stay in the water and don't think twice about it - OH, and nothing is funnier than picking one up and chucking it at your friend!!

Yeah salt water is a B!atch When I was younger I boated up north on Lake Wini and didn't realize how good I had it until I moved down to FL and now spend at least an hour cleaning every time I go out.

Here's my routine...

Flush motors with fresh water for about 5 mins then flush again with palmolive (suppose to be safer than salt-a-way :drink:). Then wash down entire outside, wipe down cockpit, then rinse bilge and then mist motors with CRC and then spray down outdrives, exhaust tips and tabs with CRC. Then go home and curse salt water all night long :angry-smiley-038:

But like 450RRRR said...boating 11-12 months a year, could be worse...

I appreciate all the insight/opinions. We are not 100% sold on moving down but the Chicago winter is looming a few months away and I dread it. Sounds like salt is a real pain to deal with compared to the quick wipedown I do now. Do you guys keep your boats at a dry stack or on a canal? Does the stack place do the work for you or do you do it yourself? We were looking at having the boat on a lift on a canal but it sounds like it would get trashed fast and I don't think neighbors would appreciate the constant flushing of the thru-hull. Please keep the info coming it has been very helpful!

Great info

Don't want to steal your thread Dave,,,,,,,,, but I am moving to the Sarasorta or bradenton area at the end of the month.

I have flush fuittings on the boat but how do you flush it with salt away? Do you fill a tank like what we use up here for winterizing?

A little tip for all of you that spend a lot on Salt Away... it's a combination of the surfactants and pH level that cause it to work so well. You can save yourself a lot of money by making something similar at home that basically works just as well... for pennies on the dollar. Go buy a gallon jug of white vinegar and a gallon jug of car wash soap (dish soaps work great, but will strip wax). I use Blue Coral car wash, but others will work. Mix them roughly them 40:60 (vinegar:soap) and use it as you would Salt Away or Salt Terminator. Works fantastic! ;)

One last tip I didn't see mentioned for those that trailer your boats... Other than the obvious (aluminum for saltwater!), flush the brakes on your trailer well after every use. The are commercial brake flush kits that will make this a lot easier.




Wild,
Most people use the little inline adapters that come with the Salt Away. It's a little canister that screws onto the end of your hose that dispenses the solution inline. It doesn't hold much though so you end up refilling it pretty frequently. It also restricts the water flow as the internal oriface is only about 0.25", which always made me nervious when flushing the engine(s).

I went to the hardware store and bought an inline container (for spraying fertilizer) that screwed on at the end of the hose in the same way, but holds about a pint and the dispersal rate is adjustable. It also flows a lot more water. I dont recall who makes it, but it was about $10-$15 and works excellent for this application.


Hope this helps... :)

Helps a lot.

I think I still have one of those sprayers,,,,,,,,,,,,, better not toss that away.

Thanks for the mix, I used to use something close to that with water on my old outdrives to keep the hard water stains off. Sounds like a good idea.

When you say flush the brakes, you mean the drums and disk, not the fluid right?

Good stuff,

I have to pull my HP500EFI's to change a bilge pump, and some other stuff, what do you guys think of adding closed cooling like this before I put them back in?

http://www.cpperformance.com/p-14009...o-500-cid.aspx

The sprayers work okay for doing the deck, etc, but you'll likely need one with double female hose connections so you can flush the engines with it too.

Yes, hose down the trailer brakes well, no need to change the brake fluid any more than normal.

not sure if you have had your boat out down here.10 th street ramp is very nice place to put in,drops you into sarasota bay.if you want to go outside .its only 5 min out new pass,you can run the inside (intercostal) south to fort myers ,or north up into tampa bay.lots of good boating

Not yet, may be a few months before I get it down and the work done to it.

I'll really need to have some local knowledge, this is a big change to the type of boating I have done, plus I don't want to end up on some freakin sand bar.

Big learning curve.

i think it was said before.. but get a good g p s if you dont have one.. and stay between the markers...and everything will be fine..look into boat us or seatow.just incase

Corrosion Block

Well let us know when you get here. You might even want to consider keeping your boat at a dry stack, 10th street can get kind of crowded on summer weekends.

yea trailering can get old.

We did look at some channel homes for rent that had lifts, what do you think about them?

They were in cortez,,

Cortez is great for boats, but sucks when you have to drive. Its all the way at the end of town and the traffic can suck.

Any good places to launch in the cape and storage?

The ramp at the yacht club is a good one, I pulled a 38 Regal out with little issues, your baja would be easier, not too far to the gulf either. For dry storage there is the del prado boat club just north of cape coral pkwy on del prado.