Anybody keep their inboard in salt water?

hopefully by next season i'll have a v-drive or so. And we'd be keeping it in salt water. What kinda care or precautions should i be taking? or if anyone keeps theirs in salt water what do you do?

Scrub scrub SCRUB

WD-40 the crap out of everything metal, keep a good wax on everything else

I've had a 2005 Centurion Enzo for two seasons and we live on a barrier island off of Pensacola Beach in Pensacola, Florida. Although I do not have a closed cooling system I do have a freshwater flush attachment on the back of my boat. We flush the boat after every outing and wash it thoroughly. My trailer is galvanized. I've yet to see any major rust or corrosion. I have had some minor issues with my boat but I chalk that up to routine problems and not saltwater related. I was very hesitant about buying a v-drive to start and putting it into a saltwater environment. Now I don't even worry about it. You just have to take care of your boat.

Keep as in moor/dock in salt water or ride in salt water?

We ride ours (I/O, closed cooling) exclusively in salt since it is convenient. You will definitely want rust protection on the outside of the block (aluminium/alloy heads, probably not such a big deal, I'm not sure what you have/plan to get, take care of the head studs though) get it painted for the best protection. Some kind of surface seal or wax will do the trick though. You can get treatments for the inside of the motor to prevent deposits building up and to break them down and flush them out if they're already there. Like this - http://www.macsmarine.co.nz/whyuse.htm - not sure if you can get that particular product in the States though...

Always flush everything at the end of your session, engine, v-drive etc, wash the boat down. You will get far more water spots on your windshield, your tower and other polished metal surfaces when running in salt.

Buy as much Salt Away as possible. Works awesome. No scrubbing, just spray and rinse. Great to use for flushing the engine also.

If you are thinking about keeping the boat in the salt water, as in floating in the water all the time, you would be making a huge mistake. Corrosion, Barnacles, Gelcoat Blisters, etc., etc., etc. Trust me...

If you have a slip, and you want the convenience of having the boat ready on the water, install a boat lift. There are several out there, the cheapest I have found is Air-Dock, I have the C/B model for my Nautique 211. Even when on the lift, the boat will still take a bit of a beating though, just because it is surrounded by salt air 24/7.

Oh yea...SALT AWAY RULES!

I third the Salt Away... Buy this http://www.saltawayproducts.com/ComboPage.htm

Run it through the engine every time when you are done, and then spray off the engine and the boat with it.

Do it or be prepared to pay $4,000 for a new engine every year (like my buddy did on his SAN 210, he went through 4).

I also used to spray down the engine with wd40 every once in a while (my mechanic hated me, it makes repairs really messy).

I have an 05 VLX and it is primarily in salt during the summer months. Besides the more than usual maintenance (taking the boat out, cleaning it, scrubbing it) i came across a product on the web that has worked amazing. Its kind of pricey, but in terms of how well it keeps your boat up, its worth it. here is the website: http://www.corrosionx.com/ I ordered the "Heavy Duty" and the "Rejex". The Heavy Duty stuff we sprayed on major bolts in the engine compartment and also on parts of the trailer. The Rejex stuff is a wax that is water resistant and corrosion resistant. Check it out and pm me if you have other questions about it

Jeff,
Where are you riding?
Looks like by my house at Fox Island??
I have an 03 wakesetter.
100% salt water.
All of the above ideas are good.
Also, trying to keep your boat as dry as possible is a good idea.
IE - don't stand on top of your engine cover with a wet wetsuite on dripping water all over your engine.
Believe it or not,a lot of boat allow water from the the engine cover to come through and drip on the engine. This is a bad deal on the salt water.
If you keep your boat on the salt water and don't have a lift - you will need to take it out and scrub it every 2 weeks. 3 weeks and it is a major ordeal. 2 weeks is pretty easy clean up.

Sea strainer is key. The standard ones that come with most ski boats sort of suck. You can get better ones.

Really, if you are not super into wakeboarding - you should not get a wakeboard boat. None of the wakeboard boat manufactures have really figured out the salt water thing - in my opinion.

I am stuck. I am super into wakeboarding. I keep hoping someone will come out with a real salt water boat.

Does anyone know something I don't

Ha ha, new engine every year, what a load of rubbish!

I run a 26 year old nautique on its same engine which stays moored 24/7 in saltwater. Sure its been through loads of manifolds but the block is still fine.

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quote:

Ha ha, new engine every year, what a load of rubbish!

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True but over several years you will pay the price. IMO it takes about three or four years to start seeing the real damage.

Exhaust risers, Manifolds, Thermostat housings etc. Trailer brakes will be a yearly thing.

I use to be a avid offshore fisherman so I'm speaking from my experience. The salt gets everywhere no matter how anal you are about clean up. My last salt boat was a cuddy and I had wires going green (corrosion) behind the bulkhead. These wires were never even close to being in contact with the water. The corrosion will actually leach way up inside the wires and you can't tell there's a problem until it's to late.

If saltwater is all you have near you then you do what you have to but if you have a freshwater option stay away from the salt. WD40 is better than nothing but there are some better products out there to spray your engine down with. Try CRC heavy duty corrosion inhibitor.

right now, we have a sea ray 185 I/O that we keep in salt water in a wet slip all summer. We pretty much rinse off is not wash the boat everytime we come back. Flush the engine/wax about 2 to 3 times or almost everytime we take it out of the water. Really the biggest problem we have is barnacles which got us 2 years in a row but it happens the same time every year so i got a good feeling about being able to avoid it next year! So whats the difference between keeping my boat in the water and a direct or v drive???

Brian,
Bottom paint will help with the barnacles but you will have to re-paint every couple of years.

A V-drive or DD might take on a bit of water through the prop shaft seal leaving water in the bilge. Over time this could cause problems.

Dave,
We have a place in Horsehead. My pic was taken right off of dead mans. I'm sure i've seen you guys out and about if you ever come towards horsehead or raft island. We have an 05 VLX, all black. what color is yours??

also, dave is right. avoid standing above the engine and dripping. Thats a killer when it comes to corrosion. We have a boat rule that you dry off on the swim deck before entering the boat. Most lake-goers don't understand, but they arn't paying the bills on it, haha.
Getting a float lift is the best way to go so you save your boat and your trailer. however, we can't afford 13 grand for the lifts, so we are dedicated to keeping the boat as clean as possible everyday. If you stay dedicated to cleaning the boat on a regular basis, your boat will look great.
one more product i forgot to mention is a spray called Volvo-Penta. you can buy it at most marine stores and it works great. We spray it all over the motor, manifolds and v-drive about once a week. It creates a layer of lubrication that prevents any oxidizing from happening to the motor..therefore it doesn't corrode. I couldn't find a picture or link for this product, but its out there and it works.

true. we bottom paint our ray now every season. I guess well have to be extra careful and also take the boat out of the water everytime were gone or not using it longer than 5 days or so!

Brian,
You should also think about becoming mechanically inclined, if you are not already.

It is great if your boat dealer has a good service department, where they will give advice over the phone instead of telling you to take your boat in every time. My dealer in WA is very good at this.

There are so many things that can go wrong when corrosion kicks in. Someone mentioned issues with wiring. When a wire goes bad, it can cause all sorts of problems that may or may not be easy to fix.

If you can trouble shoot things on your own, you will be much better off.
If you have to take your boat into the dealer, wait 2 weeks for them to look at it, etc everytime your boat doesn't work perfectly - you will be hating it.

The guys who say - had boat 26 years in salt water with little to no issue - probably fix a lot of small stuff themselves. IE - they know to check for corrosion on their battery terminal when their boat doesn't start, etc, etc, etc. So, it takes something pretty Major before it becomes an issue to them.

In reality, you shouldn't have many Major issues if you take reasonably good care of your boat. However, the minor issues can drive you insane if you have to take your boat into the dealer every time they come up.

We have had a lot of green wiring, ballast pumps that just stop working, have changed the starter 3 times, one alternator... if stuff goes bad it goes bad real quick.

I would second learning about how to do stuff like that yourself, it can be a pain but it's not that difficult really.

Maddock - that profile pic is sick - must be Shasta.

Yes, Shasta - just like your profile...
I think it was a different trip.
Shasta is awesome.

I miss it.
We need to set up another trip.