I have a mastercraft x-30 that I wakeboard behind all the time. The closest lake was closed till 2014 to rebuild the dam. So now I have nowhere to wakeboard. The closest freshwater lake is about 2 hours away and cost alot of money to launch and gas and parking and basically its a rip off. I do however live close to Mission Bay in San Diego. So now my best option is to wakeboard in the bay until the lake reopens.

Has anybody ever taken a fresh water boat in saltwater? I know its best to wash everything out very well afterwards which I am willing to do. I have been looking into a flush kit to make it easier to flush out the engine afterwards and I will be waxing the hull just to keep it nicer and sexier looking. Anything else I need to be aware of? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

The salt water is horrible... make sure to flush the engine, bildge, and everywhere the salt touched and you should be okay...

you plan to trailer it back and forth?

 

Yeah thats the plan. I am not sure if the trailer and all the parts are galvanized tho.

 

get a lot of soap ready and clean everything as soon as you get home and you should be fine... it's when it sits in the salt that things start getting eaten

 

Yeah none of that will be happening. Thanks!

 

watch the value of your boat drop like a rock... my family would never put our Super Air 230 in salt water

 

I raced jet skis offshore for several years. The salt water is horrible on anything it touches. I washed, flushed and sprayed them down with lubricant immediately following the races before I drove home and still had issues. I would NEVER take my boat into salt water

 

We only fish saltwater down here so we have to wash down everything with freshwater after the boat's brought back in. Flushing engine is a must and the trailer's need extra attention. Most bay boat's are built for saltwater use and hold up pretty good.

 

Because your engine will be using saltwater for cooling, expect to replace the exhaust manifolds about every 3rd year and it may happen sooner. The water pump takes a beating too. Make sure the sacrificial zincs on the prop shaft are good or the boat will literally rot out from under you. Make sure to spray some form of barrier on all stainless or expect rust bleeding to take place. Stainless is NOT rustproof and you get to see little spots of rust on it that will bleed. The trailer will take a major hit and if it's a painted trailer, expect to replace it in about 5 years. All rollers should be greased and all lights should be of the sealed type or expect to replace them annually. If you have trailer brakes, you really need to tear it apart every trip to clean all of the internal brake parts but nobody does. Brake failures are common on boat trailers. Spray the wheels down with WD-40 or any type of oil before putting it in the water. Rust will happen on painted wheels. Aluminum wheels will turn dark.

Putting a nice boat like yours in saltwater is not a wise thing to do but it is your boat. You can make the longer trip and save the boat or save the gas money and go to saltwater but spend several times the money saved for fixing what the salt destroyed. Kinda like a Fram filter ad, pay me now or pay me later.

 

When we used to take the sea-doos down to the ocean we always used this stuff called salt away when we flushed them out. Rode 4+ years with them down there and never had a problem, but they are closed looped cooling. And we made sure we cleaned everything good with fresh water.

 

I can tell you the manufacturer did not intend for that boat to be used in salt water. It is a wake board designed for fresh water. And as an ex-commercial (Alaskan) fisherman, I can say it is a very bad idea! If you want to use it in the salt water you really need a boat designed for saltwater. And I believe Matercraft has a saltwater series that IS designed to have saltwater run through it. But it will cost a lot more.

Stainless steel comes in many different alloys (grades) and some are not resistant to salt water corrosion at ALL and some of the more expensive grades have very good resistance. There will also likely be differences in the metals used in the cooling system and perhaps even the engine itself.

You have a nice boat that will last many years doing what it was designed to do. Don't be a fool.

 

Aaa...there's probably a reason they are called "Sea-doos.

Actually, I wouldn't assume anything based on the name but the closed-loop cooling system and lack of metal fittings on the exterior does suggest they are intended to be run in saltwater. You still need to check with the manufacturer to insure it has proper zincs on the salt side of the cooling system and drive pump (if recommended).

 

Labnerd pretty well hit eveything right on the head. You will absolutley be astounded how much damage salt water does. That's why folks get more money for boats that heve never been in it.

I work at a marina (fresh water) part time in addition to my full time job. From time to time we get a salt water boat in for repairs. The last few have been from folks who "saved a fortune" by purchasing out of state. I cannot begin to tell you what was wrong with those boats. The savings quickly vanished - shortly followed by the boats.

On final thing - even though Labnerd mentioned it. Your trailer - if it's not a full galvanized trailer built for salt water - will actually take the bigger hit. If it's a typical box channel / painted finish trailer commonly used in fresh water, get ready for a disaster. Not only will the lighting and brakes fail in short order, but get ready for it to collapse from corrosion in a couple of years.

There, did we scare you enough?

 

Oh yeah. For sure scared me. One side of me wants to do it because I can literally see the bay from where I live but...It was a very expensive boat and I don't think I want to take it to saltwater anymore.

I want to get a new one but I cant afford it. It would be nice to get a mastercraft SS (salt series) boat but money will not allow it at this point.

Real- Where/what do you fish in AK? I commercial fish in Dillingham during the summers for Salmon.

 

SE Alaska Salmon seining. From the north end of Chichagof Island to Ketchikan (depending upon where the fi$h were). Good times while it lasted!