Questions about saltwater/ocean boating

[GIJeff]

I just bought my first boat, a 94 Speedster, and wanted to know what is involved in boating in the ocean. I was told it's never been in saltwater. What are some things I should be aware of? How can saltwater damage the boat? Do I flush the engines afterwards? Basically, I know little about boating and want to educate myself before I head to the ocean so I don't tear my boat up. Thanks!

Jeff

 

[hitman782]

Well, i will keep this short. Yes, you need to flush your engines by hooking them up to a hose and running them. If you have the owners manual, it should say where to hook up the hose. I am not sure if yours is a twin engin or a single, but if its a twin, you need to do each motor indepently.

Hook up your hose, fire up the engine, turn on the water, rev it up a bit(i hold my between 3k-5k RPM for about 20-30 seconds), let it idle for a min, kill the hose, kill the motor, detach, hook up to motor 2, and repeat. After that, clean your boat and rinse out the engine bay as well. I use WD 40 over the summer on anyting metal. If going for a longer storage, for for something thicker. One other step i do is at the launch ramp, after its out of the water, i fire up the engine and give it a quick blast, to get some of that salt water out before i hit the road.

As far as how salt water can damage your boat? Well, almost anything that is metal that you dont clean/protect, can and will rust. There are a couple of bolts on the inside of my skis that i didnt see after the first run, and they started to show signs of rusting, sprayed those as soon as i found them, and now i try to hit every little area that i can. Salt water destroys boats if you dont clean them afterwards.


There may be some better responses from some of the boat owners, i am kinda trolling over here in your territory.

 

[Dr Honda]

Hitman... you are spot on. Also, His speedster has 2 engines.

do what the above post says... and make sure your PTO and drive shaft seals are greased after every outing. (helps push out the salt water) you will find the grease nipples under the gray cover behind each engine.

If you keep it cleaned, flushed, and lubed... it will run for a long time in salt water.

One last thing. When I lived in SoCal... I used a product called "salt away." It worked well. Look for it, and use it.

 

[GIJeff]

Thanks guys. Again, I'm extremely new to boating and am far from a mechanic, so I'm trying to learn how to do all of this on my own - few questions:

Is it safe to spray directly into the engine compartment to clean it? Hose or pressure washer? Should I do this after pulling it out of the saltwater?

As far as the WD40, do you just recommend covering pretty much every single thing that is metal afterwards? Anything that I shouldn't spray it on? I assume I also do this after pulling it out of the saltwater, flushing the engines, and rinsing the engine compartment (along with the entire boat to clean off the salt)?

What should I be aware of when putting my trailor into the saltwater? Same things - spray off, WD40 (entire trailer, just moving joints?)?

Thanks again!

 

[hitman782]

When spraying water into the engine compartmant, you want to do low pressure. I generrally hit up the engine compartment last. I use low pressure, just the water running out of the hose. I rinse everyhing i can off in there, pull the drain plugs, and lift the trailer up by the tounge. I have my girl hit the front storage compartment with a hose while i do this, to flush any salt water out.

I hit everything thats metal, minus the battery and connection with WD40(generally just wipe those off with a clean rag).

The trailer should get the same love that your boat does. Hit the winch and anything else. You should check to see if your tailer is galvonized(sp?) or painted. This can and will mean a huge difference in its longevity and resistance to corrosion. If you have a non galvonized trailer, i would try and hunt down a galvonized one. Last thing you want is your trailer falling apart on you while you are hauling your new investment.

Another thing you should do is grease the hubs on the trailer. I do this about once a month, though it would probably be good to take care of that right away, since you dont know when it was one last. It all depends on the type of trailer, but you should have a little rubber cap at the center of your wheels. Pop it off, grab your grease gun, plug it in, and fill it up. Put the cap on tight, and move on to the other wheel.

I hope this helps.

Oh, one more thing, when lifting the tounge up, make sure you have someone keeping an eye on the pumps, you dont want to smash those into the ground >.<

 

[GIJeff]

I'm having trouble draining all of the water from my engine compartment after spraying it down - bilge pump appears to be working, but only drains the water from certain spots. When I try to lift up on the trailer to drain water out the back, still not all comes out. Am I missing something? Is my bilge pump not functioning properly, or is some water in the compartment normal? Is there a way to get all of the water out?

Thanks.

 

[Dr Honda]

thats normal. after a day... I can have a gallon of water down in the bilge the the pump cant touch. Then, once I pull the plugs... there will still be a quart or so left. (thats why you want to purge with fresh water)

That water shouldn't hurt anything... but you can use a towel, or a wet/dry vac to suck it out if you want.