Salt water Vs Fresh Water damage??

[jhenrie]

We boat on Lake Michigan. I would take a fresh water boat over a salt water boat in a heartbeat. The salt in the air gets everywhere and rusts everything and even the wiring is junk after a few years. I have looked at a lot of Florida boats and no comparison to a fresh water boat.

Your wiring will turn to junk too in the fresh water. Your grounds will rust just as fast if not faster. Take care of your junk , fresh or salt and it won't be total junk. Don't take care of it and you'll be sittiing on the dock when I go by fresh or salt.

 

[DAREDEVIL]

Your wiring will turn to junk too in the fresh water. Your grounds will rust just as fast if not faster. Take care of your junk , fresh or salt and it won't be total junk. Don't take care of it and you'll be sittiing on the dock when I go by fresh or salt.

Yep,,always remember WD-40 is your friend !!

 

[Dude! Sweet!]

I shudder to think how much CRC and WD40 I go through every year... :sifone:

 

[ChiefApache]

They sell SaltAway in a small size as well as the big Jug. Probably doesn't cost more than $12. Seems like cheap insurance. I use it on the inside and outside of my boat (flush and wash) I use it on my trailer and use it on the back underside of my truck.


I wonder if one of the "degredation issues" with salt boats is that on the whole maybe they get run a bit harder than freshwater boats? Out here, there aren't a lot of nice little coves to raft up in or flat water running to be had like on some lakes. There's a lot of running in a big swell, flying the boat and landing hard... Just a though.

I know Great Lakes guys, I'm not really talking about you and your freshwater oceans... :sifone:

Thanks Sean. I may ask Craig or Ted to pick us up a small size of SaltAway. I'd prefer to be overly cautious. :sifone:

 

[OldSchool]

Thanks Sean. I may ask Craig or Ted to pick us up a small size of SaltAway. I'd prefer to be overly cautious. :sifone:

There is a gallon of it under the back seat of my boat. I'll have the dispenser with me as well in Cambridge. You all are more than welcome to use it if you would like to. I usually don't flush until I get home when out for an overnighter. It's not like it going to eat through the block or heads in a day! Corrosion issues are normally caused by someone who doesn't take care of their chit!!

 

[Indy]

We boat on Lake Michigan. I would take a fresh water boat over a salt water boat in a heartbeat. The salt in the air gets everywhere and rusts everything and even the wiring is junk after a few years. I have looked at a lot of Florida boats and no comparison to a fresh water boat.

My salt water boats have been every bit as clean as fresh. It comes down to your cleaning habits.

Now my steel trailer...that's another story. All I can say is Go Aluminum!

BTW...salt does not evaporate with the water, the water condensation you see is all fresh. The only salt in the air is from spray on stormy days.

 

[glh]

...lets hear you options on salt water vs fresh water.

Salt Water=Battery Acid

Fresh Water=What you clean your baby in every night...

 

[Geronimo36]

Fresh Water=What you clean your baby in every night...

Quite the contrary, salt water is really good for your skin!

Salt is in your blood and life started in the ocean....lol

 

[ChiefApache]

There is a gallon of it under the back seat of my boat. I'll have the dispenser with me as well in Cambridge. You all are more than welcome to use it if you would like to. I usually don't flush until I get home when out for an overnighter. It's not like it going to eat through the block or heads in a day! Corrosion issues are normally caused by someone who doesn't take care of their chit!!

Thanks Craig.

 

[cigdaze]

Salt Water=Battery Acid

Fresh Water=What you clean your baby in every night...

Actually, it's just water with a little salt in it and to the contrary, saltwater is basic with a PH of about 8.1 to 8.3 - not acidic at all. Freshwater tends to be acidic with PH's typically in low 6's.

I'll take a saltwater boat in a heartbeat. I won't take a neglected boat, ever.

 

[Bobcat]

I drink saltwater all the time, followed by an hour or two of staring at the sun.:willy_nilly:

 

[Dude! Sweet!]

I drink saltwater all the time, followed by an hour or two of staring at the sun.:willy_nilly:

Followed by an hour or two of you blowing your ass off in the crapper! :26:

 

[Frequency]

I've always been interested in how salt in the air attacks boats, but not cars?

 

[Geronimo36]

There is a gallon of it under the back seat of my boat. I'll have the dispenser with me as well in Cambridge. You all are more than welcome to use it if you would like to. I usually don't flush until I get home when out for an overnighter. It's not like it going to eat through the block or heads in a day! Corrosion issues are normally caused by someone who doesn't take care of their chit!!

Hey Craig, is Cambridge fresh, brackish or salt?


"Since the bay is an estuary, it has fresh water and brackish water. Brackish water has three salinity zones — oligohaline, mesohaline, and polyhaline. The fresh water zone runs from the mouth of the Susquehanna River to north Baltimore. The oligohaline zone has very little salt. Salinity varies from 0.5 ppt to 10 ppt and freshwater species can survive there. The north end of the oligohaline zone is north Baltimore and the south end is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The mesohaline zone has a medium amount of salt and runs from the Bay Bridge to the mouth of the Rapahannock River. the salinity ranges from 10.7 ppt to 18 ppt. The polyhaline zone is the saltiest zone and some of the water can be as salty as sea water. It runs from the mouth of the Rappahannock River to the mouth of the bay. The salinity ranges from 18.7 ppt to 36 ppt. (36 ppt is as salty as the ocean.)"

source; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay

 

[Quinlan]

Just went thru my 575s. If the guy that had it before me EVER flushed I would hate to see one that wasnt.
Manifolds and thermostate eaten almost thru!

 

[glh]

Quite the contrary, salt water is really good for your skin!

Salt is in your blood and life started in the ocean....lol

Actually, it's just water with a little salt in it and to the contrary, saltwater is basic with a PH of about 8.1 to 8.3 - not acidic at all. Freshwater tends to be acidic with PH's typically in low 6's.

I'll take a saltwater boat in a heartbeat. I won't take a neglected boat, ever.

I'll show you heads, exhausts, every freaking fitting and trailers that look different after dealing with the two waters.

In the end for the same boat I would rather have one that spent it's life in fresh water than salt water. I doubt many poeple would choose different all else being equal.

 

[cigdaze]

'Many people' are always right. Just look at who's our president.

There's no doubt that SW is corrosive, I was just stating that the comparison to battery acid was incorrect.

 

[Offshoredrillin]

Hey Craig, is Cambridge fresh, brackish or salt?


"Since the bay is an estuary, it has fresh water and brackish water. Brackish water has three salinity zones — oligohaline, mesohaline, and polyhaline. The fresh water zone runs from the mouth of the Susquehanna River to north Baltimore. The oligohaline zone has very little salt. Salinity varies from 0.5 ppt to 10 ppt and freshwater species can survive there. The north end of the oligohaline zone is north Baltimore and the south end is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The mesohaline zone has a medium amount of salt and runs from the Bay Bridge to the mouth of the Rapahannock River. the salinity ranges from 10.7 ppt to 18 ppt. The polyhaline zone is the saltiest zone and some of the water can be as salty as sea water. It runs from the mouth of the Rappahannock River to the mouth of the bay. The salinity ranges from 18.7 ppt to 36 ppt. (36 ppt is as salty as the ocean.)"

source; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay

medium, it falls in that zone, however the further you travel up the choptank, the fresher it will be. anyone will be fine, just flush when you pull out, and salt away never hurts. I have some in my boat as well as the hose adapter.

 

[Ratickle]

I like this thread......:sifone:

 

[ChiefApache]

I like this thread......:sifone:

Agree! Some really good information and discussion.