Brackish Water Damage

[shadesofgrey]

I am planning on taking my Malibu 21VLX to North Myrtle Beach and running it for a few days there. The water while brackish seems to be more fresh than salt. Has anyone ever run their Malibu in this type of water and are there things I should be concerned about. Aslo, are malibu VLX boats fresh water or raw water cooled?

[WakingMeHappy]

I used to live in New Orleans which has nothing but brackish water (fresh/salt - half&half). There is a salt and therefore you "want" to fluch your motot and hose eveything down. I have had my Malibu in salt water many times (Destin, FL once or twice a year) and have no rust problems because I spend extra time cleaning it each time it comes out of the water.

[99response]

Worry more about the trailer than the boat. If you have a painted steel trailer, don't even think about putting into salt or brackish water to launch the boat.

The boat will be fine as long as you flush the motor, wash everything down, and spray the motor down with WD-40.

-Chris

[jgouveia3]

as chris says, avoid dunking the trailer if possible (have the boat lifted off and dropping in, if you have to).

I run mine daily in brackish. you have to wash everything when done. if you are going to use it in brackish all the time (i leave mine on a lift), plan on a lot more maintenance, and replacing parts way more prematurely than you ever expected.

[MalibuTime]

as chris says, avoid dunking the trailer if possible (have the boat lifted off and dropping in, if you have to).

I run mine daily in brackish. you have to wash everything when done. if you are going to use it in brackish all the time (i leave mine on a lift), plan on a lot more maintenance, and replacing parts way more prematurely than you ever expected.

It only takes once, and you start down that slippery slope.

[wakeup]

I am planning on taking my Malibu 21VLX to North Myrtle Beach and running it for a few days there. The water while brackish seems to be more fresh than salt. Has anyone ever run their Malibu in this type of water and are there things I should be concerned about. Aslo, are malibu VLX boats fresh water or raw water cooled?

Been to that area many times for a few wakeboard tournaments, but never brought my boat. If it were me, unless it's a must, I'd avoid it and if you have a steel trailer, do not even think about it. Had one friend that just brought his boat down there for audio demo reasons and never put it in the water, and a year later a few specs of rust popped up on his trailer just from being parked near the beach for a week.

Plus around here I always ask when buying a boat if it's ever been in salt water so that is something to think about long term. But as others have said, you can wash it down thoroughly and be ok. Just make sure to stay toward the fresh side of brackish as those waters in that area can get pretty salty depending on what is going on off shore.