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New to salt water and need info about inboards


euro wake

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I grew up on the water and riding behind my parents malibu f3 and love it. I know that boat from top to bottom. So im not a newbie when it comes to inboards. I have recently moved to the Hilton Head area with my wife and to be closer to her parents. They are wanting to buy a boat and I had them talked in to looking at v-drives but he has become very skiddish about them and hes now looking at inboard/outboards (my worst nightmare). He is worried they want handle saltwater but i have no clue when it comes to this. Will the salt water damage the bronze running gear as long as you have anoids on them. His other major concern is the trailer. He is bound and determined that we need a galvenized but i do not see anything wrong with the powdercoated/painted steel trailers. I dont want to make him mad its there money i just dont want to see them make a 20,000 mistake. The boat is just going to be run in the rivers and not in open water its just for wakeboarding.

thanks for yall's opinions.

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Get a half loop or preferably full loop closed cooling system installed. Install zincs on swim step brackets and rudder. Wax the #$%^ out of everything with Starbrite marine polish with teflon. Flush motor and rinse trailer with salt away. If you can get a galvanized trailer. You could get it powder coated if you like. Rinse everything with salt away and fresh water after your session. Enjoy your boat and trailer for years and years to come.

This is what I do and I have only used my boat out in the ocean 99% of the time. She looks like brand new and runs like a dream!

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Get a half loop or preferably full loop closed cooling system installed. Install zincs on swim step brackets and rudder. Wax the #$%^ out of everything with Starbrite marine polish with teflon. Flush motor and rinse trailer with salt away. If you can get a galvanized trailer. You could get it powder coated if you like. Rinse everything with salt away and fresh water after your session. Enjoy your boat and trailer for years and years to come.

This is what I do and I have only used my boat out in the ocean 99% of the time. She looks like brand new and runs like a dream!

I do all the above and use my boat 100% in saltwater since 2008 and everything is perfect !!

saltwater engine ( closed cooling system ) anodes on vdrive ,anode on cooling system .

galvanized trailer

saltwater package

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I've taken my Bu to Destin, FL many times and haven't had any issue but....... 1: I rinse, clean and flush thoroughly and 2: I don't live there anymore so my salt exposure is minimal.

To the galvanized trailer, absolutely.

You said it will be on rivers. Is that really fresh water or brackish? Even brackish water has enough salt to do damage if you don't clean and flush with each use.

I agree with you on i/o's but what about an outboard? Don't know if you want to do... ski, wakeboard, barefoot or what but in my opinion the best motor for salt water is an outboard.

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I had a galvatube trailer by extreme on my last boat. Worked well, no issues. I used the boat in salt and fresh, no issues after 8 years. Nothing out of the normal anyway. It just takes a lot of clean up as others have mentioned. I always flushed with salt away, would spray salt away on the trailer brakes, almost anything metal, and we did fine. I would just try to keep the salt out of the boat which meant rider would dry off on the swim step before coming in the boat, dry off the board to keep dripping on the dash area to a minimum, etc. a lot of work, but well worth it IMO, to drive ten minutes to use my boat, or two hours away with traffic

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Powder coated or painted trailers rot from the inside out. Galv trailers are hot dipped using an electrical charge so all parts inside and out are coated. Salt will not harm your engine at all as long as you never overheat it.

Edited by electricjohn
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Cool thank yall for all of your posts. Now i know some of the nautiques come with closed loop cooling do any of the malibus? and if not where can you get a closed loop system.

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Any inboard dealer should be able to install the saltwater systems.... If I recall correctly, they were around $1500 to have the 1/2 loop put in... and $3-4000 for the full closed loop cooling.

If you are looking at $20k older boats, seems like the 1/2 loop would be the right choice.

Other than that, they only other real consideration IMO as far as inboards go in saltwater, is inherent to their design that anybody coming out of the water wet drips saltwater all into and onto the hot engine, and electronic connections etc etc. Kinda rough there and no way around it. Same issues with I/Os in salt. depends on how long you plan on keeping that boat and if you really use you boat hard or very gently. But make not doubt 100% salt is hell on any boat...not just the engine, everything inside that boat gets salt mist: hinges, fittings, electrical etc.

Just about the best of boat worlds for salt and wake IMO is the Mastercraft CSX series. Center console, Xstar hull, 3 ballast tanks, speed control, direct drive-- NOT Vdrive. My buddy here has one local w/ 350 motor and I spend a lot of time on it, well made... i would say excellent for everything except surfing--tough on a direct drive with bags all over the place, ranges in the $40s-60s. Xstar hull throws a pro level wakeboard wake when you have the weight in it.

If I were to be able to afford a house in the Florida Keys someday... I would be looking at the CSX 220 or the CSX 265 type boats real hard. Yes, if I live somewhere like that I'd want to fish also, these boats truly can do both well. Mastercraft discontinued them, I suppose its a niche between wake and fishing boats hard sell.

http://www.onlyinboards.com/Details.aspx?ID=27467 CSX 220

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Get a half loop or preferably full loop closed cooling system installed. Install zincs on swim step brackets and rudder. Wax the #$%^ out of everything with Starbrite marine polish with teflon. Flush motor and rinse trailer with salt away. If you can get a galvanized trailer. You could get it powder coated if you like. Rinse everything with salt away and fresh water after your session. Enjoy your boat and trailer for years and years to come.

This is what I do and I have only used my boat out in the ocean 99% of the time. She looks like brand new and runs like a dream!

If direct drive use a wrap-around zinc on the shaft as well.

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If direct drive use a wrap-around zinc on the shaft as well.

Agree with one caveat. Keep an eye on this zinc very carefully. Do not let it corrode too much or it will simple get flung off when you are under way. Happened to me but I dodged a bullet cause it didn't get spun up into the hull or prop and do damage. Mine didn't even look that corroded at that time. For that reason I do not use one anymore. I figure with all the other zincs I have I should be good.

  • Like 1
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Also keep in mind once you put that thing in saltwater resale goes way down, too many freshwater boats for people to buy salty ones.

Lots of maintenance on a salt water rig, washing after each use, flushing, more electrical problems, etc.

Galvy trailer is absolutely a must - a painted trailer will not be roadworty very quickly after a few dips in saltwater.

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Also keep in mind once you put that thing in saltwater resale goes way down, too many freshwater boats for people to buy salty ones.

I don't think it causes the value to go down if it's properly maintained. And then what would be the indicator of salt water verses value? Granted, if I'm look at two similar boats, one fresh and one salt, I'll lean toward the fresh. But when it boils down to making the purchase a used boat is worth whatever the buyer is willing to pay.

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All great great info for those like me, everyone here, with no fresh water ;-) Bummer.....

But on the flip side, we also have 80 degree ski weather all year.

Thanks for all the hints.

Edited by malibuparadise
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I don't think it causes the value to go down if it's properly maintained. And then what would be the indicator of salt water verses value? Granted, if I'm look at two similar boats, one fresh and one salt, I'll lean toward the fresh. But when it boils down to making the purchase a used boat is worth whatever the buyer is willing to pay.

Sure it does, doesn't matter how much you wash or clean, the salt air corrodes every connection, and every fastener in the boat, and demands more engine maintenance. Keep in mind these boats are not really made to handle saltwater use so when they get used in that environment they show it. And good luck selling a bu that has bottom paint on it...

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Sure it does, doesn't matter how much you wash or clean, the salt air corrodes every connection, and every fastener in the boat, and demands more engine maintenance. Keep in mind these boats are not really made to handle saltwater use so when they get used in that environment they show it. And good luck selling a bu that has bottom paint on it...

Why would you put bottom paint on your Bu? Honestly just yank it and wipe it down and you are fine. As for more engine maintenance I haven't experienced anything like that. All my electronics work just fine after 5 years. Honestly I see a lot of other runabouts on the ocean and I would have a hard time believing that their build quality is so much better than a Malibu and they do just fine on the ocean so why wouldn't a Malibu? My VLX says that a Malibu will do just fine on the saltwater provided you take care of it. And from what I read on this board I am not doing anymore maintenance than the a lot of guys on here that only operate in freshwater.

That being said, will I take a hit when it comes time to sell? Hard to say, depends who I am negotiating with. People around here don't care as much about salt because they see the thousands of boats that are operated on salt everyday and doing just fine. I think the idea that these boats can't take the salt water is a big myth. Could they be better made to deal with it? Sure but as it stands they are just fine. And it's not like I am the only guy around our cabin that has a tournament boat. There are a bunch of them...a couple master crafts, a couple malibus, a tige, sanger and supra....year after year after year...we are all out there enjoying the sport and seems to me the boats work just fine.

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Although I do wash and flush after every salt water use, the only true extra maintenance I have to do to my boat (Winner, Bu is a fresh water only boat, for now) is replace the trailer axle every 10 to 20 years. I found solid axles, as opposed to channel type, last a lot longer. After 43 summers of salt water operation, I have never had to make a salt water related repair to the boat or motor. The motor was replaced in 1988 due to hours. A little seasoning (salt)will not hurt anything. Actually, I feel fresh water tastes funny.

  • Like 2
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  • 2 weeks later...

We have an alkali lake basically down the street from us that we basically live on all summer. I too am looking for a closed loop system for our 07 21vlx. Any ideas on where I could purchase one? I'm knowledgable enough to install my self. Don't need to pay for install.

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