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Salt/Brackish water.....


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Ok, So I just moved to the Hampton Roads area of VA and I am living near the Chesapeake Bay (Poquoson River and Back River specifically). I have an 03 Malibu Response, and to my knowledge has never been in salt or saltish water.

I am weary to do so for resale value. But I hate seeing my boat just sit in my garage. And the closest big lake is about an hour and a half to two hours away.

Can I get some advice.....

1. What kind of loss in value am I looking at if I do the proper maintenance?

2. What maintenance is required and what is helpful (to include good products)?

3. Should I sell my boat and look for something that has already been used on salt water?

And of course any other good advice that can be offered.

Thanks in advance.

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If that's your water, I would just run it. Flush with salt away and rinse the boat as often as you can. Just try to keep her clean. If you had a newer boat, maybe not, but a 2003, like my 99 is pretty much depreciated already. If You were to lose 25% due to salt water that's about $5k on a $20k boat but $25k on a new $100k boat.

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start out by saying I live in Australia.

I am only a new owner of my malibu wakesetter; but when looking to buy one I came across many that had been in brackish/salt water. Most of the Fresh Water only ranged from 65 - 75k for a 2007 - 2009.

and the ones that admitted they had been in salt water would struggle to get 65k.

when i was looking for a boat back in December 2014 this boat was for sale.. LINK. as you can see its still for sale. The boat hull was in IMMACULATE condition.. but when I seen it in person.. there were just little signs of rust everywhere.

the motor had salt sitting all over the motor; and smelt only a little off too. the owner said he always ran salt away through it. It was a very nice boat. but I stood clear of it because I just didnt know what the internals of the boat were like.

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at the very least a flush kit of some sort so you don't have to use a fake a lake (I am partial to perko flushpro which malibu installs at the factory, but there are enough failure stories out there that you should do your research). Also makes it easier to use a salt away flush kit: http://www.amazon.com/Salt-Away-Mixer-Inboard-Outboard-Engine/dp/B003HFVOF0

To the extent possible, launching and retrieving where the water is "fresher" (less brackish) would also be helpful (especially for your trailer). Try to keep the salt water out of the boat if you can (so dry off on the swim platform, for example). Hose everything in the engine down with WD40 regularly. Cleanup needs to be pretty meticulous too.

If you are good with DIY projects, Gary's suggestion of closed cooling is a great one. Not sure if it's worth the investment to pay to have closed cooling installed, but if you can DIY for $1K, it'll easily pay for itself on resale.

Trailer will likely be the first thing to go.

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I have a buddy that uses his MC in salt water a couple times per month and his routine is as follows. Mix up a batch of Salt Away in 3-4 gallon garden sprayer and spray down the trailer after launching. Use the remainder to spray down the boat and trailer after retrieving. Once home, flush the engine with Salt Away and do a more thorough wash job on the boat.

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keep in mind if that's where you live, then you'll be selling the boat to people that will ALSO be likely using it in salt water.
If you take really good care of it (like suggested above) then you'll probably be on par with the local resale values.

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Trailer if not galvanised will be your 1st replacement.

Had to rebuild my 2011 boatmate trailer in. 2014 which was used in brackish water for 11 months and the box tube rusted to about half the thickness up near the front lights near the bow.

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As said, you live where you live. Enjoy ergo. I live in Hawaii and we have NO fresh or brackish water here, just ocean. Yes, after 5-6 years you may have to change out your exhaust manifolds/risers, but with good flushing practices, corrosion is reduced significantly. After I salt away, I fill the little addition container with anti-freeze, turn it on, count 30 seconds until the juice gets to the exhaust tips and shut her down. This leaves the block full of water with anti-freeze mixed in. Before leaving for the ramp for next fun day, I flush the engine with fresh water in the driveway. Good pre-start check too. On the MC, I installed an inter cooler heat exchanger (1/2 cooling) and that works even better since the engine always has anti-freeze in it. Had the boat in Tokyo Bay for 3 years and now 3 years here...no problems...knock on wood.

On my skier, when you go to salt-away position, salt-away soap bubbles come out the exhaust ports about 20-30 sec later.

Edited by malibuparadise
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