Salt Water guys, please check in

[Plasma George]

I'm a new boater, and one major reason I wanted a boat is the many weekends we stay at my parent's beach house in Sea Isle City, NJ. (Beautiful affluent beach town between Atlantic City and CapeMay). I've boated about 6 times total launching into the Schuykill River 10 minutes from my house, but this weekend we'll be at the shore for 4 days. So I'll get me first taste of the bay and ocean. My 2 brother's, and 2 little kids will primarly be using it to fish....(might be tough with the bowrider, but I figure we'll be mostly casting and enjoying being on the water, listening to the Ipod, occasional diving/swimming.

We may be going out every morning, I'll be parking it in the driveway. Questions
1. How long do I idle with the muffs/hose ?
2. It's usually humid....do I cover overnight ?
3. Do you hose down the hull too ?
4. Wipe down all the vinyl sets/padding ?
5. Anything I need to bring to make fishing easy on a Bowrider ?

 

[grahamh]

Re: Salt Water guys, please check in

I've heard of some people who will run with the muffs on for like 20 minutes, I don't have that kind of patience. I usually run it for maybe 5 at the most, but I'll do it longer if I know I'm not going to be using the boat for a while, but if you're going out every day, I don't see the point, it'll just get salty again the next day.

As for hosing the hull down, I always do, I usually try to bring a wash mitt or sponge as well, and a long poll with a sponge on the end helps for getting under the hull. I just spray off my seats as well, heck, I douse the whole boat, but if you've got newer/nicer vinyl you might want to spend more time on it.

I don't like to cover my boat when it's wet inside, so I usually let it dry out and then cover it the next day, but it's pretty dry here, someone who lives a more humid climate could probably give you better advice.

Sorry, I don't really fish, so I can't give you much advice in that department.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Salt Water guys, please check in

Just took mine down to OC for a week. For that amount of time I wouldn't bother with anything special. Take it for a fresh water run when you get home. Have fun! (Check my link below for my OC trip)

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Salt Water guys, please check in

If you are going to trailer everyday, run her on muffs for 2 minutes after the thermostat opens. That should get most/all of the salt out of the block.

Prop up the trailer tongue. Hose down the boat, and leave her open to dry.

Make sure to hose the trailer off well, especially if is is not galvanized. Stick the hose into the trailer pipes and channels to get the salt out. This is much more important than hosing off the hull,BTW.

Hose the block off carefully at the end of the week.

 

[allpoints360]

Re: Salt Water guys, please check in

Make sure to hose the trailer off well, especially if is is not galvanized. Stick the hose into the trailer pipes and channels to get the salt out. This is much more important than hosing off the hull,BTW.

Absolutely! Salt will eat the trailer. Spent most of you time here, inside the wheels especially.

 

[Floatsum]

Re: Salt Water guys, please check in

Just took mine down to OC for a week. For that amount of time I wouldn't bother with anything special. Take it for a fresh water run when you get home. Have fun! (Check my link below for my OC trip)

X2

 

[Plasma George]

Re: Salt Water guys, please check in

Now I'm confused.

Some say do nothing until I get home (which I won't be able to put her in the water)....I'm hosting our annual Fantasty Football draft.

Some say flush and hose down after each dip. It will sit for 24 hours until the next drop, that salt sitting has me concerned a bit.....but who really knows how much time it takes for salt to cause problems ?

The trailer is old and painted steel....so it makes sense to give her a good hose down, inside the rail channels, etc. The previous owner wais it's never been in salt.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Salt Water guys, please check in

Salt water isn't battery acid.
If you are using it daily, just flush at the end of the trip (see all those boats moored at piers? they are never flushed after each use. Still running)
You can rinse your interior if you want but it won't make much difference unless you've been cutting through big wakes and getting drenched. A week won't affect your interior. Leave it uncovered.
Take an old but fairly large cooler and drop your fish straight in there to unhook, etc. to save your carpet and stuff. Cut your bait on a bait board; better, cut it at the pier before you go. But if you fret too much about your boat getting dirty, no one will have any fun. You don't want to be like those people who leave the plastic on the lamp shades and sofas.
Are you going to lauch and retrieve daily? that's the big threat. See if you can do it without sinking the axles--at least for launching. Three or four times won't matter, though, if you're quick!
But you said you bought the boat to use there. So after a few trips, consider whether the rig is right for your activities, and maybe see if you can line up a place to moor, or even anchor, so you don't have to do the ramp thing twice a day.

 

[reel dizzy]

Re: Salt Water guys, please check in

i would recommend wetting the boat and trailer , then go back and rinse again. salt water will eat you up in a hurry if you let the boat and trailer sit with salt on it. i would flush the motor 3-4 minutes. all this should take about 15mins. not much time to keep the boat looking good.

 

[stanfd]

Re: Salt Water guys, please check in

I boat in Barnegat bay in Jersey almost every weekend. The salt will eat the painted trailer so like others have said make sure you rinse that very well. If you use a shallow ramp and get the rear wheels of the tow vehicle in make sure you rinse under the truck and wheels with fresh water too. You should be fine if you dont want to flush the engine each day if its only for a few days, but I myself do it everytime the boat comes out of the water for about ten minutes. As far as the fishing, don't worry about catching anything yourself, make sure the kids are having fun!!! I have four kids that I will take with me fishing, when they come with I make sure they are having fun and spend most of the time untangling lines for them.

Bill