salt water boat

[kylant]

i wanted to get some opinions on boats used in salt water.

i want to go look at a 210 that has been used in salt. it is a non-coastal edition. the boat has been converted to closed cooling by a nautique dealer.
the boat lives on a lift, is flushed, and rinsed after every use per the owner. i don't know exactly how long it has been used in salt water. i have talked to someone who actually looked at the boat and said it is in excellent condition.

what should I look for?
should I even bother looking at it?

thanks for your input

[jpwhit]

Personally, I'd never buy a salt water boat unless I was going to use it in salt water. Doesn't matter how long it's been used in the salt, once the salt gets into places you can never get rid of it. There are just too many non-salt water boats available to purchase if you're patient so imo there is no reason to risk or deal with the long term effects of salt.

[bturner]

You'll get opinions all over the dial on this, this would be mine from one actual experience with one and from a guy that lives in the north......

• People that boat in salt water typically will search for a non saltwater boat for a good reason, they're not nearly as rough as a like age/hour freshwater boat.
• I have yet to see a 5YO or greater saltwater boat in excellent condition when using the same scale of excellence used for a 5YO freshwater boat.
• It's what you don't see on a saltwater boat that will get you. I don't care how well you flush it or clean it the saltwater is going to get into every crack, thread hole in the interior, every bearing, every pump.... well lets just stop there as I think you get the picture.
• Saltwater boats are typically cheaper than a like year/hour freshwater boat in the same "condition". Why would that be?
• Saltwater boats almost always go through engines and interiors much quicker. Why would that be?
• There's a real good reason outboards are so popular with saltwater boaters. If I were getting in to saltwater boating, an outboard would be my only choice.

At this point you can probably see where I'm at on this topic. Sure, you'll get people that will say there's no difference but after working on a 7 YO saltwater boat once, I'll agree to disagree with them. If you're looking at a season old boat with the coastal package you may be okay but unless it were a steal I wouldn't do it as the reason it's a steal is..... because it's a saltwater boat.

On the other hand, I could be completely wrong about all of this and there's no difference between saltwater and freshwater boats.

[kylant]

thank you for the useful information

[shag]

I have been on both sides of this, living and boating with an older nautique in Salt water almost exclusively, and living in central fla and using on fresh water only. I have seen salt water boats that were taken care of and were in better shape than some freshwater boats, but that isn't often. I can say that my earlier Salt water Nautiques (89 into the early 2000's), were meticulously maintained, spending sometimes hours after an outing, washing, flushing and re-coating everything with WD-40. (engine, mounts, transmission, etc). As stated above, saltwater gets EVERYWHERE. Coating surfaces like I mentioned with a protectant like WD-40 (I bought it by the case) helps significantly to protect those surfaces.
Trailers, are very difficult to keep from corroding, and even galvanized trailers will rust. Any painted steel trailer (especially box framed) that has ever been in Salt, or even brackish water, will rust pretty significantly eventually. Period.
- I always planned that every year or two that I would be replacing the trailer lighting system due to corrosion (and that was lighting designed to be submersible with corrosion resistant/proof components). IMO, I think the reason Salt water boats are generally less expensive to buy used, is due to the generalized attitude on the whole picture. I have seen many freshwater boats in sad shape. interiors in the sun with no protection will go to **** no matter where it is.
All this said, yes you can find a saltwater boat that has been meticulously maintained but there just aren't too many out there. Two identical boats, same year, hours and everything - even with a meticulous owner, the Saltwater boat will still most likely sell for less - maybe even much less, even if it is in excellent condition. Best of luck!

[srock]

Prior posts are right on. I have lived the Salt Life as well as Fresh and in my opinion, it's just not worth it. And do not let the term saltwater series sway your thinking as saltwater has a way of exploiting every weakness. It will find that one weak part, screw, or non-tinned wire. There is a reason salty deals are better but one way or another you will pay.

There are two areas where saltwater is an advantage; one is fishing and the second is salty friends on your freshwater boat. When you pull into the dock they don't think drip dry and run because something else is ingrained into their soles. Salty friends will grab the hose, brush, and soap and start cleaning and scrubbing every surface without asking and without hesitation.