Salt Water Boating Newbies

electricaldoctor

electricaldoctor

Well-Known Member
TECHNICAL Contributor
May 14, 2008
3,538
Thousand Islands, Rockport, Ontario.
Boat Info
1988 390 EC
Engines
454 Mercruiser Gassers
I have over 60 years boating experience on inland freshwater lakes & rivers, but am a total 'fish out of water' when it comes to salt water boating. I expect to be purchasing a Florida boat in the very near future and it will be a major learning curve to be sure. There are no tidal changes or crazy hurricane storms to contend with up here on the Great Lakes.

Although I possess a Canadian Boating License, one of the first order of business will be to enroll the Admiral & myself in a Florida Power Squardron Course to get us started off on the right path to safe boating.

We are also contemplating purchasing a home somewhere in SWF later on this year, so I would greatly appreciate any constructive input that will assist us in this retirement phase of our life.

~Ken
 
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electricaldoctor said:
I have over 60 years boating experience on inland freshwater lakes & rivers, but am a total 'fish out of water' when it comes to salt water boating. I expect to be purchasing a Florida boat in the very near future and it will be a major learning curve to be sure. There are no tidal changes or crazy hurricane storms to contend with up here on the Great Lakes.

Although I possess a Canadian Boating License, one of the first order of business will be to enroll the Admiral & myself in a Florida Power Squardron Course to get us started off on the right path to safe boating.

We are also contemplating purchasing a home somewhere in SWF later on this year, so I would greatly appreciate any constructive input that will assist us in this retirement phase of our life.

~Ken
Click to expand...
Where in SWF are you looking? I live in Treasure Island and the tides are often 3-4 feet and more during big storms or full moons. Saltwater corrodes everything so you will be going through a lot of anti-corrosion spray and dialectic grease. I am also a realtor if you need help finding a home. Please feel free to PM me with contact info.
 
zinc anodes... proper engine flushing, i even flush my genny... rinse, wash, rinse everything! enjoy...
 
MikeBravo said:
Where in SWF are you looking? I live in Treasure Island and the tides are often 3-4 feet and more during big storms or full moons. Saltwater corrodes everything so you will be going through a lot of anti-corrosion spray and dialectic grease. I am also a realtor if you need help finding a home. Please feel free to PM me with contact info.
Click to expand...

I will certainly keep you in mind Mike. I will PM you later.

~Ken
 
I have house in Longboat Key. I don't think you will find salt water very different than the lakes. As mentioned above rinsing the engines and a little more maintenance is necessary. Respect the channel markers. The intracoastal can be very shallow. My next boat will have outboards - better in shallow water and much more reliable with salt conditions.
 
Other than the constant flushing, rinsing, various corrosion protection considerations, etc. I think that we will probably experience several different things that you salties take for granted on a daily basis that we don't have to contend with up here. e.g. we don't need to scrape barnacles off the underside of our boat, nor do we have dock pylons up here and I have never had to take tide changes into consideration when tying up our boat, etc, etc. I'm sure that when the day eventually arrives, some friendly boater will take us under their wing & teach us the ropes.
 
We have been boating in salt water in BC since 2000. I have never flushed an engine and I do not know anyone who does. I can not comment what warm salt water boating is about with a big boat.
We took our Jet Boat to Baja in Mexico one winter. I did flush the engine because it has aluminum risers. If Mexico is like Florida you will get a lot of growth on the boat. I did no paint the Jetboat hull and every 2 weeks I had 1/4" of growth on the hull. Came off with a power washer. With big boat we get the boat hauled every year, bottom cleaned and painted plus replace all the zincs. Washing salt off outside seems to be a thing with salt water boaters. We do it every couple of weeks when traveling and when we put the boat away.
As to taking a course good idea.
 
In Florida, the added impact of the sun cannot be overlooked. Unless you are in a covered slip, plan on wax/polishing the fiberglass areas about 3 times a year.......and clean and wax the hull everytime you have the boat out of the water.

Flushing the engine cooling systems if the 390 is seawater cooled will add life to the engines. The problem you have without flushing is that small rust particles off the inside of the cooling passages tend to settle in the passages at low places in the skirt of the engine. At some point (5-7 years) you get enough of a build up that the engines no longer cool properly. Unfortunately, unless you flush regularly, the rusty deposits are permanent and cannot even be removed with acid vatting the engines.

Wash/rinse the salt deposits off the topsides of the boat daily if possible. Salty air leaves salt deposits even if the boat has been in its slip and not run. The 390EC had a powder coated aluminum windsdhield frame that will corrode and begin to flake every place salt air can get to the base metal. It can be repaired but is expensive and requires either removing the windshiled or taking to boat to a boat yard or area where the various etching primers, epoxy promer and top coat can be sprayed. It is far easier and cheaper to rinse the salt off the boat.

If you are able to trade for the L650, you can ignore the previous 2 paragraphs...............

The newer, larger Sea Rays are built for a salt environment so there isn't really a lot to worry about except keep the salt off the boat by frequent rinsing/washing and protect the gelcoat by keeping oxidation off the boat and a good coat of wax with UV inhivitors on the gelcoat.

The biggest issue for a Florida Newbie is to figure out how to protect your boat in the event of a major storm. I just posted an lengthly article in the Club Level section about hurricane prop. There are 5 sections and I'd encourage you to read all 5 in order. Some of it is obvious to an experienced boater but it will make you think about parts of storm prep you never considered.........like most boat yards do not have the lifting capacity for an L650.
 
fwebster said:
In Florida, the added impact of the sun cannot be overlooked. Unless you are in a covered slip, plan on wax/polishing the fiberglass areas about 3 times a year.......and clean and wax the hull everytime you have the boat out of the water.

Flushing the engine cooling systems if the 390 is seawater cooled will add life to the engines. The problem you have without flushing is that small rust particles off the inside of the cooling passages tend to settle in the passages at low places in the skirt of the engine. At some point (5-7 years) you get enough of a build up that the engines no longer cool properly. Unfortunately, unless you flush regularly, the rusty deposits are permanent and cannot even be removed with acid vatting the engines.

Wash/rinse the salt deposits off the topsides of the boat daily if possible. Salty air leaves salt deposits even if the boat has been in its slip and not run. The 390EC had a powder coated aluminum windsdhield frame that will corrode and begin to flake every place salt air can get to the base metal. It can be repaired but is expensive and requires either removing the windshiled or taking to boat to a boat yard or area where the various etching primers, epoxy promer and top coat can be sprayed. It is far easier and cheaper to rinse the salt off the boat.

If you are able to trade for the L650, you can ignore the previous 2 paragraphs...............

The newer, larger Sea Rays are built for a salt environment so there isn't really a lot to worry about except keep the salt off the boat by frequent rinsing/washing and protect the gelcoat by keeping oxidation off the boat and a good coat of wax with UV inhivitors on the gelcoat.

The biggest issue for a Florida Newbie is to figure out how to protect your boat in the event of a major storm. I just posted an lengthly article in the Club Level section about hurricane prop. There are 5 sections and I'd encourage you to read all 5 in order. Some of it is obvious to an experienced boater but it will make you think about parts of storm prep you never considered.........like most boat yards do not have the lifting capacity for an L650.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your insights Frank. Selecting a marina with the appropriate lifting capacity has been quite a concern for me as they are far & few between on the gulf coast. Then, to further narrow down that short list, one does not want to unwittingly get hooked up with a sub-par boat yard. At one point or another, that boat will need to be hauled and I don't want to be scrambling around at the last minute. Any assistance in this regard will be greatly appreciated Frank. Perhaps a PM would be more appropriate for this type of information.
 
PM's are fine.........

Location is critical for several reasons. For example, we live 425 miles from the boat 1/2 the time so where my boat stays and who is watching out from my interests when I can't be there is critical. I am fortunate......our marina is a servicing dealer for Sea Ray (they no longer sell new boats but are regarded as one of SR's top dealers for service, there is a travel lift on the property, and the marina has a hurricane plan that removes all owner's worry.

Let me know if I can help as you move along with the process.
 
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