Salt Water Boat ?
 

Interested in feedback from the Forum, about 'salt water' used boat issues to consider, when purchasing.

Way back..... I purchased a salt-water boat, and had issues with: Coil, Distrib, seemed to be all electrical related, other than this has no issues.

What are some other potential issues I should be aware about ?

Thanks,
Bigdog

I bought a used 2000 Grady White in Jan 2016....I only buy Grady's. Engine....200HP Yamaha 2 stroke had 500 hours on it. Used now for two seasons with over 100 hours added and no issues at all. My boat is only used on Winni. I find the fresh water so much less stressful. A couple of thoughts.....
1. Get all the maintenance records. Some engines need more service in salt water....impellers, etc. etc. Make sure they were from a reliable dealer.
2. Have a dependable Marine Surveyor go through the boat. Costs about $600 but it is really money well spent. They look at everything, including full compression checks, all electronics, lights, transoms, fuel tanks, fuel lines, gunnels, etc. etc. Will also check for accidents, etc. Some will also do an in water check for operation. Do not rely on your knowledge....get an expert. This is a must do !
If no maintenance records from a certified dealer, walk away.

I have always stayed away from boats that have been in salt water. With all the lakes in New England as well as boats on the Great Lakes there are plenty of used boats that have not been in salt water.

Even if you buy a nice used salt water boat and get some good years out of it, the internal corrosion in water manifolds and every other place that salt water has touched has already begun. You might not see it this year or next year but the maintenance issues will certainly start a lot sooner than in a 100% freshwater use boat.

You will also need to change the anodes when switching from one use to the other.

I would rather pay for trucking a fresh water boat a little farther to get to the lake than buy a salt water boat.

Bottom paint can hide a lot. I have a bottom painted Blue Fin center console literally fall apart in the Piscataqua river in Portsmouth. It started coming apart, a 4' crack opened up and filled the hull with water. Looked fine before, just a normal looking painted hull. It obviously had hit something hard and been repaired poorly before.

Obviously, if given the preference on a fresh water boat versus a salt water boat you would go with a fresh water boat. With that said, as long as the boat is outboard powered I wouldn't hesitate to buy a salt water boat. Most, if not all, modern outboards have flush ports which makes flushing them after each use very easy and you could ask the seller what their practices are. You definitely want to see all of the maintenance records and make sure they are doing all of the routine stuff (oil, gear case lube, etc.) in addition to having the water pump and thermostats replaced on a regular interval. I grew up boating in salt water and we had more issues with corrosion on the various items of hardware on the boat and trailer then we had with the outboard.

Survey !!!
 

A surveyor is worth every penny, but interview a couple before you select, and be aware that they may be booked out a bit. My survey took a full day, including sea trials and lifting out for bottom inspection. We asked the seller to do a few things and the surveyor came back a second time for approval. These included heat exchanger work so the things that I would expect to be most susceptible to corrosion were taken care of before I took possession. Nothing else major that I wouldn't have expected from any "Winni only" boat that I might have ever owned.

One other salt water experience, I bought a whaler once out of Florida. The boat was mint looking, but upon further inspection the steering tube was completely rotted apart from the salt water. Ended up having to sell the motor for parts and repower.

Guess I should have know better, being that I am related closely to a marine surveyor!

Stern drive vs outboard...

Whatever the salt water will do to the boat is one thing. What it does to the motor is another.

FL is a very salty place and I have had two boats there. Borh were Mercruiser stern drives. On my previous boat the manifolds and risers had to be changed twice. The second time I caught it too late and water damaged the valves. Big $$$!

My latest boat is a 2012 with a 5.0 MPI with catylist and a Bravo III drive.
A low psi alarm went off and the boat went into limp mode.

It had a constricted water tube which required PULLING THE FRIGGING ENGINE to repair. While there I replaced the manofolds, risers, water pump, plugs, rotor and cap. Really big $$$!!!

On Winnie, I see about 60-70% stern drives.

In salty FL, I see about 75% outboards.

Now I know why!

Well, my story isn't so great. I recently bought a 2014 Searay 260 Sundeck. It had been docked in the Merrimack River and had been run in the ocean. The theory pushed by the dealer was that even though it had been in saltwater, but the engine got flushed with fresh river water whenever it was returned to dock.

The engine and outdrive looked clean and the boat had a certified pre-owned warranty from Mercury and the boat was being sold by a Mercury dealer, so I went for it.

So I get the boat delivered here to the lake and it runs fine at idle and slow speed, but runs rough under load. So off to a local Mercury dealer who declare the boat has corrosion in it's electrical system which is not covered by Mercury warranty. I call BS because the boat has a new CPO warranty. I eventually get Mercury to agree and at this point I'm still waiting for repairs (complete new wiring harness, new computer and assorted new sensors). I bought the boat on 5/28, it was in and out of the shop until 6/24 when it died and it's been in the shop ever since. Supposed to be done this week for sure.

Bottom line is you should be very cautious. Second lesson is you should always buy a boat from a local dealer on the lake who feels some responsibility to fix it when it breaks.

Jazz, serious question: how much more would it have been worth to have bought a boat with no issues/from a local dealer that may have fixed it earlier? Essentially, you lost a whole season, right?

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Yup, lost a whole season by the time we're done probably... Despite the large number of Sea Ray boats up here on the lake, 3-4 year old Sundecks are pretty rare, so there really weren't any available up here (other than one at Irwins in early May that didn't last long). I guess I could have bought a new one for 50k more. Hopefully this has a happy ending.

I still haven't figured out how we ended up with corrosion in the wiring harnesses. The connectors seem to have pretty good gasketing. The repair shop thinks maybe the cooling system blew a hose or pump and maybe salt water got thrown all over the engine compartment under high pressure. I think the selling dealer pulled a fast one on Mercury by selling this boat as certified pre-owned. Thankfully Mercury is covering the cost

We ended up buying a 2014 16' center console because an island house isn't much good without a boat. On the plus side my daughter learned some very valuable boating skills on the small boat that she would have never gotten in the big boat. And I have a fishing boat for retirement now :)

1. Congrats to your daughter. No islander should expect to live with only one boat. How will your daughter get to work if she doesn't have her own boat? Surely you won't get up in the wind and rain to drive her.

2. Who did your survey? He/she should bear some responsibility, yes?

Would a surveyor be able to find corrosion in a wiring harness?

Outward signs of salt water getting into the engine compartment might give a clue...unless it was all tidied up.

Hmmm.

Gotcha--I guess if it's a rare(r)/specific boat, accepting what you find is part of the equation (assuming cost matters). I asked because one of the pieces of advice I give prospective buyers is that it's often good to find a reliable marina in conjunction with the boat and that a little more money to buy into that scenario may be worth it. Essentially, the "best bang for the buck" calculation should include up/down time.

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3 year old boat :)
Mercury dealer :)
CPO warranty :)
Hull and engine look squeaky clean :)

No survey :(

I assume a survey would pull the main cable going to the ECM and might have noticed the corrosion on the connector pins.

+1 on TiltonBB comments.................