Salt Water Operation

I am about to relocate from downstate Illinois to the west coast of
Florida. I have a Nitro bass boat w/ a 115 hp Merc 4-stroke outboard. Can I
use this rig in sal****er w/o inviting serious damage?

I have seen many Florida boats with outboards badged for "Sal****er". I
assume they have a cooling water system designed to resist sal****er
corrosion. Is there a significant difference between these outboards and
mine?

Any advice and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all.

On Sat, 7 Feb 2004 02:37:21 -0600, "Eric H"
wrote:

I am about to relocate from downstate Illinois to the west coast of
Florida. I have a Nitro bass boat w/ a 115 hp Merc 4-stroke outboard. Can I
use this rig in sal****er w/o inviting serious damage?

Hi Eric and the group, I will try to answer this as best I can.

First let me say that salt water is hard on all boats and will shorten
the life of any boat. Even the salt water boats get a lot of salt
water damage from extended use in salt water.

What happens to the boats? Every piece of metal on the boat will try
to corrode. Only the top of the line hardware made out of stainless
steel, bronze or galvanized steel will hold up. All the wiring and
electronics will catch all heck.

A painted steel trailer will rust to pieces in a few short years.

If the boat is left in the water the bottom will catch all heck.

My advise would be: if you only plan a short trip to salt water and
then the boat will be going back into fresh water you should be ok if
you flush and wash down the boat after the trip. BTW - one of the best
ways to flush and wash down a boat including the trailer is to run the
boat in fresh water after the salt water trip is done. If you back the
trailer all the way down it will really help save it.

If you are going to be staying a while you might want to consider
trading the bass boat for a good sal****er boat. You did not say what
part of the west coast you will be moving to. What type of sal****er
fishing are you interested in? I don't get over to the west coast much
myself but I believe you will have access to a lot of excellent
shallow water flats type fishing, lots of deeper water bay type
conditions and open gulf waters. Make your choice of what type of boat
to trade for on what type of fishing interest you.

If you are like me and would want to be able to do it all you will
have to compromise on the boat. One of my dream boats is the Mako 171
CC. I really like this boat because it has a lot of bow rise and with
care could be used on most gulf days. Because it is a smaller boat it
would be great for use in the bays and even could be used on the
flats. If a polling platform was added and a jack plate the boat would
be able to take on some flats fishing. It would not run with a HB but
with care you should be able to enjoy some flats fishing with it.

I hope this helps, DC

I have seen many Florida boats with outboards badged for "Sal****er". I
assume they have a cooling water system designed to resist sal****er
corrosion. Is there a significant difference between these outboards and
mine?

Any advice and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all.



--
Dale Colemam

Only thing I would add, is check your insurance. Mine requires a Ryder for
Great Lakes and Sal****er use.

Carlos

There's a great group to help answer all your Nitro related questions
here.... www.nitroowners.com. Although I'm sure that your question here will
apply to more than just Nitro boats.

I thank Huck for this link!

--
Charles B. Summers
Secret Weapon Lures
http://www.secretweaponlures.com


"Eric H" wrote in message
...
I am about to relocate from downstate Illinois to the west coast of
Florida. I have a Nitro bass boat w/ a 115 hp Merc 4-stroke outboard. Can
I
use this rig in sal****er w/o inviting serious damage?

I have seen many Florida boats with outboards badged for "Sal****er".
I
assume they have a cooling water system designed to resist sal****er
corrosion. Is there a significant difference between these outboards and
mine?

Any advice and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all.

Thanks much for the advice. Seems like a boat/trailer built for sal****er is
the best answer. Of course, I should keep my current boat for freshwater
use. That's too cool!!
Now I've gotta' convince the wife that I need TWO boats for fishing in
Florida.
I'm working on it.
Thanks again.

On Sun, 8 Feb 2004 02:03:54 -0600, "Eric H"
wrote:

Thanks much for the advice. Seems like a boat/trailer built for sal****er is
the best answer. Of course, I should keep my current boat for freshwater
use. That's too cool!!
Now I've gotta' convince the wife that I need TWO boats for fishing in
Florida.
I'm working on it.
Thanks again.



Hi Eric and the group, something I forgot to mention provided you are
only going to have one boat is the resale on the Nitro will be much
higher if you sell or trade it before it sees any sal****er use.

As soon as a boat hits the sal****er the value drops a lot.

Perhaps the best thing to do is buy a used salt water boat; however,
you have to be very careful. The advantages of buying a used salt
water boat is it has already taking the big loss in value. Besides who
wants to put a nice new boat into salt water. The disavantage would be
getting a boat with a lot of problems. If you decide to go the used
route have a good mechanic with salt water experience check the boat
out for you. I'm thinking a used boat from about 2 to 4 years old in
good shape (find one that was used off of a trailer and washed down
instead of one that stayed in the water) would be an excellent value.

I hope this helps, Dale

--
Dale Colemam

Thanks Dale,
I was kinda' thinkin' about a used boat. It seems the best way to go,
especially in sal****er.
BTW, we are looking at homes on the Gulf coast from Holiday north to
Crystal River. We really like this area. Thinking mainly of "flats" fishing.
We spent last month in a rental home on a canal about 800 yards from the
Gulf. We're back in Illinois now and I spent a couple of hours yesterday
trying to break up the layers of ice on my diveway and sidewalk.
Ain't gonna' be here next winter.
Thanks again.

Thanks, Carlos.
I hadn't thought about updating my insurance.

If you are at all interested in Florida living/fishing...this site, which I
check daily, has an awful lot of information for boats/fishermen. It has
specific "areas" of the Florida coast for those interested in really getting
tight on what's a good place to fish/launch/Live??? etc. Even though I live
in Houston TX, I enjoy the camaraderie and comments daily. RichG
http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zeromain?id=1