I am thinking of bringing down my 2003 20 foot Skeeter bass boat with 2008 225 Yami HPDI for some in the rivers and back waters family fishing and just cruising around Charleston. The boat has never seen the salt and I plan to clean it up and flush after each day. Maybe two outings. I have done the guide thing four times in and around Savannah and am a competent salt water angler, so I know a little about what needs to be done to catch fish. Success would be just staying busy catching something salty, though I would be targeting reds and trout with live bait and cut bait.
Am I going to ruin my boat if I clean it up good? What is the right way to clean it up? I do know how to flush the engine. Should I not use the trolling motor because of the salt? Will the trolling motor be at risk without going in the water?
Might want to think about something to prevent corrosion before you get here. I use CRC products under the cowling of the engine frequently in my bay boat … 2003 Yamaha that looks exceptional under the hood. Also use the appropriate sprays on the lightbulds electrical contacts and the back of the breaker. I used to use my hydrosport bass boat with 90hp evenrude in the harbor and ICW 2 or 3 times a month. May never have had a problem becasue I used it so much in the lake afterwards. Soap it up good all the way down to the trailer axles. I would not put any cleanup off till the next day. I was also very particular about flushing the live well pump. If the trolling motor has issues with the seals it will not matter whether you are in fresh or salt water. Soap it up good too.
Just my 2 cents.
Tight Lines
“Reel Cowboy”
2100 CC Sea Pro Bay with a T
Yamaha 150 OX66
I’ve had two stratos’s that saw mostly salt water, biggest issues I had was both had steel trailers. The 17’ had a Johnson GT 150 and saw about 600+ hours of salt in a 8 year life. Still ran like a top when I sold it. Trailer saw two sets of springs, a set of fenders and a few lights. The remote drain controls for the live wells quit due to corrosion, but a stopper in the live well worked well. The other is 18 years old and still being used by my son-in-law the 70 hp Johnson was still running but he got a great deal on a 4 stroke.
Bottom line clean the boat and flush the motor well after each use and you’ll be fine.
Your boat and motors will be fine with a washdown and a little spray lube. Your trailer is another issue. Galvanized or aluminum trailer, dunk it in freshwater on the way home and you’ll be ok. If its painted steel, be prepared to fight rust for the remainder of your ownership.
DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!!!
The harder you work, the luckier you’ll get.
I fished my nitro here for the last 5 years. No issues on the boat but the trailer fell apart on me this winter. It looked fine on the outside of the trailer looked fine as I kept it clean and waxed so I had no idea the tubing in the trailer was rusting in half.