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Salty Water

bcpnick

bcpnick

Nick
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I'm thinking about taking my 22 SSX into some very salty water and I was hoping to hear from you guys what I should consider as far as protecting my boat and trailer from damage. The water I'm thinking of boating is the Great Salt Lake here in Utah. It ranges in salinity from 2 to 14 times what sea water is. I guess it used to be pretty popular for motorboating back in the 50's and 60's but as freshwater dams were built in the mountains around here, the motorboats left and now it is mostly just used by sailboats, although there are still a few motorboats out there. I even saw a guy running a sunset tour operation out of a pontoon boat recently. It's not a great place to go for fishing or watersports, but the scenery is incredible and I really like the idea of possibly even doing some overnight trips out there. 

What I know so far is that I'd definitely need to flush my motor afterwards, and maybe even just go put my whole boat and trailer into freshwater immediately after pulling it from the saltwater. Ideally I'd have those saltwater anodes, but if I only do one or two trips out there, will that really matter? What else is in the 'Saltwater Package' that I don't have on my boat? Anything else should I be concerned about heading into extra salty water like that? Will it affect my sharkhide?

Here's some pics of the Great Salt Lake that I've taken from the shores over the year. Most of these were taken around the evaporation ponds where they deliberately pump in salty water and let it dry up to make table salt and other salt products, so the actual part of the lake I would be boating in would not be this salty. 

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It's starkly beautiful and your images are wonderful. However, personally, I don't think that I would dip my new boat in a saline solution that 2 to 14 times more salty than the ocean.

Aside from the corrosion aspects, the added buoyancy might place the motor and prop too high to work efficiently.

Can you take a ride on someone else's boat?   ;)
 
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I wouldn't do it either, although it is beautiful.
 
Wow, that's crazy. Our company just bought a company in Utah and I was looking at transferring and checking to see what lakes were around. I saw the Great Salt Lake and told the wife I don't think that's good a good choice for us ...... I figured it was gonna be salty but up to 14 times .... No thanks.
 
Oh yeah, awesome pics, as usual !!!
 
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So what I'm hearing here is I should wait until I get PADs, place the new order, then go do it before I sell the current boat. :)

I found this video of the pontoon I saw out on Antelope Island yesterday. They also rent out jet boats. I've lived around here my whole life and had no idea...

 
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SEMPERFI8387 said:
Wow, that's crazy. Our company just bought a company in Utah and I was looking at transferring and checking to see what lakes were around. I saw the Great Salt Lake and told the wife I don't think that's good a good choice for us ...... I figured it was gonna be salty but up to 14 times .... No thanks.
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Quite a few good freshwater lakes around the state, including Lake Powell which is just amazing. You'd probably find a few good ways to use that jeep of yours too.
 
Beautiful pics as usual. And ix ney on the sale eh. We have salt water package on our boat but probably will never put it in salt water.
 
bcpnick said:
Quite a few good freshwater lakes around the state, including Lake Powell which is just amazing. You'd probably find a few good ways to use that jeep of yours too.
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Yeah our company is growing in good places. Vegas, Cedar City Utah, and Boca Raton, Fl.

They are picking good spots to make it easy for me to want to transfer !! Well me and 1000 other employees .... LOL !!!
 
I swam in the Great Salt Lake when I was 5 or 6 years old.  I would probably not do that today, and would not put my boat in there either.

I have had my pontoon in the Gulf of Mexico 3 times and I always put in on a river that is fresh water, which gives me a 20 or 30 minute run to flush out the motor.
 
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Awesome pics!
 
Thanks for the comments on the photos. My friends still think it's a great idea to take the boat out there if we wash it off afterwards, but the feedback here is making me think otherwise. I think I'll hold off on that plan for now.
 
Gee bcpnick if all the guys who don't own the boat think it will be fine then maybe you should listen to them
 
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Hey Daryl, sure we could jump that ditch in your new truck..
 
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