# Aluminum boats in salt water??



## Schmidty

Is it safe? I have a 12 ft alumacraft and i was thinking of taking it out in the bay this weekend. I need to know if im going to ruin my boat by doing so or should i not?


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## Flounder Hounder

Be sure and wash the boat and trailer runners well afterwards. I have seen an aluminum boat get pinholes under the runners after being used in saltwater (a lot). Was told that the carpeting held a lot of saltwater and it eventually ate through. The owner put teflon on the runners and had no more problems.


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## tips n tails

Ive taken my boat out in the bay. I wash it off pretty good and flush freshwater throughout the motor. Every now and then I ll let the rain soak it, to get whatever salt out of the carpet. I also run freshwater in the live well to clear any salt water.


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## Salty Daze

I have a 14' alumacraft with 15hp merc 4 stroke we bought used. its a 2007 model. been used in saltwater, beat up, pulling the kids on tubes, i mean working it over and its still in great shape! we just rinse it real well when done. I have carpet on my runners but was considering going to the rubber/teflon type runners on it. just wash it good and go have fun!


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## bigrick

I fished in a 14' tracker for years in the bay and gulf with no problems, just make sure you flush the engine and water it good. I made removable floorboards that I could take out and spary down and let dry in the sun.


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## OTTE*DA*WORM

And dont bring that thing in the bay if it is choppy or swelling, or you can kiss that 12 footer good bye! Almost sunk my 17 foot BT while it was choppy. Calm days are your best friend with that boat. O*D*W


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## Salty Daze

thats the truth! i have learned to stay out of chop.


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## Yaksquatch

I see lots of aluminum boats in saltwater, just gotta rinse em off and periodically get underneath to inspect the hull. Only issue might be whether the hull is riveted together or welded together? If welded, then it should hold up very well so long as you take care of it. If it's only riveted, then the hull will not have nearly as long a life expectancy as welding. Though this can even be an issue in freshwater too.

The reason is that each day as the hull heats up the metal will expand followed by cooling at night. The rivets themselves will expand and contract differently than the rest of the hull. You won't notice anything right away but over several years the rivet holes will begin to stretch and contort until they leak and the rivets potentially fail. A welded hull (assuming it was done properly) will last A LOT longer.

Good luck!
Alex


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## Schmidty

Thanks for all the advice guys i think il give it a go and see how it works out..but im not stupid enough to take that thing out there if it is choppy ive learned that the hard way!


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## biminitwist

If your boat spends a lot of time in salt water, you will want to research "sacrificial anodes" and install the appropriate type for your hull.


Hope this helps,

BT


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## Jason

I had a 14 ft. jon w/ a stick steering motor....I spent alot of time in the bay and hit the gulf a couple times.....The stick steering got froze up from not properly cleaning the salt water and greasing it up good. I assume you in a 12 footer would be a tiller steer though. I kept mine cleaned and washed and the transom did develop ate up spots due to salt water....


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## X-Shark

Not all alum boats are built from the same alum. 5086-H116 is a higher end series alum used for boats.

The bunk slicks on my trailer.


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## kandv2000

Not sure if its an option for you, but it is easy if it is. We take our boat to the river on the way home. Back it in and run everything, motor, live well, wash down etc. It washes the trailer better than you ever could and its super easy. Just a suggestion.


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## baldona523

kandv2000 said:


> Not sure if its an option for you, but it is easy if it is. We take our boat to the river on the way home. Back it in and run everything, motor, live well, wash down etc. It washes the trailer better than you ever could and its super easy. Just a suggestion.


I think this is an excellent idea for Aluminum boats. 

In all honesty, saltwater will eventually ruin your aluminum boat I don't care what you do. An aluminum boat used only in freshwater will last for a heck of a long time. In only a couple years, when used in saltwater things will start to go bad rapidly. I have a couple friends with aluminum boats, and we work on all of them all the time. Given that, saltwater is bad for everything but I just think you are always asking for trouble with an aluminum boat from my experience.


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## Hydro Therapy 2

kandv2000 said:


> Not sure if its an option for you, but it is easy if it is. We take our boat to the river on the way home. Back it in and run everything, motor, live well, wash down etc. It washes the trailer better than you ever could and its super easy. Just a suggestion.


 
:thumbsup: Me To


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## barefoot

I fish out of a 25 yr. old sears alum 12 ft boat and have done so for 3 yrs...only in the bay, since I've owned it...never seen fresh water.

Even being over 25 yrs old...this boat is fine..I do however wash it off and out after every other use or so.

It should be fine but like everything...proper maint. is required to prolong the life of everything used in salt water.


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## lsucole

Here in Louisiana there are probably more alum. boats than fiberglass used inshore and in the saltwater marshes. The only saltwater/alum. problems I can recall were on older riveted hull boats which were not well maintained. Just make sure you have a galv. trailer, keep it and the boat well washed down after each trip,flush the motor and it will be all o.k.


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## jspooney

my buddy had a pontoon that lost the battle with salt. It wasn't pretty and could have been easily prevented by removing the carpet on the bunks.


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## Charlie2

*Aluminum Boats*

While I was in the AF, we had an officer order us to clean all of the anodizing from the Aluminum boats. You know what happened then! They lasted about a month; then Swiss Cheese. C2


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## Team Fish Head

Make sure your sacrificial Zinc is the correct size for your boat and like most have suggested, rinse it off after use like you would any other boat. 

In fresh water you don't have the electrolysis effect so no worries at all, our 10' jon boat is over 40 years old and looks it but she floats really good! Have had to re-rivet and seal the others over time but that is from loading, reloading, sliding down banks, back up them, hitting rocks, trees, and my personal favorite, snake shot from a revolver. 

Apart from the fact that an offshore Aluminum boat is expensive since it is a custom project between buyer and builder, they are more efficient to operate than same sized composite hulls due to to weight savings and require little cosmetic maintenance unless painted as the alloy will form a protective oxidized layer. 

Check out Bloody Decks, AluminumAlloyBoats.com, or hit the Yacht listings on the www for aluminum boats to check them out. The Coasties and Navy use a wide variety of alloy boats of all sizes but my faves are the White Water big block Jet Boats built by Hell's Canyon Marine, Rogue Jet Boatworks, North River/Almar, Bentz Boats, and these guys:

http://youtu.be/UaJfP3EYyPA


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## lsucole

Team Fish Head ---- Please! Please! , tell us the story about shooting the snake in the Boat!


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## Badbagger

Zinc anode PROPERLY installed is key.

Here's a formula and if you don't want to do the math, give them a call.

http://www.boatzincs.com/anode_weight_calculation.html


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## Team Fish Head

lsucole said:


> Team Fish Head ---- Please! Please! , tell us the story about shooting the snake in the Boat!


You can flat get WAY back up in the creeks and branches in a little 10' jon boat and we found one holding a big population of bream (catch all for Redbreast, Bluegills, and Shellcrackers). We were tied off on a limb catching them as fast as we could bait our hooks when a rather loud plop! sound at the bow startled us. Looked around and it was a medium sized moccasin so I reached for the paddle to flip him out. My friend as it turns out is DEATHLY afraid of snakes and peeled out his revolver and before I could speak BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! and BLAM again!

Damn fool shot out the bow step right through the freaking hull! Killed the snake but as we began taking on water, I asked him if he felt Ok because his ass had just bought him a jon boat!

Since the holes were up front, we got back to the ramp just fine but what a crowd gathered as we unloaded it to put in the pickup. :laughing: Guess it was a Week before my hearing got back to normal. A couple of plates of aluminum were welded over the holes and she's still fishing.


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## rufus1138

oh wow, thats funny, one of my friends is like that with spiders...


anyone tried antifouling bottom paint to protect the boat, mabey with some awlgrip underneath it?


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## Randall2point0

Yeah I was about to ask if anyone has tried a rhino lining the bottom of one to prevent/fix leaks?


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