New boater?how do you all keep aluminum boat interiors clean in salt water?

[jimmwaller]

Hi all:

Relatively new boater here! I have a general question about aluminum boats in salt water. I had an old aeroline aluminum boat that I recently got rid of, and now got a lonestar riviera aluminum. Both were projects, and so they were mostly just aluminum hulls.

I live near a large bay, so I use them in salt water. In a few hours of use, I think a combo of tiny, tiny leaks and water splashing in and whatever leaves about a half cup of water in the boats. Over the next few days, it'll dry, but then it leaves a ton of salt. so now I have weird salt buildup all on the low point of my boat. For some reason, the marina where I go doesn't have water to rinse off. I'm not sure if this is typical or not.

What should I be doing to keep my boat clean? Do I need to bring my own water to rinse off? Or is this salt buildup totally normal and fine? Or is there some coating I should be protecting my boat with?

Any insight would be very much appreciated.

thanks!!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Rinse......rinse.....rinse.....

 

[shrew]

You might be able to vaccum the salt, or redissolve it with some water, then sponge it up. Rinse the area with some freshwater and re-sponge it again. Then sponge up the saltwater before it evaporates at the end of each boating day. If it's only a few cups this won't be a big deal.