aluminum in salt water

[catchinabuzz]

i have run across a deal on a boat its a deep vee 18' aluminum. my question is how smart is it to run aluminum in salt water?? even if i spray it down after each trip wont it eventually corrode very badly? especially around rivit seams? need help i am going to probably by it tommarow. if i do i will give my current hull and trailer away to the first $100 i see.

buzz

[keezy]

I have been running an aluminum bass boat in saltwater off and on this year and haven't seen any problems. You want to make sure if the boat has any steel parts (like on the outboard) that you have a sacrificial anode. Most outboard motors come with one. This is a chunk of zinc that is intended to slowly disintegrate instead of the aluminum parts.
If it makes you feel any better, manufacturers like alumacraft are making saltwater flats boats, and I would guess 95% of most outboards are composed of aluminum. If it's bare aluminum I would put a coat of some kind of polish or wax on it. Also I wouldn't dock the boat for long periods because many docks have steel or iron in them. In a boat with all those rivets I would be more worried about staying out of the rough water as I have heard of rivets loosening.

[catchinabuzz]

thanks you hit all the questions. i am going to check it out today.

[wizardude]

Of course you would be adding things to the boat. As Keezy mentioned, steel/iron and aluminum don't make good friends, so don't use steel for mounting things to the boat :)

[Yrosnake]

They're available in all Marine stores. It's sacrificial metal that will get eaten before your hull. Also make sure you pick up any pennies or copper from your bilge. I heard that could hurt your aluminum hull very quickly.