Put a deposit on a 2020 AR240 which was supposed to ship May 28th and just arrived this weekend 7/11. We also have a 2019 seadoo gti so not new to the water but new to boating.
Best wash combo for the boat after being in salt water? Any tips on minimizing corrosion since we are in salt water?
We store the boat outside at our house so looking for a good cover that will protect the boat and last a while. Also looking to upgrade stock speakers, install tower speaker, and add LED lighting to interior and exterior.
Input on any of the above is welcome!
Im also a 2020 AR240 owner in salt. I give the outside and inside a real good soaking with the hose when I get home. I pay extra attention to the pumps/cables/intakes/clean out ports etc. Flush each motor for about 5 minutes. I’ve been trying get dawn soap in the flush ports but it’s been a pain. I couldn’t find the salt away solution or applicator anywhere locally. I recently broke down and ordered it online, so a salt away flush will now be standard after every use. I don’t really mind the water/salt spots on the exterior, the boat gets used every weekend, some people get sprays n clean up the exterior really good after every use. Going forward I’m going to use the salt away applicator with some dawn for the exterior rinse down. I’m more concerned with protecting the boat from corrosion than looking sexy on trailer for the 10 minute tow to the ramp. Dawn is a lot cheaper than the sprays and talking to some buddies that do detailing it works pretty good.
i gently rinse out the engine compartment with the hose on the “rain” setting. There is a lot of wiring and connections back there, I like to keep things clean but I don’t want to go blasting in there and get water somewhere it shouldn’t or bust a seal/connection.
Every couple weeks I spray the vinyl with a cleaner/protectant. I’m not sure how much it actually helps but it smells good so I don’t mind taking the time to do it.
Yamaha silicone spray lube, I just slather that stuff over everything under the back of the boat (except the anodes) every other week or so. I also spray the clean out plugs at the same time. (Take the clean out plugs out when not in use to prevent the rubber from expanding and getting stuck). Also spray the ratchet strap mechanism in the trailer that hook up to the rear of the boat. They started binding up on me, I’ve been spraying them and they work like new again.
Yamaha mooring cover is probably the best but it’s also $900 bucks. I bought a general purpose 24ft cover from West Marine for $250. I drop the tower (takes maybe 30 seconds to put down and 2 minutes to put up) cover fits over nicely, put a couple support poles in to prevent pooling, strap it down and its good to go. I would never trailer with it on, I just needed something to keep the boat out of the Florida sun, and it does just fine at that. I generally let the boat sit out in the sun to dry out for a couple hours the day after use, then put the cover on with a box fan inside to help dry out the carpet in the lockers and such.
Tower speakers/amp. You are going to need a new harness for the Fusion head unit, (head unit is actually on the swim deck, Connext screen is the remote) look around on the forums here, there are a bunch of threads with a link to the harness, it’s about $15. Yamaha cut the RCA out connections on the stock setup. ? when you collapse the tower there is a small gap in the forward bar to run wires up. Look at the starboard side and you will see where they ran the anchor light wiring up, port side has the same hole. There are also holes in the boat that drop down into the bat compartment/rear starboard under seat storage to run your wiring. The tower hole is a pain and a tight fit, get some fishing tape. Coat hanger trick was pretty painful.
Budget in a battery tender/charger, a amp will drain your house battery down pretty good, and the stators on these motors don’t have the juice to fully recharge batteries. I got a Noko 2 bank for a decent price on amazon, there are some threads on here on good tender options. The boat is going to come with 2 marine starter batteries, eventually I’m going to replace the house with a beefier AGM battery. I would recommend buying a “smart” charger that is comparable with all the different types of batteries. Most people upgrade the house.
I put 8 inch Kickers for my towers. They are lower end but they do decent. There are deff louder options out there. Stock speakers suck, I’ve read on here people just upgraded the speakers with no amp and that made a big different. Obviously if you want to be real loud having a amp powering themas well will give best results.
Sorry for the long post, but that’s about everything I’ve learned in the couple months of owning this boat.
