Has your hull faded ?

DaytonaJohn

DaytonaJohn

Member
May 17, 2019
33
Boat Info
Boatless
Engines
3.0L Mercruiser Alpha One
I'm boat shopping for a used boat. Many are garage kept and look beautiful after 10-12 years of age. I plan on keeping the boat on a lift. It was suggested that I buy a white hull and stay away from the colored hulls because they fade...with the dark blue being the worst for fading. I've seen 2 yellow hulls for sale that look great, but again, I'm concerned about the fading. With that said, not all manufacturers are the same quality, and I'm told Sea Ray is among the best boat hulls made. That's why I want to buy a Sea Ray. I just want some advise if I should stick to a white hull. BTW, the Sea Ray Plant in Flagler Beach FL was in my town at least 20 years. It closed about a year ago and made some of the larger model Sea Rays.
 
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My Yellow Sea Ray faded a lot. All the colors do unless you buy a boat that is painted with Imron or Algrip. White is the best color and yet if you buy a used white boat, you will see the fade underneath the old name you remove from the transom. Wet sanding will remove the traces of the old name. Colored hulls require lots of sanding to remove traces of the old name.
 
I've always preferred white. Here's my 24 year old hull. This was taken last fall, and the last wax job was a year before that. I'm getting ready to wax it again.

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They all fade, white included. You just don't see it as much on a white hull. White hulls are a lot easier to keep looking nice. (read less work)
 
DaytonaJohn said:
I'm boat shopping for a used boat. Many are garage kept and look beautiful after 10-12 years of age. I plan on keeping the boat on a lift. It was suggested that I buy a white hull and stay away from the colored hulls because they fade...with the dark blue being the worst for fading. I've seen 2 yellow hulls for sale that look great, but again, I'm concerned about the fading. With that said, not all manufacturers are the same quality, and I'm told Sea Ray is among the best boat hulls made. That's why I want to buy a Sea Ray. I just want some advise if I should stick to a white hull. BTW, the Sea Ray Plant in Flagler Beach FL was in my town at least 20 years. It closed about a year ago and made some of the larger model Sea Rays.
Click to expand...

I had my heart set on a blue hull until I started looking at used ones. Unless you keep it in a covered slip and are anal about maintaining it you are going to have fading.
Just buy chance I came across a Monaco edition which has a blue stripe around the white hull. It was a nice compromise. Because of the stripe being higher up and angled inward for a good portion of it’s length it doesn’t get beat up as much by the sun as it would lower on the hull but it still needs extra attention to keep it looking good.
 
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Depends on the size of boat you’re looking for too.
A 20-25 foot boat is very different than a 380DA as far as maintaining a colored hull.

After 12 years, the blue still looks good and has a mirror finish. It takes me about 2 hours to polish below the rub rail.
 
When it comes to boats, “if it ain’t white, it ain’t right”. :)

Just personal preference of course. More power to those that can keep a colored hull in pristine condition.
 
Espos4 said:
View attachment 70011 Depends on the size of boat you’re looking for too.
A 20-25 foot boat is very different than a 380DA as far as maintaining a colored hull.

After 12 years, the blue still looks good and has a mirror finish. It takes me about 2 hours to polish below the rub rail.
Click to expand...

Agree with this - a small boat that is easy to maintain a colored hull is fine - on a larger boat I don't think I would do it. I really like some of the colored hulls, but if the boat stays outside it is very difficult to keep it looking like new. And honestly, I white boat with a dark boot stripe is just timeless and classic.
 
I love the colored hulls but Sea Rays colored gelcoat has been a problem especially the pewter ( ours was pewter)
I know of 2 pewter hulls (2005) that where painted because of fading
our hull was so dry at the bow it needed to be sealed at the bow then re primed prior to paint.
Paint is always better then gelcoat our 2007 36DB was painted in 2008 and still looks awesome today.
Just wash and wax no compounding necessary
 
My pewter hull is 9 years old and looks like new. I wax it at 3 times each year to keep it up. My prior boat was dark blue. It was very hard to maintain and faded noticeably on the side that got direct sun every day. Another consideration with dark colored hulls is differential fading of gelcoat repairs.
 
If your looking at older 17-18 footers (like your other post suggest) just find one that you like that's in good condition. It shouldn't be that difficult to keep a boat that size looking good.
 
Just wet sanded my whole 1987 weekender top to bottom after almost 3 years of no real detail (medical problems limiting manual labor, finally paid). Boat looks better than new, like it literally just came from the mold.
 
While all gelcoat will experience 'color change' over time, it's not necessarily the same thing as 'fading'. Technically, sure. But I think we tend to refer to as 'fading' as something obvious and ugly looking. Normal color change, over time, is different. If you're looking at a colored hull that is in good shape (looks good), in the year range you've discussed, then it's likely been well cared for and has had wax regularly applied. Those colors that have faded are because the gelcoat has been neglected.

We could see a 5-year old boat with faded, disgusting color on the hull side... as well as we could see a 20-year old boat with excellent looking color on the hull side.

In the end, though, of course white is the 'easiest' as it doesn't show the color change or fading as easily.
 
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