Blue hulls in the Florida sun

BOB TYSON

Active Member
Oct 5, 2017
295
Kansas City
Boat Info
2005 460 Sundancer (SOLD)
Engines
Boatless
Question for those of you who wet dock blue hulled boats in sunny Florida. I think the blue hulls look awesome but am very concerned about keeping them up. How often are you having them buffed out? what is a typical cost? I want to build this cost into the operational side of having the boat. Ive done my own detailing in the past on my smaller boats but no way am I going to buff out a 42-44 foot Sundancer..
Thanks as always !
 
I keep my boat at a large Sea Ray dealer's marina. I've been there 30 years so I've seen most combinations of color and good to poor maintenance.

Blue is the worst color to maintain. They get oxidized in about 3 months and the older the boat the quicker they get chalkier and the harder they are to get back. The marina owner has the best blue boat I've seen in Florida. The marina handles his maintenance and they do it right. The topsides are cleaned (i.e. oxidation removed) and polished 4X a year and the hull is done 3X a year.......this is a 50DA so every hull detail also involves a haul out.

We have had a few Pewter hulls and it seems to tke a bit longer for them to initially oxodize, but after they get chalky, the same schedule as above is about what they take.

Black is about as bad.


I am in Panama City Beach FL and the costs here are $17.50 /ft for above the rub rail on a Sundancer and $15/ft for below the rub rail, a haul out if the marina does the work is $8/ft; $10/ft if you do it.


The above is just to maintain a boat. The other considerations are that the blue hulls eventually turn more purple than blue, the more you compound and polish them. Rremember, there is sand everywhere and evaporating salt water leaves salt crystals on boats, fenders, docks, etc. so just rubbing the side of a blue hull boat with a towell can leave you a case of dull spots and hairline scratches that cannot be repaired. Any damage on blue, pewter, cinnabar, or black is a real challenge to fix right because gelcoat out of the can won't match and Spectrum gelcoat patching paste doesn't match on colors that are a couple of years old.

When the colored hulls first arrived, there was a sheet in the owners packet advising ownere to rotate their boatss in their slips every 30 days to keep the fading from side to side consistent.

Another consideration is that the salt must be washed (not rinsed....washed) off the boat or the water spots left from sea water ends up looking like big cloudy areas.

The only time blue hulls look really good is when they are new or right after a thorough compounding and polishing to clean up the oxidation and get the gloss back. This is your choice to make, but if you buy a blue hull boat and keep it in the water in Florida, you need to be prepared to accept the added overhead cost which is 2-3X that of a white hull Sea Ray.
 
I would just have it wrapped (cheap) or painted (expensive) if your heart is set on a colored hull - I have a hard time keeping up with white!
 
The Vegas sun is brutal-we keep our boat in a covered slip year round-i wash every time i go to the boat [about once a month we stay about 10 days] with Spot Less Cleaning system and Orpine Soap-no drying off-great wash no water spots and I have the boat waxed once before the season March and once after in Nov-Dec- my guy charges me 400$ per wax and uses Meguiar's products-sometimes he'll use buffer and fine tune by hand- this works good for me
 
I agree with you that blue hulls do look awesome. At first. If it is blue gelcoat it will not last irrespective of what you do, unless you keep it inside. Some people around here in NE Florida who have E-W slips have canvas or sunbrella mounted between the pilings on the south and it blocks the sun. It's a partial remedy. Backing into a slip with the stern to the south would help somewhat. The winter sun, low on the horizon would still do damage to the sides of the hull. An oxidized white hull can look not too bad IMO. An oxidized blue hull just plain looks bad. We see several each time we take out our boat.
 
If you want blue in FL - Paint it. Awl Grip works.

Last boat I had was painted, held up well the few years I had it.

Regarding gel coat that is blue - I agree with Frank above. In south FL you see a lot of boats that probably looked great when they were new - but not cared for properly -- the environment is brutal.

Mark (who now has an all white boat)
 
Once again I am saved a lot of money and misery by hearing from experienced boaters.
I think Ill stick with white.
Thanks to each of you!
Bob
 
Bob, The blue makes the boat look so much larger and classier. I have a 2005 460 and after two years of ownership and battling the blue gel coat I had it painted with Awlcraft 2000. Three years on it now and it looks like the day it was painted. I am very happy with my choice. I have a friend that has the same boat in white and while I would be happy with the white, the blue is in my opinion is just incredible.
 
Bob, The blue makes the boat look so much larger and classier. I have a 2005 460 and after two years of ownership and battling the blue gel coat I had it painted with Awlcraft 2000. Three years on it now and it looks like the day it was painted. I am very happy with my choice. I have a friend that has the same boat in white and while I would be happy with the white, the blue is in my opinion is just incredible.
Thanks fr8dog. Thats and interesting opportunity. cost?
 
Just over 200 a foot. I've heard prices from 125 to 500 a foot. I would think the 200 would be tops. As I said, I used Awlcraft 2000. Other options would be Imron or Alexseal. I do have an Awlcraft polymer product put on twice a year but Awlcraft says it is not necessary. I am in SW Florida year around so the sun is brutal!
 
Just over 200 a foot. I've heard prices from 125 to 500 a foot. I would think the 200 would be tops. As I said, I used Awlcraft 2000. Other options would be Imron or Alexseal. I do have an Awlcraft polymer product put on twice a year but Awlcraft says it is not necessary. I am in SW Florida year around so the sun is brutal!
I’m assuming you had this done in South Fl, do you mind if I ask where? I would really like to get a quote for my boat and I was expecting it to be 500+/ft, not 200. At 200, I might pull the trigger.
I love the dark colored hulls, the black and blues just really stand out. I’m going to see if I can find someone local to Tampa St pete, but the more information I have the better.
 
My boat was painted metallic blue with 3M Alexseal 3 years ago at the Huckins boat yard in Jacksonville FL. Holding up very well, they did the entire job for the prior owner for $8000 on our 42 Sundancer.
 
Todd, I had mine painted at Owl Creek near Ft. Myers. I have been told that they have gone crazy with their prices since. Also the painter I used has retired. In Fort Myers Beach there is Gulf Marine Ways or Diversified Yacht. In St. Pete the Marine Max yard paints as well. I had a quote from them of 10K for my 460. Worth a few calls to compare.
 
What makes up this $200/foot price... is it the paint?... I can't see it being labor
 
I think some of the colored hulls look great, but I like others I think paint is the only way to go with color if it is outside. My boat is white and it stays inside so not an issue for me, but I am looking a newer boats and will probably have a colored hull, but it will be stored indoors so again no issue. If I bought another boat that was stored outdoors or in the water I think I would avoid color, I am too anal about my cars and boat to fight with a faded colored boat.
 
I’m assuming you had this done in South Fl, do you mind if I ask where? I would really like to get a quote for my boat and I was expecting it to be 500+/ft, not 200. At 200, I might pull the trigger.
I love the dark colored hulls, the black and blues just really stand out. I’m going to see if I can find someone local to Tampa St pete, but the more information I have the better.

Check with Pittman yard in Tarpon Springs. That is my "go to" yard. Don't have specific experience with that yard and painting.

I do know they do high quality work, are honest and dependable.

Mark
 
What makes up this $200/foot price... is it the paint?... I can't see it being labor

I think it is the labor. The prep seemed to be quite time consuming. They completely covered everything not being painted and then started sanding. Minor surface repairs were done then more sanding. Primer applied then more sanding. Finally color then clearcoat. Then remasking and the bootstripes were painted. Two colors so that required time. I'm sure the paint is pricey but I do think it is a labor intensive job.
 
I've been down in Miami for a year and a half and the colored hulls always look bad to me. So much so that when we started our search for the boat we just got last month, my wife's first comment is that it must be all white hull. Even she noticed how the colored ones always look dingy. They require a lotta extra work.
 
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I just polished mine this week, looks like a million bucks and really stands out in the marina. I always get compliments on the blue but this being my third colored hull in twenty five years it will be my last!
 

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