Colored HULL Satisfaction request- doesnt anyone love them?

Sundancer123

Sundancer123

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Mar 25, 2007
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alot of bashing of colored hulls and i am seriously considering a blue hull.

like to hear any positive experiences and satisfaction.
 
I love mine!!!!
 
They look great when properly maintained.
 
7th Season coming up. Heat from the exhaust discolors lighter. Scratches show a lighter color.

Love it.. wouldn't want a white hull.

Doesn't show black streaks just hose down and looks good as gold
 
The color of your boat hull is all a matter of taste. I love my black 4X4, and yes, it takes a little more effort to keep it shinny, but boy it looks good when I do. Personnaly, I like the blue hulls, they stand out in crowd, but it will probably take more effort to keep it "shinny".
 
Sundancer123 said:
alot of bashing of colored hulls and i am seriously considering a blue hull.

like to hear any positive experiences and satisfaction.
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Dude, colored hulls look great, require more maintenance and are more difficult to repair....buy what makes YOU happy. :smt038
 
Consider how you will use and dock the boat, the darker gel coats don't stand up to normal abuse very well. Scars and scratches from fenders and floating dock rub rails really show.
Take a walk thru a local marina, dealer or boat yard that has some used examples on the hard and you will see what I mean.
 
Dasch Boat said:
Consider how you will use and dock the boat, the darker gel coats don't stand up to normal abuse very well. Scars and scratches from fenders and floating dock rub rails really show.
Take a walk thru a local marina, dealer or boat yard that has some used examples on the hard and you will see what I mean.
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And for every one you find, I can find just as many white hulls with big ugly back rub marks.
 
I have had two colored hulls and one white hull. I think colored hulls are great on smaller boats but I wouldn't have one on anything larger than the boat I currently have. They are too much work to maintain in my opinion. Also be aware that trying to match gel coat on some hulls (particularly the "blue purple" like I have) can be a big problem. And the older the boat the more difficult it is going to be to match gel coat.

Dave
 
comments from a marine survey industry expert:

"I have customers who have the blue hulls and haven’t heard the horror stories. I also look at quite a few of them, and for the most part they look pretty good, though you do have to stay after them maintenance-wise.

I think that last part is where the problem lies with the horror stories. You can’t get a dark hull and then simply park it in Florida 12 months a year and ignore it and not wash, wax, buff or polish it as I suspect quite of the few of the most vocal complainers do. I would counsel any owner of a dark hull that it might be a good idea to have the boat lifted mid season and gone over by a boat detailer, or by an owner who knows what he is doing with a buffer and a bottle of Maguire’s. Vigilant maintenance (and a good relationship with your boat washer/polisher) is the key.

Regarding the fender damage, I could never figure out the mentality of a guy who goes to great lengths to protect the replaceable sections of stainless steel and PVC rub rail on his boat by placing the fenders between the dock and the hull sides. The “rub rail” is designed to “rub” against a dock. That is why they call it a “rub rail”. It is not called “rub gelcoat”.

If you have any large boat I recommend docking it to a proper dock with vertical dockposts with vinyl or rubber pads attached to the posts. If you tie to a floating dock that does not have posts (kind of a crappy way to tie up a boat), I would recommend cross tying it to keep it off the dock, or install mooring whips to keep it off the dock. If you place fenders between the hull and the dock, the gelcoat is going to get damaged no matter what color it is, especially when mother nature blows some wind borne sand and water onto the fenders and makes them into 2-foot long sanding pads.
 
I have a black BMW and a blue Sea Ray. Both require more effort to look their best but it's worth it, IMHO.
 
The majority of people who have commented in this thread that a blue hull is a non issue are all boats under 30 feet with the exception of a few. There is a vast difference in maintaining 30' of blue gelcoat vs. 50' and once a 480 is in the water for the season there really is no really good way of waxing the hull or buffing it out without getting swirls like crazy unless the boats on land. If a boat is in the sun 24/7 for 5 months of the year there is no wax on the market that will withstand that without touching it up.
 
Carver370 said:
The majority of people who have commented in this thread that a blue hull is a non issue are all boats under 30 feet with the exception of a few. There is a vast difference in maintaining 30' of blue gelcoat vs. 50' and once a 480 is in the water for the season there really is no really good way of waxing the hull or buffing it out without getting swirls like crazy unless the boats on land. If a boat is in the sun 24/7 for 5 months of the year there is no wax on the market that will withstand that without touching it up.
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Makes sense. Especially if it's a trailered or dry-stacked boat- it's all about access.

If it's sitting on a trailer, it's much easier- and therefore you're much more likely to do it- to keep a colored hull cleaned and waxed.

In the water, not so much. It's such a pain in the a** cleaning and waxing the "other side" of my boat- in the water, in a dinghy- that I put it off as much as I can...
 
have you ever seen the two man buff and wax team working on a rigged up rowboat while boats are in the water? ( special pads and rigs )
really cool how they do it
 
I've owned two colored hulls. My 03 42 DA was blue and it was not too bad to keep up with. I bought heavy terry cloth bath towels (dk blue) and had a tailor make me some fender covers which were great. I took a two week trip up to the Georgian Bay, did a lot of rafting off and did not have any damage. I now have a black hull 44 DA and actually prefer it to the blue. It had damage when new, they repaired it and it is undectable. I was told by a friend ar SR customer service, that the black hull gives them less problems, because black is not transparent like the blue is. I added a water treatment system (softner) in at the dock which helped with the water spots. The water system is a inexpensive system which no matter what color your hull is, you'll love the difference in the shower. In short I love the black hull and would do it again in a heartbeat , in the great lakes.
 
hack4alivin said:
And for every one you find, I can find just as many white hulls with big ugly back rub marks.
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Exactly what he said !! I love my blue hull boat, have not had any reason to want to go back to a white hull whatsoever. Have not had that tea staining effect I had problems with on my white hull boats either. Seems like there was a saying, about once colored hull never back, something like that at least, hmmmm. No pun intended.
 
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