Colored Hulls

W

Woody

Well-Known Member
Nov 20, 2007
9,437
N. Wisconsin/Lk Superior
Boat Info
2005 420DA
Engines
Cummins 6CTA8.3
My first two SR were black. They sure looked nice when all shined up. I was lucky that I had only some minor scuffs to clean up but I decided that I'd have no more colored hulls after. Looking to upgrade I see there are a lot of colored hulls out there, to eliminate them sure cuts down on the choices.

What do you all think of them? Is there a 'best', 'easiest' to maintain/repair color?
 
The 340 I had was black. The current boat Blue.

Walk a Marina in south florida (where there are thousands of boats) - you will see many more colored than you did a few years ago. I think the Color helps with resale.

Personal preference. Color does take more work to keep looking good. True if you don't wash down a white hull, it will not show the salt - however that salt is still there eating on the wax.
 
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I like my green hull, but it does take a lot of waxing to keep looking nice. So far I've been able to avoid too much chalking, but I fear the day when it looks minty fresh instead of the deep green that it has been. My personal preference would have been for a white hull, but the rest of the deal on this boat is what closed the decision for me.
 
I have a black hull, it's a job to keep clean but it sure looks nice! I had a pewter hull before the black and that was much easier to keep clean.
 
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I wanted white, the wife wanted Pewter-this was an easy trade off... I can see it being harder than white, but the Pewter is much easier than I believe a darker color would be. For a colored hull, maybe the easiest to keep looking clean.

Bennett
 
Had 2 whites a black now a pewter gotta say the black is the sharpest had it waxed in the beginning of the season and was told to use meguiers boat wash as it doesn't strip the wax off and she looked great at the end also. I was told that 10% of the pewter hulls where prone to blistering so have it checked .as most of us are in the used market when purchasing the color may not be up to you as much if you find a great boat and its hull is colored you may look at it differently. As for resale I believe it's personal preference my boat sold for two reasons, 1 it was black and sharp 2 the sound system (believe it) the guy was all about the looks and sound .
i personally think white boats are a little boring to look at , you need to break up the color a bit. Not to say I was looking for a colored hull it just happened that way. It seems to be a trend that's picking up steam.
 
mine is scheduled fora wet sanding and compound this year to take down 10 years of orange peel surface changes that occurs after 10 years of regular maintenance.
 
JV II said:
mine is scheduled fora wet sanding and compound this year to take down 10 years of orange peel surface changes that occurs after 10 years of regular maintenance.
Click to expand...

Do you attribute that to the gelcoat having color?
 
How about patching/matching color like for a deep scratch? I think I recall some saying that it was tougher on some colors than the others. Was it blue that's the biggest challenge?
 
I really like the looks of the dark hulls, but even more important is that I like boating much more than waxing.

True that the white hulls are boring, but I think I look better driving the boat than I do driving a buffer.
 
Gofirstclass said:
I really like the looks of the dark hulls, but even more important is that I like boating much more than waxing.

True that the white hulls are boring, but I think I look better driving the boat than I do driving a buffer.
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lol, well said.
 
I went from an all gelcoat blue hull to 100% Awlgrip blue paint...no cheap affair but great results. Had one scratch so far and touched it up with one of their touch up kits..easy. As to my original Gelcoat, it was showing signs of aging/oxidation. Tried to wet sand and bring it to life but the dullness came back in about two weeks. 11 year old 390DA. I posted pics of before and after somewhere on this site.

Tom


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
FootballFan said:
Do you attribute that to the gelcoat having color?
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First response, no. It happens to white gel coat too, you just don't notice it as much.
Second response, yes. The colored hulls absorb more radiation, so the surface is more prone to damage.
 
Gofirstclass said:
I really like the looks of the dark hulls, but even more important is that I like boating much more than waxing.

True that the white hulls are boring, but I think I look better driving the boat than I do driving a buffer.
Click to expand...


I agree with you and once my boat hit the water I never had it waxed until the end of the season and she looked awesome. If done with a good quality wax I just washed it weekly like you would do and the salt just ran off. To answer the scratch question, I have a spot on this boat that was a scratch from PO they did not match the gel coat properly and it sticks out.
 
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Thanks for the input guys. I'm just wanting the easiest to keep looking good so I'll to try to avoid the colored hulls if I can. I'm about done doing my own buffing/waxing so from a work standpoint it really is a smaller issue regardless of color.
 
Theres a member Greg on here with a sweet looking red or maroon colored boat, I'd kill for that boat. :thumbsup: . :thumbsup:
 
I don't think colored is any more work to keep clean than white. Difference is you can skate by with visual appearance with white - not with colored.

Either way, you have to get the salt off.
 
Colored hull fades very fast in strong sun environments such as Southern CA and Florida. I don't know about more northern climes. I have to have my blue hull compounded yearly, and I am sure at some point there will be a point where that won't bring back the deep shine and I will have to repaint. Or the next guy will :)

I would still prefer my colored hull to white, even though it is a lot of work. Just be prepared to see every last water spot, light scratch and sun fading you won't see on a white hull.
 
Boat in South Fl since Oct - 2 waxes already. Probably another one in a couple of months.
 
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