dark color boats

[DUCATIF1]

I look here all the time but haven't posted in years. Quick question for a buddy. I know you guys are full of answers. Are dark color boats a nightmare to keep up? How much polish is needed and how often for a regularly used boat. What dulls it the salt water or the sun? Both? Thanks and I appreciate the information.

[gcarter]

I think dark color gel is hard to maintain and dark color paint is easy. :)

[Pismo]

Gelcoat chaulk from sun wise I would say black is the worst followed by red then the dark blues. These new pale gelcoat colors are becoming popular for a reason. Whites, pale blues, pale yellows, they hold up well. Gelcoat simply is terrible stuff, could you imagine if you bought a car or a house where the paint faded and chaulked up severly in two or three years simply from being out in the sun, but in the boating world it is considered acceptable/normal. Formula is about the only boat company that has finally given up on gelcoat and gone to paint. I am currently searching for a paint product that holds up for at least a few seasons. It would be faster, easier, and produce far better results to repaint every 3-5 years than to buff, buff, buff, wax, wax twice a year with moderate results at best. Very frustrating that the industry so easily accepts something so inferior, a ten year old car with little care and year round use looks better than the average five year old seasonal boat that is buffed/waxed regularly.

[gcarter]

I have found that high end automotive paint holds up VERY well. Mine stays shiny all the time. Expect to pay $150.00-$200.00/ qt. w/hardeners and reducers.
Can you imagine a new Beemer, M-B, or Roller with paint that didn't hold up?

[smokediver]

Gelcoat chaulk from sun wise I would say black is the worst followed by red then the dark blues. These new pale gelcoat colors are becoming popular for a reason. Whites, pale blues, pale yellows, they hold up well. Gelcoat simply is terrible stuff, could you imagine if you bought a car or a house where the paint faded and chaulked up severly in two or three years simply from being out in the sun, but in the boating world it is considered acceptable/normal. Formula is about the only boat company that has finally given up on gelcoat and gone to paint. I am currently searching for a paint product that holds up for at least a few seasons. It would be faster, easier, and produce far better results to repaint every 3-5 years than to buff, buff, buff, wax, wax twice a year with moderate results at best. Very frustrating that the industry so easily accepts something so inferior, a ten year old car with little care and year round use looks better than the average five year old seasonal boat that is buffed/waxed regularly.
Hinckley , Hatteras , Bertram ... Most of the higher end production boat builders use paint now in some places and gelcote in other places . I can tell you it is very difficult to repair a dark color . A little scratch on a hullside can end up being a 4 foot by 4 foot repair area as it necessary to blend the new finish into the old . It isn't like a car where there are different panels and angles to fade into . White .... I like it !!!!!!!

[pmreed]

I've got a Gel black deck stripe on my '99 22C. It was pretty much ignored by the first owner. I've brought it back, but the sanding and polishing has gone about as far as it can go. Another season or two and it's going to need new gel or paint; I'm leaning toward paint.

Phil

[Carl C]

Dark boats get very hot! This has been debated here before but I know it from experience. This is because they absorb light instead of reflecting it. This also causes early fading. Always use good quality boat wax and keep the boat out of the sun when not in use. I will never buy another dark boat. Dark boat - bad. Light boat - good. The black Hydrostream gave new meaning to the term "hot-boat". I'm so glad I traded it in for the Donzi!:wavey:

[Barry Phillips]

Dark boats are like dark anything else; colored hull sides are going to be harder to repair vs. white hull sides if you have a mishap with a dock. Other than that it’s a matter of taste, maintenance and how much time you have to devote to it. I own a silver 4Runner and a black VW Jetta. The silver 4Runner always looks clean, but a bitch to touch up while the Jetta needs to be washed all the time yet easy to touch up. In Donzi terms, mine happens to be red on white with white hull sides. Gel or paint, keep it polished and waxed, cover it because UV is the enemy, use fenders when docking and suite your taste.

[boatnut]

Amen, Amen, to make those of you with dark colored classics (I have a red one) feel better ---- I have a 42' boat that has a flag blue gelcoat hull, lots of square feet of surface to buff and wax --- and it is sitting in sun and salt water 24/7. Light colors are the way to go, but on some boats the dark hulls are beautiful and justify some more maintenance ---- a two-part paint like awlgrip is an easier to maintain option. My down-east lobster boat just looks good with the classic dark blue hull but we pay the price --- the best wax we have found is "Klasse, One Step" a product out of Germany and sold primarily into the classic car market. A few photos:

[boatnut]

Amen, Amen, to make those of you with dark colored classics (I have a red one) feel better ---- I have a 42' boat that has a flag blue gelcoat hull, lots of square feet of surface to buff and wax --- and it is sitting in sun and salt water 24/7. Light colors are the way to go, but on some boats the dark hulls are beautiful and justify some more maintenance ---- a two-part paint like awlgrip is an easier to maintain option. My down-east lobster boat just looks good with the classic dark blue hull but we pay the price --- the best wax we have found is "Klasse, One Step" a product out of Germany and sold primarily into the classic car market. A few photos:

photos didn't make it ?? I'll try one more time:

[Marlin275]

Paint is the way to go!
Five years of use and NO fading.
Upkeep is just wax twice a year.
Touch-ups are easy.
Navy blue NO problem.

http://www.donzi.net/photos/cgabeler288.jpg

[DUCATIF1]

thanks

[Carl C]

Nice looking boats boatnut and Marlin. Almost the same shade of blue.:beer:

[Pismo]

Marlin,

What kind of paint did you use and how was it applied?

Thanks

[Marlin275]

The boat was painted just when I bought it in 2001.
I don't know what the new paint was.

[gcarter]

If anyone is interested, I have the Donzi navy blue paint code for R-M UNO single stage, three part paint (what I used on the Minx). The stuff is incredibly tough and shiny (and expensive).

[The Hedgehog]

I would avoid doing it on the top deck. The scheme is still evolving. You could almost shave looking into the side. I have found the awlgrip tough and easy to maintain.

[mattyboy]

Once you go BLACK !!!!!! YEAH BABY!!!!!

if your deck is too hot you're not going fast enuff :p ;)

2 seasons no problems with heat or fading on black awl grip on Kenny's boat


I love black cigs not sure who's 28 this is but gotta love it :)

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3652

[Barry Phillips]

Boatnut, your 42 is beautiful, who built her, my wife would be jealous. We were going to too pr-order a 02 22 Classic, with flag blue hull sides, 496HO, Monster gauges, and pewter military style toggles the same dash used in the SE. I made the deal, sent the deposit, and drove up to my place in February 200 miles away to close the deal, low and behold the dealer turned out to be a real jerk, so the deal got cancelled. My red on white 22 was a left over I found on Boat US in Northeast Pa. Since I saved 10K on the boat and its matching Eagle trailer, red looks really good to me now. Do you have a web site on Klasse? Several years ago I sourced a German made product called Somax, I was not crazy about their polish but there car soap worked great on everything.

[boatnut]

Boatnut, your 42 is beautiful, who built her, . Do you have a web site on Klasse? Several years ago I sourced a German made product called Somax, I was not crazy about their polish but there car soap worked great on everything.


Thanks, it is a Duffy & Duffy made by Atlantic Boat Co. in Brooklin, Maine.
To relate to other topics, I haven't had a porpoising problem with this boat yet so I haven't tried a Turbo prop, I am using a 30" Hy Torq 5 blade :smile:

I don't know of a web site by the mfg of Klasse but there are several that sell the product, try a google search on klasse. An example:
http://superiorcarcare.net/klasse.html

Ed