Black hull: as high maintenance as on a car/truck?

[noclutch]

This question is aimed more at the recreational boaters vs the fishermen, as the later most often choose an all white hull, and with good reason as I guess- easier to keep it looking clean. But IMHO white boats look soooo BORING!- no offense to those with one though- what ever floats it for ya

So I was pondering whether or not to order black gel sides on my new boat. Black looks awesome! On cars, bikes, trucks, and people at night, esp the ladies! I have a black truck,and when clean it looks great....until driven just once on a wet road then back to not so clean. Every one with a black street vehicle knows exactly what i mean- they pop till dirty, then you start all over again.:facepalm: And black vehicles are sometimes daily drivers and it just isn't practical or possible to keep them clean as you'd like. Sometimes mine will sit in the drive for a week clean, only to get trashed on the trip to/from the river /ICW and a pop up thunderstorm, or even the quickie store. My points of reference are a Caribbean blue boat that hides scum pretty well and a red car that looks great even filthy.

Is black gel just an invitation to endless covering or correcting of scratches or being uber paranoid of fenders scuffs and docking and rafting? Does salt water make it look like your boat has dandruff mid way through a salt water weekend? Does river scum look just as bad road water on my truck? Are black boats just destined to look pre-maturely rough?? FWIW, mine is washed after nearly every outing and will be garage kept, so excessive continual UVs aren't a real concern as with one in slip- I could see that asking for trouble.

So, would I regret getting black? What's y'all's experience?

 

[moosehead]

Re: Black hull: as high maintenance as on a car/truck?

Love ours, but it does take a bit more TLC and we have a short, fresh water season, no rafting, limited towing. It might be higher maintenance in salt and heavy towing, not sure.

My favorite color hull on our lake happens to be that bright blue on a Regal.

 

[Campylobacter]

Re: Black hull: as high maintenance as on a car/truck?

I see you're in Florida. Won't a black hull get a little hot?

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Black hull: as high maintenance as on a car/truck?

Ensure your deck is white. Get a black one, or a dark colored metal flake and I will just sit back and tell you "I told you so"....obviously made that mistake personally. Just like cars, black shows dirt and grime immediately but is a romantic color. Water line will show up every time you boat, more so than white.

HTH,
Mark

 

[JSpann]

Re: Black hull: as high maintenance as on a car/truck?

I have a black hull, and it has permanent waterline mottled white stains. It must've sat in the water for an extended period at some time in its life. These stains don't come off with polish, even with a buffer. Don't know what might eventually take them off. When the top side is clean, though, it really looks good! By the way, it has black carpet, and it doesn't get too hot at all in sunlight.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: Black hull: as high maintenance as on a car/truck?

If it is going to sit in your garage and never get wet it will be great. You only need a dust rag once a week. Road grime will show. Just like people with black granite counter tops, water spots show when dry. Coming out of the ICW or ocean, when the water evaporates the salt remains to be seen. Don't buff it with a buffer, do it by hand to eliminate swirl marks. Red is just as bad and dark blue a close 2nd also. If not white the only color I would consider is light blue or aqua.