Opinions on dark paint colours for the topside of your boat...

[loges17]

Gday

I am just about to paint my boat and was going to go with the traditional white for the entire boat, but then I saw a boat the other day with the dark navy blue on the topside of the hull with white interior and thought it looked pretty snazzy. I just wanted to gauge peoples opinions of whether there are any issues with having such a colour scheme...maybe it shows imperfections in the hull more or its not as fast...

Look forward to hearing peoples opinions...

Cheers

Loges

 

[keepNitreel]

Re: Opinions on dark paint colours for the topside of your boat...

It's your boat, paint it the colors you want. I seen a lund on this site that is black on top & bottom with white on the sides.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Opinions on dark paint colours for the topside of your boat...

Well hands down Red is the fast color and so is yellow!

Dark colors absorb heat and bright white is blinding from the sun.

Take a look at the Starcraft Restoration of North Beach as an example of light colors.

I have a white hull and a light grey interior.

It's all preference and depends on where you boat.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Opinions on dark paint colours for the topside of your boat...

Dark topsides are going to real, real hot under the open sun...unless you plan on boating only on cloudy days. Also keep glare in mind when you're choosing colors.

 

[lowkee]

Re: Opinions on dark paint colours for the topside of your boat...

Even boating in Maine, the summer months would mean any color darker than grey would burn us pretty easily. The last thing I want is to wet the entire interior down in order to cool it off any time I wish to go boating. Then there is bright white. The glare is killer, even with sun-glasses, since there is always an area which sneaks in around the rim of your glasses and blinds you anyway.

I have found just barely off-white to be the best compromise for topside paint. If you look at many new boats, you will see they pick a similar color scheme. Sometimes you have to ditch the perfect looking color in order to enjoy the boat you're in.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Opinions on dark paint colours for the topside of your boat...

here's my observation from my boat. it's off white with lime green interior.
the off white is touchable and you can walk on it easy, even on the hottest of days. on these same types of days the lime green interior is certainly much warmer than the off white. but not impossible to touch. i also have a real dark green throw mat in my boat. me and my gf argue about it's color, she says it's black, i say dark green. anyways. on a hot sun shining day. you can't even touch that mat it's so hot. let alone stand on it... me personally, i'd not go with anything to dark. i'd think it'd make an enjoyable day less than enjoyable if ya can't touch the only surface there is available. and there's no where to get away from it either. your trapped onboard, so what ya got, is what you deal with...

 

[mmccoy555]

Re: Opinions on dark paint colours for the topside of your boat...

Dark colors will show scratches and finger prints and stuff like that a lot more. If the gunwhales take a lot of abuse it'll look like crap in no time but if they don't take a lot of abuse it'll look killer. Just have to keep up on the cleaning.

 

[loges17]

Re: Opinions on dark paint colours for the topside of your boat...

Yeah i was thinking that the dark colours would show scratches etc more, may consider looking at some light colours only thing is my bimni is navy blue so would have to change that to match most probably. Are tinted paints more expensive?

 

[boat1010]

Re: Opinions on dark paint colours for the topside of your boat...

I personally like the darker colors on the decks of the boats. Mime is the "fast" red. Just on the bow and the back deck where the swimmers get on and of of is white. The sunning deck "motor cover" is white red and grey and yes the darker colors do get pretty hot. But it sure looks good. The kids and grand kids have just learned that the darker colors are hot and you either get wet or put a towel on the dark parts. Have a great day...

 

[oldseaox]

Re: Opinions on dark paint colours for the topside of your boat...

The last dark boat I had (Navy) was a bear to keep the salt spray off of, I go outside two or more times a week and had to wash the hull each time. Now my light gray is much more user friendly.
Having said that, it's your boat and you only have to suit you (and perhaps one or two more).
If I wanted to paint my boat green with orange stripes I would. NAAAAA!

But you get my point.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Opinions on dark paint colours for the topside of your boat...

if you want to keep the chics on the boat, light color. they hate that tender tushy to get scalded by dark surfaces.