Black hulls in the med

[lilianroyle]

I have a ferro cement smack with a black hull. Next year I'm going to the med for 6 months. Should I repaint the hull to a more heat reflective colour.
Thanks

 

[incognito]

No

 

[bryantee]

Black hull is ok. but if the deck is any thing else but white or cream ,.take your welly boots for the insulation.

 

[Mirelle]

Yes. Maybe old fashioned advice, but you do say she is a smack and smacks don't have colossal amounts of ventilation, being designed for the cold wet and miserable North Sea.

 

[Guest]

Sounds OK

but I think a cream hull would look good myself on a Smack in the Med.

But the deck colour ! Don't paint them white....

Had a boat once with a white deck and wondered why I kept getting headaches every weekend by Saturday night.

Have you noticed by the way that the posher the boat the more the crew is likely to wear sunglasses - even in the fog.
You see this alot in the Orwell near Ipswich with boats going back to Fox's. I used to think they were a bunch of poseurs but the bigger the boat the more expanse of white there is to contend with. And the gin palaces - white everywhere

I think the best colour for a deck is that weird green colour you see on Snapdragons and Rival - easy on the old bins !

 

[bob_tyler]

Re: Sounds OK

How about grey for decks. A fairly light grey would not cause glare but still would reflect some heat.

The hull, if white, would be the best reflector of heat and the glare would only worry those on other boats.

 

[Laurence]

Unquestionably you should change the colour of the hull.

I am talking purely of the needs of the crew now and ignoring the aesthetic considerations of whether of not smacks should be painted white etc.

I too have a dark hull and am also bound for the sun soon and agonised over whether or not to go to a lighter colour until I carried out the following experiment.

Tape a small sheet of white plastic over part of the hull in line with some lockers down below on a sunny day and after a couple of hours feel the inside of the hull through the lockers. The difference is extraordinary.

 

[Guest]

Like the sound of that combination NM

NM

 

[bob_tyler]

Re: Like the sound of that combination NM

Another thought. Being a "smack" style what about tan sails? If you have white ones, when you need to replace them change to tan - it would look good.

I don't believe that it is possible to dye existing (non cotton) sails but, if it is, perhaps someone else knows how?