Blue hull

[c and c of the sea]

I love the look of a blue hull or even part blue.

Here it comes.

But,

These blue hulls certainly seem to be attacked by the sun and salt water, even on a boat that is polished every year.
What's my question? I'm not sure really.
Do white hulls suffer the same, but its just not as visible as blue.
I've seen a post about using a rubbing compound. Is this the best way to treat a blue hull.

Is the resale value on a blue hulled boat lower than white. Although when new I would expect it to be higher due to the process. Is it sprayed on or is the fibreglass dyed.

 

[rhino_mac]

I have an Onyx black hull on my boat. I find that the sun attacks the horizontal areas more e.g the curve at the top of the hull at the transom. These oxidise quite badly.

However, my main issue with the hull is that if you scratch it in any way, it shows up really badly. Fenders rubbing, any kind of minor bump.........anything marks it. It compounds out OK, but I had one the other day that needed a gel repair and while the repair wasn't visible when you looked face on, looking down the hull it appeared rippled where it had been compounded flat. I can't imagine this being such an issue with a white hulled boat.

Imagine denting a black car. The dents show up really badly - even the tiniest ripple. It's like that with a coloured hull.

On the other hand, black hulls look cool!!

 

[gjgm]

Blue colour degrades more than white and it is probably harder to colour match on damage to.
Having said that, it is more a Med problem as we dont get any sun in UK.
Blue shows up fender rub alot more, for example.
If you look after it, it should be fine, but too much heavy handed compounding will wear through it. You see that on older boats sometimes.
Blue is blue tinted Gel, same as white is tinted white...just the pigment.
So, blue needs a bit more care and attention, and I would look carefully on a second hand boat to see there arent patches of speckled white where the gel is over polished. After that, you will need to paint it (a few £grand).

 

[Portofino]

Depends ,quality of gel coat and maintenance ,-and the shape if blue suits the " look" more than boggo white?
This is a Med boat 10y old -3M has been used

 

[Tender_aft]

I like blue too, but it only looks right on certain boats. The same for black. I didn't think about scratching letting white show through.

Has anyone had their hull dressed with film like they do for cars and vans? It protects the hull from the sun and scrapes could be fixed and I hear it is cheaper than painting. Probably easier to change the colour when you get sick of it. If you do it yourself, it seems quite cheap too (a lot of the cost is in the labour, a car can take a day or more, so a boat may take several days). I saw an ad for enough Avery film to do several hulls on ebay the other day for a less than £300. You could change your colour to suit the seasons (or your mood) and if a new owner doesn't like it they can just have it taken off to show the (probably white) original gelcoat.

 

[adey]

Buy a white one and vinyl wrap it?
You can then have any shade you like....or maybe something slightly different...

 

[MapisM]

Is it sprayed on or is the fibreglass dyed.

It wouldn't make sense to colour the fiberglass, 'cause that's not what you actually see in a plastic boat.
It's either the gelcoat covering the fiberglass that can be dyed (actually pigmented, but that's splitting hairs), or the hull can be painted.

 

[MapisM]

This is a Med boat 10y old

Wow, very well maintained indeed.
Do you also have a pic with the detail of stern quarters?
I've yet to see ANY, with blue or black gelcoat, which didn't get faded after much less than 10 years of Med weather...

 

[c and c of the sea]

I think I need to view the boat again to see just how bad the fading is. I'm sure there was a couple of places where the marks were bad. Especially by the fenders.

 

[c and c of the sea]

That looks lovely in the photos. The boat being considered is over 10 yrs old.
When you say 3M is that a polish or compound.

 

[c and c of the sea]

I think my boys would love your boat. Or should I say pirate ship. Great.

 

[gjgm]

I like blue too, but it only looks right on certain boats. The same for black. I didn't think about scratching letting white show through.

Has anyone had their hull dressed with film like they do for cars and vans? It protects the hull from the sun and scrapes could be fixed and I hear it is cheaper than painting. Probably easier to change the colour when you get sick of it. If you do it yourself, it seems quite cheap too (a lot of the cost is in the labour, a car can take a day or more, so a boat may take several days). I saw an ad for enough Avery film to do several hulls on ebay the other day for a less than £300. You could change your colour to suit the seasons (or your mood) and if a new owner doesn't like it they can just have it taken off to show the (probably white) original gelcoat.

There is a company that professionally vinyls the boat at SIBS last year... it was about £2500 for 35 ft ; turns out that it isnt that tough and you really need a protective film over the coloured film .. which somewhat ramps up the price!

 

[gjgm]

I think I need to view the boat again to see just how bad the fading is. I'm sure there was a couple of places where the marks were bad. Especially by the fenders.

Yes, that is where they damage is often done.. the constant abrasive rubbing, and people hang fenders in the same place all the time!
It is ok that it is scuffed... the question is, is there enough gel to compound and polish it out?
If you look at youtube on boat polishing, you can see how remarkably well a boat can polish back out. The risk is that someone goes OTT each year and eats through the gel...
3M is just one company who make suitable restoration liquids. In fact, they make so many it is damn hard to understand what to use !
For good condition gel, a good polish should do, but from time to time, it may be necessary to go back to a compounding first. But then compound and polish are just terms for implying the level of abrasive.. you can get soft compound and fierce polish- which is why the producers now tend to make a 3/4/5 stage system, so even an idiot knows where he is

 

[Portofino]

Wow, very well maintained indeed.
Do you also have a pic with the detail of stern quarters?
I've yet to see ANY, with blue or black gelcoat, which didn't get faded after much less than 10 years of Med weather...

Easter this Y

My neighbours Prinny V42 new 2008 has had his haunches reprinted last Y and this Y replaced teak on bathing flatform .
Mines all factory original ,but haunches have faded a little , but I,am still a million miles away from a re-spray .
Stern faces South for both boats .

 

[MapisM]

Impressive. Probably S/skr was more careful one decade ago in their materials choice, than in more recent years...
Though I guess that also proper maintenance can make a difference.

PS: does that props a/f actually stay on for more than a few hours?

 

[Portofino]

3m is some sort of twin system ( sorry forgot the name )
Wash boat first with mild detergent to degrease?
-rub 1st layer on wait until drys with a white blowm then apply 2nd layer -wait for this to dry / chemically bind to layer 1 -then buff off with wool bonnet on a power sander / polisher -slow speed so,s not the over heat
Forms a protective wax - protects from UV - seems to work Pics paints 1000 words

No compound ever used -well not in my 8 y ownership

Fenders -socks as you can see -washed every 2 weeks and carefully positioned so they rest on the rub rail .
But and it's a big but after every trip whole boat is rinced off with fresh water so no salt or any deposit is left on the fibreglass to interact with the UV and the 3 M wax .
Every 2 weeks these guys wash it etc and check fenders
http://deckside.fr/en/

 

[Portofino]

Impressive. Probably S/skr was more careful one decade ago in their materials choice, than in more recent years...
Though I guess that also proper maintenance can make a difference.

PS: does that props a/f actually stay on for more than a few hours?

No your inference is correct - I,am still looking for the holly grail .I think they spin too fast Well actually it seemed to work on the props the first week ,various sustained high speed runs .
However 4 weeks later - of submersion it all started to spin off - almost as if the seawater had enough time to soak in and undo the bond twixt metal/ paint .
.AF works on the drives -well 90% almost

Still diving in-snorkel is fine ( with the legs up ) and physically scraping - have not found a better method .
Things I may to try
1-mild acid etch of the Al props before AF to improve bond
2- Hamerite first then AF over that .

Or just accept prop cleaning is all part of the " fun"

 

[jrudge]

I have a blue hulled Fairline T40 2004 /5.

It has spent its life in the South of France( last owner) La Rochelle ans Palma. I would not say it is as good as new but it looks pretty good. The blue is one the sides (nothing really wraps round to the top) so the sun does not get the full force of it.

I was looking at a 2005 Sunseeker Manhattan and that was more faded than mine but mostly on the top.

A friend has an approc 2002/3 V42 and it is in quite a state. It has been polished but I dont know how well.

So out of this (a) I seem lucky! (b) different boats of different manufacturers age differently ... oh and owners look after them differently no doubt!

 

[John100156]

I had a blue hulled 2006 Targa-34 which was berthed in Sant Carles, properly cleaned and waxed it looked great.

I picked up two scratches both on the port quarter, one minor when pulling up at a fuel berth in Mallorca at night, only to find too late that one dock fender was missing complete with exposed studs strategically placed just right (I wonder if his cousin owned the local GRP workshop) and once when a new Walcon pontoon failed in high wind with the finger twisting round with boat securely fastened thereto, by the time I arrived at the marina the dockmasters had already moved her to a different berth.

It is true to say that scratches do show up, as well as fender rub, but as long as you get the former sorted by a professional, they the rest can easily be managed/matched/repaired.

I now have a white hull F43 and it seems much easier to maintain and definitely doesn't show the marks as much but I would certainly consider another blue-hulled boat, depending on make/model they do IMHO look great - I don't think I would want a Targa in any other colour....

 

[c and c of the sea]

It's a difficult decision.
You don't really know how well the hull has been looked after by previous owners.
Has the hull been polished before the viewing.
A few years down the river will you end up with a blue hull which looks tatty and un cared for and not appealing to potential buyers.