Why White ?

[WorWilly]

Hig guy's, is there any reason all boats are white, I'd plan using bright yellow, with light blue writing and go faster lines ! :D :D :D

[sabahcat]

White tends not to fade any more than white.

Colours especially dark colours like red I have seen almost totally wash out in a few years,

[marshmat]

Bright yellow should work well. It'll be distinctive, at least- there aren't many yellow boats- makes it harder to get lost when rowing back out to the anchorage.

Darker colours tend to fade, especially if done in gelcoat or low-quality paint. Perhaps more importantly, at least for warm-weather cruisers, dark colours get bloody HOT in the sun. Indeed, a black or navy blue surface in direct sunlight can get hot enough to give you first-degree burns and soften some core foams to the point where they'll deform without springing back. Even when you do see a dark-hulled boat, the decks are usually white or wood.

[apex1]

Darker colours tend to fade, especially if done in gelcoat or low-quality paint. Perhaps more importantly, at least for warm-weather cruisers, dark colours get bloody HOT in the sun. Indeed, a black or navy blue surface in direct sunlight can get hot enough to give you first-degree burns and soften some core foams to the point where they'll deform without springing back. Even when you do see a dark-hulled boat, the decks are usually white or wood.

Not only do they soften foam cores, you must take care painting a wood epoxy boat in dark colours too! If the resin is not a high temp. high postcured one!

And yellow is by far the safest colour in case of a SAR action has to be started!

[WorWilly]

Many thanks guys great info...

[bntii]

"There are only two colors to paint a boat, black or white, and only a fool would paint a boat black."

N. G. Herreshoff

[Tiny Turnip]

And yellow is by far the safest colour in case of a SAR action has to be started!

Is yellow regarded as a better colour than orange Richard? Not trying to be pedantic, just interested.

British 'Hi Visibility' standards use Hi Vis yellow, except on the railways, where we use the European standard Hi Vis Orange. My local safety equipment store has just started offering pink Hi Vis as well...

[apex1]

According to the British RNLI and German DGzRS yellow is the better choice than orange.
They should know.

[Tiny Turnip]

Thanks. They should indeed.

[Fanie]

White is a very forgiving colour for looking dirty as well. A dirty white boat still looks ok, almost all other colour boats looks dirty (and less acceptable) very quickly.

The HOT is not overestimated. White is the coolest colour, almost all other colours can fry your feet in hot sunlight from the bottom up.

White is probably the poorest colour for any type of material to use in the sun. Sunlight penetrate the white on ie paint or plastics more than it would black, so the material last shorter than the black of the same material would.

I've had boats of various colours, never had yellow or red though, and white is the the most comfortable and easiest to live with colour there is, you don't get tired of it because it is neutral. Some colours are really attractive, like a bright canary yellow and some of the darker reds are unbelievablebly attractive colours. Still, you have to make sure you can look at it for long periods of times without becomming cross eyed :D I mean getting tired of the colour.

[Submarine Tom]

You could go with 2 foot (60cm) yellow and orange stripes for high visibility SAR!

[Fanie]

That is exactly what I would suggest, use white and add one or two colours for a motive to make it look attractive...

[mark775]

I knew of some yellow ones that worked out fine, tho I agree with Herreshoff.
Red gelcoat fades to pink anyway - in this day and age, light colors other than white or grey will just go better with one's manpurse.



36284

[Boston]

"There are only two colors to paint a boat, black or white, and only a fool would paint a boat black."

N. G. Herreshoff


http://imulead.com/tolimared/concretesubmarine/image/concrete%20submarine%20yacht.jpg

the always stylish concrete submarine
most fashionable in basic black

[apex1]

Thats deep sea marine* Boston! Not black.





*below 3000 meter

[wardd]

you guys are too skeptical, i bet it'll sink all the way to the bottom of the marinas trench

[Herman]

I once had a black boat (visible carbon). Had to paint it white when I sold it...

After that had a purple boat, a yellow boat, and a grey boat. Never white...

For racing boats, I feel that white is too reflective, at least for decks. I tend to use a shade of grey for that.

About foam cores and dark paint in tropics: make sure you use the high-temp versions of PVC or SAN cores. These usually are good up to 140 degrees C.

[hoytedow]

Wood under dark colors deteriorates more quickly.(In case you are talking about a wooden hull.)

[RHP]

Is that right Hoyte, I've never heard that before?

[apex1]

Is that right Hoyte, I've never heard that before?

Hoyte makes jokes! He meant: wooden boats are slower than yellow ones!

[Fanie]

I can see that. Since water can penetrate wood more you have a larger wetted area and the wooden boat becomes slower ;)
I knew there was a reason I liked glass more :D

[hoytedow]

You guys are kidding, right?

[hoytedow]

The heat destroys the paint/wood bond, causing flaking, spalling etc., or so I have heard. Surely you knew that.

[apex1]

Hoyte
in modern boatbuilding, when the paint has contact with anything wooden instead of primer or EP resin I shoot the painter in the backyard.





with rotten eggs to lengthen the pain..........

[Fanie]

Hoyte
in modern boatbuilding, when the paint has contact with anything wooden instead of primer or EP resin I shoot the painter in the backyard.
Exactly. Especially when you're a DIY'er :D


You guys are kidding, right?
Does it look like we are 'kidding' :D

In fact, we are DEAD SERIOUS :P

[bntii]

Dead serious indeed!

Hey- I like a bit of color on boats. But like some other things in life: the fair ones look fine, paint or no.

[nordvindcrew]

My latest rowing boat is medium blue with off white decks and rub rails and light tan inside. The blue is distinctive and easy to identify in a race. the tan inside stays reasonably cool and doesn't show the dirt too badly. All in all, it looks a bit "Bahamian" in it's color scheme. bottom line is, I like it

[daiquiri]

"There are only two colors to paint a boat, black or white, and only a fool would paint a boat black."
N. G. Herreshoff
Well, that's a proof that even the best ones can have a bad day and go astray, sometimes:
http://www.desiderioportovenere.it/ilgozzo.jpghttp://img.nauticexpo.com/images_ne/photo-g/sailboat-classic-day-sailer-46993.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/130/335593836_f45048dd31_o.jpghttp://croatia.org/crown/content_images/2008/falkusa.jpg

I find the "ladies" above are absolutely gorgeous in their black dresses. ;)

[mark775]

Stunning boats, to be sure. I'll take the second one - then spend the rest of my days maintaining its surfaces...Of course the gay green bottom paint has to go.

[david@boatsmith]

In a big racing fleet if your boat is anything but white you are more likely to catch the eye/brain of the race committee as the over early boat whether you are or not. In this case standing out is not an advantage. David
www.boatsmithfl.com

[Fanie]

White has a tendency to make an item look larger than it's exact same dark colour counterpart.

If you have to pay for the mooring spot per sq meter in the marina you want it to be black or dark blue.

If the surveyor has to make a decision on the class boat and your size may be somewhat under you defenately want it white.

[SamSam]

Most boats come from mass production factories and are fiberglass. White is the cheapest gel coat. It hides the imperfections in the original fairing of the plug and wear and tear of the mold the most, dark colors being harder to make "smooth" appearing. White is also the best for hiding the scratches and dings that inexperienced mass consumers accumulate on their own or inflict on others hulls. It's ability to reflect radiant heat must be an advantage also, not so much for creature comfort but to stabilize material movements, such as the sun beating one side of your boat and making it longer than the other.

[Brent Swain]

When my boat was dark green in BC , the lockers all stayed dry in winter and when it was minus 12 degrees and I was frozen in ice , the hull felt warm to the touch in winter sun.
I painted her white for cruises to the South Pacific, which made things a lot more comfortable in the tropics. When I got back to BC, the lockers got a bit musty in the winter. I painted her dark green again, the mustiness went away and the lockers dried out. I'll keep her dark green in BC waters , and paint her white again when I go south of Cabo.
Hereschoff never lived aboard full time in northern lattitudes in winter, and the yachties he delt with had palacial homes ashore. He was thus a naive amateur when it comes to full time live aboard issues in northern lattitudes.

[hoytedow]

That is good to know, Brent. I don't live aboard, but the color as a means of climate control may be useful to me in other applications here in moldy humid Florida. Thanks!(I am thinking I can keep metal tool shed drier, if hotter by painting a darker color.)