painting hull black crazy or not so

[lakeunion]

Just purchased a 1926 40 lake union thinking of painting the hull black. I love the look with 1920 boats. PLease give me feedback on pro's and con's thanks

[Frank Wentzel]

Captain Nat Herreschoff said that you can only paint a boat two colors - white or black - and that only a fool would paint a boat black. But then again, why not?

The main reason would be heat buildup. Extreme drying of the wood, and the resultant wood movement, could cause problems. If there is any epoxy used in the construction you will have additional problems - epoxy begins to soften at 140 fahrenheit.

/// Frank ///

[ssor]

A long time ago I had a home owner customer who owned a black painted, insulated steel door with applied styrene trim. She had me install a full view storm door. This was a south west facing front door. I warned her not to be in a hurry to put the glass in the storm door because of the heat build-up. About the middle of October she called me and said the her door had melted. I went over and looked and the styrene trim had softened and sagged and looked like a Salavdore Dalli painting.

[jaburgin]

black is popular in europe!

[phantom24]

HI
My 24ft oskust is painted black and has been
for 50yrs.
I have not noticed any exessive heating,but i
also don`t live on it.
Remember ,that the sun is high in the sky for
most of the sailing season.If the decks were
painted black..................
The contrast of the brightwork and the dark
hull is striking,and i could not imagine her
any other colour! :cool:

[kc8pql]

Here's a 60 year old N.S. built schooner that belongs to some friends. Looks just right with a black hull to me.

http://tinypic.com/dwwi8y.jpg

[TimH]

Thats right! the schooner in "The boat who wouldnt float" was black! smile.gif

[Harry Miller]

That's right. The Bluenose (original and replica) has always been black
http://www.bluenose2.ns.ca/public_html/images/b2reflct.jpg

[pcford]

The quote about not painting a boat black is one of those old saws that is trotted out regularly but I don't think it holds much water. (heh)
You should be mooring your boat in at least good covered moorage if not a boathouse. Therefore, radiant sun problems are not so great.

With that said, black does present other problems. The hull has to be very (!) straight. Black shows any imperfection.

You know, I can only remember painting one boat black.

pcf
from the shores of lake union...about a mile from where the original Lake Union Dreamboats were built.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Black shows any imperfection. Yep.

Chris Craft had several large cruisers in the fifties that came black hulled. It looks awesome if it's done right........... ;)

[Bruce Hooke]

It is maybe instructive that we've got a rundown of home ports or home regions for black hulled boats that, so far, looks like this:

Europe
Ontario
Nova Scotia (or Ohio?)
Newfoundland
Nova Scotia again
Seattle

Anyone notice a trend towards cool climates here! :D

That said, for a boat that will be under cover except when in use I certainly do not see any problem. If I can ever finish my skiff I fully intend to paint the outside black, so you can tell where my thinking on the matter lies!

[Noah]

Yep, black is fun...

I decided to paint my Hinckley a dark blue instead of black. It holds less heat and still looks pretty good. It is a bit hard to keep looking nice, and does show off every bit of dirt and imperfection. That said, she is on a mooring in Vermont, and hasn't dried out any more than she did when white. Her topsides don't leak a drop when heeled either.

The paint is 3/4 Kirby's dark blue, 1/4 black.
http://www.morebutter.com/hinckley/exterior/in_shed.jpg

http://www.morebutter.com/hinckley/exterior/port_2005.jpg

[jaburgin]

yeah ,NOAH! now your talking ,dark blue is stunning and by the way so are 96,s ,sonett,s and all two strokers!

[formerlyknownasprince]

There's a 40' converted tug moored near me that is painted black. It doesn't get a lot of maintenance and all the seams are quite open.

I agree that a black hullon the right boat looks terrific.

Ian

[martin schulz]

I was once a strong supporter for dark hulls. My boat has a very high freeboard and loks pretty clumsy in light colours. But then 2003 when we had a very hot summer the seams opened I I was able to look through. Now I am looking for a stylish non-yachty colour.

It depends on your freeboard. If it is quite low and the sun isn't able to heat up the hull a dark coulour is just elegant. There are some boats in the Museumharbours that even varnish their hull with stockholm tar and linssed oil. After some years the wood gets dark and the colour is permanent.

[Dan McCosh]

This is a pretty cloudy climate, and I've always had dark-colored hulls. You get away with it, but white does better in direct sunlight.

[dmede]

Ive been thinking about this very subject recently. I think some boats look outstanding in black, lapstreak in particular can look very nice in black with some good bits of wood showing.

I think it can look very elegant on the right hull.

[WindHawk]

I bought a new boat this year, and I saw a couple black ones. They were Very sharp looker's, but I remembered having a Black T-bird in my youth, every single ding stood out like a mashed thumb.

The tiniest little ding would grab ounce-sized chunks of wax and announce itself to the world and scream, "Nope, he can't drive, and he Sure don't know how to do detail work!"

Then, someone keyed the whole side... Twice.

I passed on black.

[Frank E. Price]

Dennis Conner's newly refurbished Q-boat is black, and it's in San Diego and to be raced in the Med, no? A study of the history and psychology behind the first yachties who decided to paint their yachts work boat black rather than yacht white might be interesting.

Frank

[John B]

its a climate related issue. I just love dark hulls. Dark blue or black but here they move in mysterious ways and do strange and dreaded things to wooden hulls.My second favourite boat in the world ( for now ,and I'm being loyal here)is dark blue ...has been all its life ( 70's sometime)yet still shows highlights despite being a glued cold moulded timber boat.
Thelma ( 1895)was painted black one season and she moved something terrible. Moana ( also 1895)was black for years, but it wore them down in the end.She's white now.

[ 09-22-2005, 07:07 PM: Message edited by: John B ]

[Rex Fearnehough]

I must join this debate.
My little boat is black internal and external. The thwarts, oars, mast and spars are a light mahogany colour as is the rubbing strake. It looks really good. It is also very traditional looking, reminiscent of the tar and red lead that would have been used for such a boat.
Okay, our temperatures are low up here.
The major advantage is that it can be seen easier than most other colours against the sea.

[lakeunion]

Wow thanks for all the great posts. The boat will be keep in under a dock with full vented cover on topside. Any other pics would be great.
Thanks greg

[rich morpurgo]

Here's our boat in the Bahamas. Black looks good with the color of the water there. As long as the deck and house are white, it doesn't seem too hot to me.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-8/1067517/jasmineatweeches.jpg

[ 09-22-2005, 10:33 PM: Message edited by: rich morpurgo ]

[rich morpurgo]

[ 09-22-2005, 10:33 PM: Message edited by: rich morpurgo ]

[formerlyknownasprince]

A related observation - it hit 30 degrees C here today (86F) - enough for us to call an early halt to the week's work laying teak on Grantala's foredeck (well maybe we were just knackered).

We are laying the teak on top of marine ply which has been dynelled. Standing barefoot on the 20mm teak coverboards was tolerable. Standing barefoot on the dynel was not tolerable.

:confused: The teak is a darker colour than the dynel. :confused:

Ian

[ 09-23-2005, 12:13 AM: Message edited by: igatenby ]

[Godwin]

I think that the French highly regard
1) the lug rig
2) Sailing on and off the mooring
3) A boat that stinks like dead fish
4) A boat that is black as pitch.

Is this true?

[Frank E. Price]

I haven't seen a lot of French boats, but seems to me most of them have been bare aluminum or red.

Frank

[MuddyFeet]

I must chime in on the previously mentioned quote from the honorable Captain Nat Herreschoff, "You can only paint a boat two colors - white or black - and only a fool would paint a boat black."

Keep in mind that the beloved Mr. Herreschoff made that comment before our harbors were chock full of bloated plastic boats with all the aesthetic appeal of a Clorox bottle, and they’re all WHITE. I really don’t like white anymore, and I venture to say that Mr. Herreschoff might look at it differently today.

Noah, your Hinckley is stunning. A flag blue hull and bright work just look good together.