Hull Colors

[Jack Kelley]

I am doing a research project on the history of hull colors of recreational boats. The most colors used were and are dark blue and dark green. Of course there was white as well as clear (varnished) finishes to show the beauty of the wood grain. I am wondering why dark colors were selected and what was the rationale. They look good but is that the only driving reason for dark colors?

[mmd]

This is by no means an answer to your question, but merely a speculation:

Hull blemishes and defects in fairness are more noticable under dark colours, so could it be that dark colours were selected to showcase the superb craftsmanship of yachts as opposed to lowly, lumpy workboats?

Further to comment - go to any marina these days and it is plain to see that tastes have changed; the sea of blinding white hulls and superstructures is enough to make you wear sunglasses on an overcast day!

[TimH]

I just painted mine Dark green hull and buff deck.

dark hull colors are not good in hot sunny climates because they cause excessive topsides plank shrinkage.

[S B]

Cheap to make, before the introduction of pick your colour technology paint was ground minerals or furnace slag etc. Other colours were too costly to use on that scale.

[Candyfloss]

Not recreational boats.............but steam ships were painted black to hide the mess coal dust makes. White paint is a new-fangled invention. Not so long ago, "white" was much creamier.

[Jay Greer]

It was Nathaniel Herreshoff who once stated, "There are only two colors to paint a boat, black and white. And, only a damn fool would paint a boat black."

One old cape horner, a rigger named John Pearsen, once told me that when a boat gets old, it would be painted black or dark green in order to not show blemishes as much.
Jay

[Jay Greer]

I just painted mine Dark green hull and buff deck.

dark hull colors are not good in hot sunny climates because they cause excessive topsides plank shrinkage.

I'll bet it looks great! Sounds like a nice color combination.
Jay

[Jay Greer]

One thing that should be remembered, is that dark colors do absorb heat hence the ongoing problem of keeping seams tight. The other problem is that paint that has not been properly primed will often form blisters. The trick of preventing it is to start from bare wood and lay on a thin coat of red lead, almost transparent, that has been thinned with turpentine. It is then better to begin applying the dark enamel sans any other primer. The enamel should first be thin enough to soak into the wood that is only primed with the thin read lead. The build up may take four or five coats of the colored enamel. But, I can nearly guarantee that no blistering will occur.
Jay

[Jay Greer]

Yup agreed. However, there are times that the opposite can be true. An example can be a light hull with a darker bullwork or sheer strake. The result tends to raise the apprant sheer and fore shorten the length of the hull.
This is why is chose to hide and reduce the broken sheer of the Common Sense design by using a varnished sheer and darker hull below.
Jay

[S B]

Not recreational boats.............but steam ships were painted black to hide the mess coal dust makes. White paint is a new-fangled invention. Not so long ago, "white" was much creamier.

That is because it was white lead in boiled linseed oil. White lead in oil has a warm tone, the creamy colour was due to the darkening of the oil.

[donald branscom]

Hull colors that are dark help keep the boat warm in the winter.
People that live on the boat and do not just have it as a toy would know that.

Keep your deck light colored to keep the deck cool and see the edges at night but do not paint the deck white and blind your self.

All this is discussed and the reasoning for it in Howard Chappelle's book "BOAT BUILDING"

Absolute basic book and a must read. Nice drawings and fun to read.