Quote:
Originally Posted by you_da_man
No matter what color you choose it will be equally dirty white or black. Dark colors show how lazy you are or how meticulous you are. White will mask all the waterspots you were to lazy to get too. Eventually, white can lose it's shine due layers of water-spots or mineral build up
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I totally agree! I'm pretty anal and even though I bought an all white boat, I clean it pretty much the same as I would a black boat though I would be more careful about spotting in the sunlight if it were black while cleaning it.
Here's what we do after each use. It's overkill and depending on how tired I am (or how many beverages I've consumed) it can take as long as 2hrs start to finish. Our river is brackish though so I try and do all that I can to make sure the boat stays looking new.
-Pull all the gear and any ropes, mooring lines, bumpers that have gotten wet. My wife also starts cleaning out the boat and the built in coolers. She details the inside of the boat while I do the outside (and gets mad at me when I spray her or an area that she has already finished!).
-Load up the foam gun (
http://www.autogeek.net/foam-gun.html) with foaming soap, Meguires marine wash and wax and usually a little bit of Salt Away and spray all the gear and the boat, especially the hull and areas where I don't normally reach under to completely wipe down.
-Once everything is foamed up I connect the hose and Salt Away container to the motor and flush the engine for 10-15min. This gives me enough time to run through and quickly wash down the boat with a microfiber cloth.
-Once the flush is done I then rinse off the equipment and the boat with fresh water.
-Typically I start hanging up ropes and boards to dry. I will usually spray a little bit of Hot Sauce on the boards and dry them before putting them on the racks.
-I then either dry the boat off quickly with a big microfiber towel just trying to get the majority of the water off and then run over the whole boat with Hot Sauce or usually I will just spray the Hot Sauce on it while it is still wet and dry it in one step and I'm done.
We don't have a lift yet so if we stay overnight, the boat stays in the water on mooring rods off of the pier. We have just over 80 hours on it already and I was starting to notice some yellowing on the hull. While cleaning the boat this last time after the boat being in the water from the 4th to the 7th, I used a spray bottle with Bass Pro Shops Heavy Duty Hull Cleaner diluted 50/50 with water and a soft brush with handle to clean everything below the rub rail. It worked perfectly and the boat was noticeably brighter and whiter than before.
I think I have waxed the boat 3 times since we got it in the middle of March; twice with the BB Quickie Sauce and more recently after cleaning it with the hull cleaner I used the Hula Boat Care Big Kahuna Polymer Sealant which I really liked.
I initially wanted an all black boat but I'm glad I went all white. Again, I think I could basically do the same process on the black boat as I do now and it would look just as good.
I would think a lot of how difficult the upkeep is on your boat, no matter the color has to do with the water you ride in, where it is kept both on the water and when not in use, how far you tow it, how often you use it and how well the people in the boat with you take care of it and help you with clean up (this may actually be the most important!).
Sorry for the novel, I'm at a client's home waiting on tech support to call me back...