Scratches on Dark Boats

Do people with dark boats have trouble with showing scratches? I recently picked up my first new boat,all navy blue, when i picked it up it already showed alot of scratches with only 2hrs on it. The dealer is going to buff them out, but I am still worried that every little scratch is going to show. Oh... and the scratches show as white even thought the boat is dark blue. Anyone else have this problem? What is my best defense?

Oh yes you are in trouble. My boat is almost all black and what's not black is red. Every single little scratch will show up white and you can almost never buff them out. Watch out especially for things that look friendly like bumpers/fenders for tying up. They will put all kinds of tiny scratches in your gelcoat. Also, do not look at your hull EVER if you want to stay sane. Your best defense is staying home and watching TV! Sorry this got me all mad about my own tiny scratches.

P.S. I have heard about a coating you can have put on your gelcoat that will make it slightly tougher, but that's the extent of my knowledge.

(Message edited by wakedude83 on July 20, 2007)

My 210 is navy blue and I have managed to keep the hull really clean from scratches.

However the bottom of the boat is all scuffed up from my trailer. The scratches buff out, but be ready for some extensive cleaning and polishing a few times a year if you want to keep it perfect.

my next boat will have a white bottom(love the looks of ww's new all white bu, I'll prob go all white next one)
Oh yeah, it's black from rub rail down, red from rub rail into boat. it's been scratch free so far, but I spend way to much time worrying about the dark color scratching.

I just don't understand why it scratches white. On the top deck I have what look like white smudges, but they are scratches, there are a few on the hull, and the transom... two days on the water and it looked horrible. The boat is Navy top to bottom with a white x1 and stripe. This is going to drive me carzy. They should at least thicken the gel coat on dark colors so that it scratches the same color as the gel instead of white.

Unless the scratch is really deep it will buff back to the origional color. I'm not sure why they look white(I think it is a transfer of what ever I scratched against) but I have a blue hull and have buffed out numerous small white scratchs and kept it looking new. Buy some 3M Finesse-It II, if really bad start with some rubbing compound.

white is the best

I had a black 2003 210 from 2003 until this spring, and was able to keep it almost completely scratch-free. I am now on my second black boat (a 236), and wouldn't have any other color. I don't ever beach my boats, and I am careful when loading them onto the trailer. As long as you're careful, dark boats can be kept looking good.

Jeff ~~ Post a pic of that 236! That 210 you had was sick and would like to see the new boat.

Here are the pics of my new boat, figure now is a good a time as any to post them. I hope I can keep it looking good.

The color of the gel is all the way down to the fiberglass. The white that you are seeing is just from the surface of the gel being scratched. As George said, it should buff right out.