I considering ordering my first brand new boat. I'm getting hung up on color combinations. I have seen sooo many good looking boats with a black hull, but I'm a little worried about maintenance. I ride on the river 90% of the time and hitting small sticks and scum on the water is the price I pay to have glass 24/7. I also trailer my boat everywhere I go. Will a black hull show damage any worse than another color? Would black be any easier repair?
Probably show less. I've got a black hull and yes- it requires a few more passes with wipe down towel when we pull her out- but I'm good with that. Love the black hull and we ride on the Trinity river.
Their is certainly more maintenance to keep it looking good, but if you are a particular person and like to take care of your stuff then it will look nice and you would probably do that same maintenance with any color. If you are the type of person that doesn't wash your car a lot then it might not be for you. Really just depends on how you are. I always get black, but I take really good care of our toys. Nothing looks better than black when it is clean!
I ride on the mississippi river. My old boat had a white hull that stained brown in spots after 3 years of river use. I ordered my current boat with an all black hull because i didn't want to go through this again. I hit debris all the time and it never marrs the finish. The only downfall to the black that i have noticed is where the hull rubs against the trailer bunks from the constant loading and unloading shows a little minor scratching, which i'm sure a marine shop could polish out with a wax job. This is not a huge issue to me because it doesn't stand out and it's below the waterline, it's tough to even notice when it's sitting on the trailer. The other thing is my dealer told me not to tow with my cover on because the wind could cause the cover to move around and it would leave noticeable marks on the black hull. I typically do not tow with my cover on because of their concerns, but i will say that i've towed with it on and never noticed any problems.
I think you will have to give it a little extra attention to cleaning with any color other than white. It's just a matter of how picky you are with keeping your investment in top shape.
My black hull gets more white looking scuffs from the dock bumpers. It is more work. Looks really good when it's buffed but a tiny scratch shows more than on the red at the back of my hull.
Another thing you will want to get is bouncy balls from toys r us or Exile Audio sells them too. They are much softer than the regular bumpers. Regular bumpers will leave light scratches in a black hull. They are better anyway cause they keep the boats farther apart or off the dock. You can also let the air out to make more room for storage..... Here is a pic of them in use and link to exile audio's balls. You can get them at Toys R Us too but I think they are a little thinner and the black will match your boat
Black Sanger DLX...Super easy to clean but I have some of the best (cleanest) water normally - but I take it to the river also. Not bad at all to clean it after.
Give the kids some towels and tell them to have at it. They've got it down pretty good.
I also use Hippity-Hops for bumpers. Oh, and they can deflate for easier storage than standard bumpers...although if you raft up a lot I can that inflating and deflating being a pain.
DC
They are easy to store in the boat as "you da man" said. You can let the air out of them and blow them up by mouth. Very easy. I have plenty of storage in my Supra, so I just leave them inflated, but if you need the storage space just let the air out.
I had a black hull on my '08, and also use Hippity-Hops even though I had a white side panel.
My lake is definitely a bit dirty, so for as much as we tie up, I went black to help with some of the tea stain. It works perfectly. I'll be doing both this time around too.
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