Advice w/ Changing Color Schemes

[BigSteels]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and to salt water boating in general and I was hoping to get some good advice on changing the accent colors of my 25ft WellCraft Cabin Cruiser. I would absolutely love to completely change the exterior trim colors to something more my personal taste.

My first question is can I change the color of the canvass top by either dying or painting it somehow? The top is only four years old and in almost perfect shape, I just don't like the greenish color it is. I can best describe it as almost an emerald green on sunny days, and more of a teal or aqua hue on cloudy days. Also, I'm not sure how to identify the exact material it is, any help with this would be great.

My second question is regarding the exterior vinyl type stick on trim that wraps the complete boat. Can this be painted and sealed somehow so that the salt water won't tear it up? Or do I have to take the current stuff off and totally apply new stuff?

Although I have other questions, I'll limit this to this last question. I also want to rename the boat and it appears that the current lettering on the back is almost like a vinyl stick on type similar to the vinyl wrap on the sides. Can anyone tell me what that material is and where to get a piece to make my own custom lettering with? Also, I have no idea what really keeps it on, especially in the back of the boat where it takes a beating. Does this vinyl just have an extremely sticky back to it?

Thank you in advance of any first hand advice you may have to help me with my boat.

[beachbum29]

Use a hair dryer to remove the vinyl stripes, then some "goop" to remove the adhesive.

[JPA Cate]

There are professionals who can install new "stripes" and boat names. You can paint the canvas with exterior latex house paint, but you may not like how it looks. I have seen this done on older canvas dodgers to make them waterproof again. I, personally, wouldn't do this if what I had was in good condition. I'd just wait for it to either shrink or get porous or even worn out, and have a good canvas maker make me a new one the color I want. Have fun with it.

[D&D]

We weren't overly excited about our colours either, and we also were dealing with fairly new canvass and trim. We considered a lot of options with the exterior, but we ended up working with the colours by adding accents to the interior. When we are on 'show' (during our exhibitions, when our vessel becomes a 'floating gallery') we add exterior accents that both temper the stock exterior colours, as well as adding our own colour 'feel'. It all works pretty well...or at least we think so!

If you'd like to chat with the Admiral here -- The Captain is a fish-out-of-water when it comes to colours, but the Admiral is a pro! -- about making colours work on a vessel, PM us with your email address. The Admiral would be delighted to chat with you as it's a personal passion for her.

[BigSteels]

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it. I'm really trying to do this myself for the enjoyment and satisfaction of working on my own boat. I'm fairly handy and detail oriented and feel confident I could do a very nice job. My fear is not having the correct knowledge about the actual material of the canvas.

My plan is to contact the previous owner of the boat to inquire about who made the top, and then of course ill call them to discuss it. Then decide my options.

If its possible to dye or paint it, then I'd be more than happy to inquire about designing the boat from scratch. If its not changeable, then I'm just going to change the vinyl wrap to gloss black as its really the only true color option I see. Its such a strange greenish color that I think I think that only sand tones or dark gray type colors will work...and I'm just not into that.

[beachbum29]

I usually remove any stripes and not replace them. I prefer the mono look.

[Mr Lee]

You can remove the boot stripes with a hair dryer as said. West Marine sells new ones by the roll. They are very hard to get straight. Boat US does a great job on graphics. You can design and order online. They come with very good install directions. Good luck!