Are dark hulls hotter?

[Dr. Sea]

I love the appearance of a dark hulled boat, but I wonder about the effect on heat inside the boat. I sail and plan to sail in mostly tropical areas, and I prefer to not be dependent on air conditioning, so a heat gain would not be good. How much heat gain would a dark hull cause?

[Steadman Uhlich]

Howdy!

What follows is written in a truly friendly tone of voice and with the sole intent to help you.

There have been other threads posted discussing this issue at length, with differing opinions.

Since you are new to the forum, here is a friendly tip: Look at the menu bar on the forum pages for the "Search" menu. Click on that to drop down a list of search functions, select the GOOGLE CUSTOM search feature and then enter several different descriptive terms. That will do a custom google search of this site and it is likely to yield results quickly for you.

Here is an example using the terms "dark hull"

dark hull - Google Search

[boatman61]

The key is good air circulation and your location.. in any colour boat..
If your stuck in a sheltered marina the guy in the white boats gonna sweat as much as you..
If your on an anchorage with decent wind scoops you'll be fine.. just keep the deck colour light.. cream or sand..
Many will disagree

[Eleuthera 2014]

Oyster did comparative tests a few years ago. On 2 identical boats, one dark blue and the other white, the dark boat temperature in the fan tail was 35C hotter.

This causes early delamitation apparently. Plus takes much more polishing and elbow grease to keep good looking.

Blue boat? Not for me... same goes for teak decks.

[Delancey]

“There are only two colors to paint a boat - black or white. And only a fool would paint a boat black.”

- Capt. Nathanael Greene Herreshoff

[Dr. Sea]

Originally Posted by Eleuthera 2014

Oyster did comparative tests a few years ago. On 2 identical boats, one dark blue and the other white, the dark boat temperature in the fan tail was 35C hotter.

This causes early delamitation apparently. Plus takes much more polishing and elbow grease to keep good looking.

Blue boat? Not for me... same goes for teak decks.

I wasn't thinking about the fantail so much as the cabins, and 35 degrees, even Fahrenheit is very bad news. I know that polishing is an issue, because I have a day sailing boat that I race, and I have to keep its red hull covered to protect it from the sun. But I don't try to sleep on it. Heat, polishing, and delamination add up to a big vote against dark hulls. But they sure are good looking!

[crazyoldboatguy]

Only when the sun is shining.

[four winds]

At anchor during Florida summers a dark blue hull has been fine for me. Using the Breeze Booster wind scoop really moves some air through the boat.

Off white deck with a gray cabin stripe, and yes I can feel where the stripe is from the inside via heating. If I place my hand on the inner liner.

Hotter than a white boat? Don't know because I've never owned one and little or no time anchoring on other boats.

Probably is hotter, but my preference for a dark hull overrides any logic here in this case.

[colemj]

If the hull is cored, there isn't as much difference in temp. If the hull is not cored, the difference is dramatic.

I owned a green boat in Michigan at one time. After two years, I painted it white. The difference was like turning off a heat gun.

Mark

[DeepFrz]

At first I thought this was a misplaced title and should have been in the "Titles we want to see..." thread but then I realized that people are taking it seriously.

[Island Time O25]

In Maine if you want to prolong your sailing season dark hull is great. In Florida - not so much.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

At first I thought this was a misplaced title and should have been in the "Titles we want to see..." thread but then I realized that people are taking it seriously.

A dirty mind is a joy forever

[sv Winterlude]

More issues than just hot -- we have a dark dark green hull and have cruised from Annapolis to Cartagena Colombia and back to Florida, currently in Key West. I wrote a synopsis of our opinion of fact & fiction when it comes to a dark hull ... here's the link if you're interested: Dark Hull Boats: Fact & Fiction

[Chenega]

Originally Posted by Delancey

“There are only two colors to paint a boat - black or white. And only a fool would paint a boat black.”



- Capt. Nathanael Greene Herreshoff

And for that very reason I decided to paint my favorite boat ( an H-28 ) top sides black! She was a beauty..! 😃

[S/V Illusion]

That's why they sell only white cars in Florida... Oh, wait....