Gel coat color fade

[PhilR]

I recently had my boat out of the water for some work and noticed that the dark blue color below the waterline had lightened considerably after 3 months in a clear, fresh water lake. Is this inevitable? Do I need to bottom paint? I always assumed that bottom paint/ barrier coat was for salt water only.

 

[Spirit of Gratitude]

That is normal below the waterline. If you pull the boat out of the water it will over a little period of time come back to the blue.
No bottom paint needed. I do not have bottom paint. I keep the boat in fresh water in the summer. I pull it out on the trailer every 5 weeks give it a power wash and put it back in the lake. I also run the boat in salt in the winter but do not leave it in the water. I never need to power wash in the winter because we only cruise for for or five weeks at a time and in the cooler water and moving often there is no build up.

Stuart

 

[PhilR]

I'm surprised to hear that the faded gel coat returns to the darker color after being out of the water for a while.

 

[Spirit of Gratitude]

Yeah I know. I can't explain why but it does. I think Jeff or Andrew could do better at explaining it. The important thing is that you need not worry. Your gelcoat is not going to come off.
I would guess that the dark blue color is much thinner on the hull. It is about 22mils thick on the sides where it should be. When sitting in the water for any period of time there must be some reaction that causes the color change on the thinner color on the hull. Never the less, I have watched it come back many times. Crazy s#@t!

The one area that I wish they put a better gelcoat on is the sun brows above the front windows and along the sides. That dark blue takes a beating. I wax mine every weekend but still they fade a bit. This fall I will give them a good rub out and wax to bring them back like new. Then I am having individual Dark blue sunbrella covers made for each one.
I have a full cover for the boat for when I have it in dry storage but these covers will be for the summer when it is in the water for the season and the sun is baking them all week long when we are not using her. Then I will remove them for the weekend.
I wax by whole boat and hull three times a year. I just brought it home last week for a mid season hull wax. It is very easy to do out of the water. I am a big believer in doing it before it ever starts looking like it needs it.
Just did a nice heavy coat of teak oil on all the interior wood. Wow! It is amazing how new it all looks. I do that twice a year.
Anyway this is more info then you probably wanted but I do like to share about what is required to keep my boat looking showroom.

Happy Boating,
Stuart

 

[PhilR]

Stuart, you take better care of your boat than I do. I used to be very fussy about such things, but at this point in my life, 68 years old, I'm trying to use more and maintain less. My boat is in clean, fresh water from April 15 to October 15 and will be in a warehouse the other half of the year.....no sun exposure. I just did the mid season, out of the water hull cleaning and I'm hoping that one clean and wax and a teak oil treatment every year will keep things looking good.

Phil

 

[Spirit of Gratitude]

I am a bit over board when it comes to keeping the boat clean and waxed I agree. But as far as using her we have had our boat for 16 months and we have 400 hrs on her. So for us it is both. Maybe at some point I will relax on keep her so clean, but on the other hand I have been doing this all my life and I have always been this way. I guess that is the curse of being a type A

Happy boating,
Stuart