Special Colors
Custom colors give your boat a unique personalized style.
All of our boats come standard with white exterior and gray interior. But there are a lot of fun ways to customize your boat with color. Maybe you’d like to match your yacht tender to a sister ship . . or maybe you just want a boat that’s a bit more distinctive. Our most popular color customizations are:
- Gelcoat stripe (as shown at right)
- Vinyl pinstripe (detail stripe)
- Deck color (on decked models)
We’re happy to advise you based on our many years of experience as custom builders.
A Jersey Skiff with custom blue gelcoat stripe
A vinyl pinstripe makes a simple and effective finishing touch.
If you like a subtle look, a vinyl pinstripe against a white hull adds just a little taste of color, without being overwhelming. Or if you have a gelcoat stripe, a vinyl pinstripe adds some depth and dimension.
Vinyl pinstripe is available in several different colors and widths. A white pinstripe against a color background gives a classic nautical look, while a gold pinstripe adds a hint of luxury.
A gold detail pinstripe on a black gelcoat stripe.
The deck is another place where you can customize with color.
If your boat has a deck, like the 16′ Melonseed shown here, you can have the deck a different color from the rest of the interior.
When we take your order, we’ll nail down all these details. As you look over the various boat photos on our site, you’ll notice some of the variations we have done over the years. This is by no means a complete history of all the color combinations we have built for our customers.
A Melonseed with a custom black deck looks very classy
Here are some things to take into account when you’re choosing a color:
Deeper colors fade over time, especially in direct sunlight. This is of special concern when it comes to storing your boat. The color fade takes several years if it’s stored in the sun, although the fade happens faster under tropical sun. A stroll down the dock at your local marina will show you what sunlight can do to gelcoat.
Colored gelcoat shows wear more than plain white does. If you drag your boat up and down the beach all day long, the under layers of fiberglass are white thus the scratches will show through the darker colors. If the color of your yacht is a dark color, often the best choice is to have us do a nice stripe in the matching darker color, and have the rest of the hull a light color for easy care. When the boat is in the water, the light color is mostly hidden below the waterline. The color stripe will still be visible, and remind your eye which yacht this dinghy belongs to.
Gray interiors may seem “boring,” but they are popular for a reason. We use gray for the basic color for the inside of our boats because it doesn’t show the dirt from regular usage and its easy on our eyes in bright sunlight. We’ve built some boats with a light cream interior and while it looks great, we’ve found that it really shows every bit of dirt, so we don’t recommend it. However we are a custom boat builder and we’ll build your boat any color you want. We want you to have a boat that you are proud to show off.
Gelcoat Color Chart
Unlike Henry Ford who offered the model “T” in any color as long as you liked black, we can make the hull of your boat any of the colors shown in the chart here.
Not all monitors are created equal. Please note that the colors as they appear on your screen are subjective to the settings on your computer monitor and that the actual color may not be exactly the one you see. The best way to choose a color is to see it in person. If your yacht is a beautiful shade of blue and you are dying for a matching dinghy, contact us about the best way to match the color. If you can send us your preferred color chip, then we can either select the closest match from our color chart, or for the most precise match, our gelcoat manufacturer can do a spectrometer color match (additional charge applies).
The prices for the custom colors for each boat style are listed on our prices page. If you need a special color mixed that isn’t on this chart there is a small surcharge, but considering the work involved we think that you’ll find us very reasonable.
