I use automotive acrylic urethane on my painted hulls but wouldn't recommend it at all if you don't have spray equipment and a good respirator. Holds up better then any single part marine paint I've ever used as long as it's not used on something that's kept docked in the water all season.

          Chris

haha sorry i meant polyurethane type paint.  No spray equipment here so that won't work.

For a black hull I would recommend epoxy & graphite.  It not only creates wonderful finish, but it is also super scratch resistant.

David,

How much graphite do you mix with epoxy?  I see I can buy 1 lb of Dixon graphite for $8.  Is it that cheap?  You've got me interested.

Thanks,

Trevor

you mix the Graphite 50/50 by volume.  Not sure how big 1LB is, I bought the West System in a can. The small can that they do not sell anymore did my WD12 two coats and the bow & stern rub strips on three other boats.  The bigger can is 1.45lb and sells for 17.00CDN @ Noah's, so your price sounds in line. 

my suggestion is buy the Graphite, mix a small batch and do a test on a piece of scap.  See how you like it.  Oh, and that small can also did my test piece too :)  I think you will really like it.  After bouncing/scrapping across some rocks on the St. Laurence and then hoisting her up a rock face for a photo contest, I am really glad to have had that scratch resistance on the WD12 :)

Also, mix your unthickened epoxy and pour that into the Graphite powder.  if you do it in the other direction, it gets lumpy.  Check out Laszlo's blog for pictures and description. 

awesome thanks!

I'm wondering about using the color black.  It all depends where you use your boat, of course, but in many areas it's not a bad idea to be as visible as possible, considering the number of slow people out there in fast boats!

Keep in mind we are talking about the hull.  I did my WD12 with underside black and the sides & top bright (varnished), but you do raise a good point about speed.  I think the best defense is to be aware.  For my SOF I used relfective ribbon (webbing) on the deck rigging for night time paddles, our prefered.  and it is a white boat :)

You can spend a lot of money on paint, if you like. Or not, with virtually the same results.

There is a long history of boats being painted with porch and house paint, and I, personally have done this with excellent results. I have also painted many a boat with inexpensive Rustoleum marine paints, or even just their usual oil based paint.

Proper surface prep is key no matter what you use, of course.

Good luck!

Dave, I defer to your greater experience, but I will say that the Epifanes Monourethane I just used on my wherry, while a little tricky to use, produced a surface that is almost unnaturally shiny and hard as Chinese arithmetic!  I've never seen an enamel that comes close to the hardness of the Epifanes.  That said, it is stupid expensive.  Having poured a bizillion hours into the boat already, I figured why scrimp on the part that you have to look at all the time?  If this post seems a bit off, perhaps it's the Z-Spar I've been huffing all morning....

Thanks for the input.  I went ahead and bought some paint off of this site figuring I couldnt go wrong with that.  Next time I will consider  using a glossy oil based paint bought from a hardware store and maybe save a couple bucks.  haha.

Pete, if Epifanes does as well on their paint as they do on their varnish, it is truly a superiour product.  My WD12 is Epifanes Varnish and Epoxy/Graphite, really happy with the results.

David, do you have a picture of your WD12?  I'd like to see the what the epoxy graphite looks like fore future reference.  Thanks.

here are the launch pictures: http://www.clcboats.com/forum/clcforum/thread/11099.html

 Also, check out Laszlo'z blog: http://www.morocz.com/BoatBuilding/DuckBuild.htm

Hope this helps