I am gobsmacked by the amount of punishment and expense some dealing out to themselves!

In the name of what?
The boot stripe is not practical, got no aesthetical value (to me), it is not particularly dressing or nice, and at least on Rhapsody caused endless pain and suffering.
First pissing me off with the growth, than double pissing me off with the never ending scrubbing, time which l should have spent sailing as l eventually was, after the surgery. That red pain(t) was especially prone to the dark growth in my area giving the whole waterline a yucky, obnoxious, unclean look.

When the boat was slipped the first time, the painted boot strap was taken off and the hull properly finished, undercoated and antifouled up to the top of the original boot strap + 20mm.

After that l never had trouble with growth. Not that kind anyway. No more messing about with my mind either, pissing me off, forever.

The other boat, the family Benny has a dark blue hull totally devoid of any boot strap, thank havens, and so, always clean and nice.

It was really no fun to work on the yacht on utterly mertricious jobs, which got nothing to do with sailing in the closest sense, or to keep the yacht in good seaworthy condition.

Jode5 said..

2bish said..

Jode5 said..

2bish said..

shaggybaxter said..

2bish said..

shaggybaxter said..

2bish said..

Stockie said..
Get a caramel wheel to remove the vinyl, makes a horrible job easier!
ive got a blue line, same issue that sir G had, but I was thinking of trying a clear silicon coat, like the outer coat on prop speed.
cheers Richard

Hi Richard, what's a caramel wheel?

Clear silicon coat sounds interesting, would it be ok in UV? I also thought about the possibility of getting a stripe cut from the vinyl that they're putting on the underwater parts of hulls as a fouling release now. https://www.innovativemarinecoatings.com.au/biocide-free-anti-fouling-vinyl/

Thanks 2Bish, I was wondering the same thing regards the caramel wheel.
I've got the opposite problem, my hull sides are vinyl stickers not paint, and they're looking pretty flat now being three years old.
I'm tossing up if I bother trying to remove them myself, so this is definitely of interest.

Hi Shaggy, so is your whole hull covered in vinyl wrap then? 3 years isn't long is it! Can't you wax polish it or isn't that lasting long enough when you do so? Or what about one of those whiz bang silicon finishes, would that work and save you the grief of having to remove it all?

G'day 2Bish,
Not the whole hull mate, just the sides. Its the grey colour in the picture, you may be able to see the flatness. There is a torn section forrard you can see that I have to replace when they slinged the boat and didn't use any padding, but other than that it's unbroken, just drab.

Yeah, I was hoping for more than three years, it's not totally trashed but it's lost its sheen and no amount of polish seems to correct it. I know when I had it done they told me they used above average quality Avery Dennison vinyl but not the best you can buy, as the higher end 3M vinyl was just poisonously expensive.

The problem seems to be the high UV in Qld, it's sucked the shine out of it and sadly the resultant flatness isn't uniform.
I'm not familiar with a silicon finish? Does this just put a gloss finish on the existing product?
It'd be fantastic not to pull it all off, kinda difficult job if it's sitting in a cradle.

Ah I see! still a lot of it to deal with eh?

Sorry but I was incorrect, it was a Ceramic coating I was thinking of, not silicon. I've never tried it, just came across it when I was looking at waxes. It's probably stupidly expensive and only lasts half as long as they claim , here are a couple of links"

www.innovativemarinecoatings.com.au/marine-ceramic-coating/

When I last had my boat detailed they tried to get me to coat the boat with ' System X' . It was very expensive and I was not prepared to pay out that sort of money without proof it works, so they did my 2 gelcoat deck halyard covers as a sample. Thank god I didn't fork out over $3,000.00 just to do the deck as it did not last 6 months before the gelcoat started to dull off. It was no better than a good quality wax. 2bish it doesn't ever last half of what the say unless you park your boat in a shed.

I suspected as much! whats your good quality wax of choice btw?

Collinite is the best I have found that last well.
www.collinite.com/marine-wax/

Would that be the Collinite #925? Is there a local source?

sirgallivant said..
I am gobsmacked by the amount of punishment and expense some dealing out to themselves! In the name of what?

I am right with you there sirgal.

Why in God's name would anybody add to their boat maintenance troubles by having a boot topping?? It adds another line to be masked off before painting making extra hours of work.

Then each extra stripe results in another TWO masking and cutting in lines!! Insanity!!

Further, stick on stripes are an absolute pain when it comes time to remove them which will inevitably happen.

However, that being said, I have to admit to doing the boot topping and stripe thing but It is inherited from the previous owners and from new.



The black boot topping line and the black gunwhale line are from new.

The red and yellow stripes are from the previous owner who was a Kraut and were stick on stripes. Under the red was white and under the yellow was red from new and that is how she is now (original). Sorry no pic yet but it does look very good.

When I antifoul in black it will be up to the top of the boot topping line.

The big name stickers are gone too. Regulation 80 mm name on the transom only.

I ran a car wrap business, before falling out with my young and often wayward business partner. ..he was a highyly skilled wrapper, while I was more involved in sales and management, and provision ofworking capital..lol. So just a couple of comments.

If the correct vinyl has been used (that is cast wrap vinyl.. Avery 3M most used) it should be relatively easy to remove using a heat gun or steamer. I say this from experience removing entire vinyl wraps from many cars. It also has a longer life.. 7 years in Sydney conditions. Rated 9 from memory.

If the vinyl is difficult to remove, it is amost certainly a cheaper vinyl. And then it is an absolute bastard to remove. Cheaper vinyl is harder to apply when wrapping curved surfaces, so most signies would only use the cheaper stuff on lettering and smaller easier areas to apply.

So I would not be scared off using vinyl because of difficulty of removing the stuff. Just make sure the installer is instructed to use Cast Avery or 3M wrap ..sight the vinyl before install..the type of vinyl used is identified on the backing paper.

I do not know about the suitabilty of using viny wrap to cover the entire above waterline .. I have heard conflicting opinions / varying reasons . I am tempted to give it a go next time my Marieholme is up on the hard. It would be a doddle for me to wrap in a day. And removal ...2 to 4 hours tops. My one caveat is I havent removed from fibreglass surfaces, but would not of expect any probs.

Sorry for my long winded indulgence..its just I have been procrastinating over whether to wrap my Marieholme Folkboat. BTW I reckon the best vinyl would cost me (at 8m x 1.5m x 2 sides) about $580... then transom and extra for curve another $120. So the very tops vinyl (based on wholesale) at about $700. Lets say $800.

Also re Shaggy's boat.. I think wrapping clear vinyl over old existing vinyl would be a no no for quite a few reasons that I havent got the energy to go into.

Cheers
Mike

Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this, I've never looked so closely at stripes on boat since starting this thread . I measured my boot stripe the other day from the top of the existing antifoul line/waterline. It's about 200 mm high including the thin stripe of white gel coat between the top of the antifoul and the bottom of the blue painted boot stripe.

I see the sense in extending the antifoul up to the top of the boot stripe. It is a problem area for growth and a hassle to have to mess around with. I also see that this will simplify future maintenance, so I'll probably do that.

I'm not married to the twin GT stripes at the top of the hull, but I can see that they visually lengthen the hull and prevent it looking too high. What are your thoughts, what do you think would suit this hull? If I do reinstate the GT stripes in some form, I'll paint them on rather than redoing them in vinyl (so I can touch up damage easily).

2bish said..
Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this, I've never looked so closely at stripes on boat since starting this thread . I measured my boot stripe the other day from the top of the existing antifoul line/waterline. It's about 200 mm high including the thin stripe of white gel coat between the top of the antifoul and the bottom of the blue painted boot stripe.

I see the sense in extending the antifoul up to the top of the boot stripe. It is a problem area for growth and a hassle to have to mess around with. I also see that this will simplify future maintenance, so I'll probably do that.

I'm not married to the twin GT stripes at the top of the hull, but I can see that they visually lengthen the hull and prevent it looking too high. What are your thoughts, what do you think would suit this hull? If I do reinstate the GT stripes in some form, I'll paint them on rather than redoing them in vinyl (so I can touch up damage easily).

I think the stripes enhance the row away effect. That feel good feeling you get from glancing back at your pride and joy after a pleasant day at sea. I would suggest washing the topsides down with Metal Gleam or an oxallic acid mix to return the hull to it's right colour. The scum just above the antifoul can be easily cleaned by treading water [with fins] with an ice cream container with some acid mix of your choice ]metal gleam] and a green scouring pad. Drift down the side and lightly rub off the scum. After a couple of minutes slop seawater over it to rinse. Wear dive goggles to prevent stinging the eyes. Wont hurt the hands.

Insomniac said..
I ran a car wrap business, before falling out with my young and often wayward business partner. ..he was a highyly skilled wrapper, while I was more involved in sales and management, and provision ofworking capital..lol. So just a couple of comments.

If the correct vinyl has been used (that is cast wrap vinyl.. Avery 3M most used) it should be relatively easy to remove using a heat gun or steamer. I say this from experience removing entire vinyl wraps from many cars. It also has a longer life.. 7 years in Sydney conditions. Rated 9 from memory.

If the vinyl is difficult to remove, it is amost certainly a cheaper vinyl. And then it is an absolute bastard to remove. Cheaper vinyl is harder to apply when wrapping curved surfaces, so most signies would only use the cheaper stuff on lettering and smaller easier areas to apply.

So I would not be scared off using vinyl because of difficulty of removing the stuff. Just make sure the installer is instructed to use Cast Avery or 3M wrap ..sight the vinyl before install..the type of vinyl used is identified on the backing paper.

I do not know about the suitabilty of using viny wrap to cover the entire above waterline .. I have heard conflicting opinions / varying reasons . I am tempted to give it a go next time my Marieholme is up on the hard. It would be a doddle for me to wrap in a day. And removal ...2 to 4 hours tops. My one caveat is I havent removed from fibreglass surfaces, but would not of expect any probs.

Sorry for my long winded indulgence..its just I have been procrastinating over whether to wrap my Marieholme Folkboat. BTW I reckon the best vinyl would cost me (at 8m x 1.5m x 2 sides) about $580... then transom and extra for curve another $120. So the very tops vinyl (based on wholesale) at about $700. Lets say $800.

Also re Shaggy's boat.. I think wrapping clear vinyl over old existing vinyl would be a no no for quite a few reasons that I havent got the energy to go into.

Cheers
Mike

Cheers Insomniac for the detailed response, all good information.
Thanks very much!
SB