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Author Topic:   creativity with bottom paint
martyn1075 posted 07-12-2012 11:27 AM ET (US)   Profile for martyn1075   Send Email to martyn1075  
Has anyone eve seen bottom paint applied like this? I'm not sure what the point was here other than completely defacing this classic whaler.

Martyn

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rch/bod/3133557540.html

Jeff posted 07-12-2012 11:46 AM ET (US)     Profile for Jeff  Send Email to Jeff     
Could be worse.....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/jeff_rohlfing/Misc%20Whaler/ Badpaint.jpg?t=1288585210
Tom W Clark posted 07-12-2012 11:47 AM ET (US)     Profile for Tom W Clark  Send Email to Tom W Clark     
I seen that a thousand times over my lifetime. It is just horrible, especially with the ghastly blue bottom paint.

It is just not that hard to run a level waterline around a hull but people fail to do so, over and over and over.

martyn1075 posted 07-12-2012 12:04 PM ET (US)     Profile for martyn1075  Send Email to martyn1075     
For me its just a turn off and its too bad because the boat probably has many years of service left in it. What would somebody do to fix this or hide it?

Perhaps the cheapest way would be to sand it all off and apply a matching color paint. Paint or not the price for this model is on the high side, correct?

Tom W Clark posted 07-12-2012 12:16 PM ET (US)     Profile for Tom W Clark  Send Email to Tom W Clark     
The bottom paint can be removed from the bow and the gel coat restored. Been there, done that. It is just a bunch of work that would never have been necessary if somebody had used a little masking tape and a level. Ironically, they would have saved on paint too.
Dave Sutton posted 07-12-2012 12:39 PM ET (US)     Profile for Dave Sutton  Send Email to Dave Sutton     
I bet it's not even bottom paint... that does not look like a boat that spent a lot of time on a mooring. Just bad taste.

Dave

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Binkster posted 07-12-2012 12:44 PM ET (US)     Profile for Binkster  Send Email to Binkster     
Not sure how a level comes into play.
Sourpuss1 posted 07-12-2012 12:51 PM ET (US)     Profile for Sourpuss1  Send Email to Sourpuss1     
I have seen many poor applications of bottom paint, particularly on whalers. Folks get confused by the cathedral hull. I think that this application is actually not too bad in comparison. Almost artfully done....
It may be painted this way to cover any multitude of sins on the bow.
Tom W Clark posted 07-12-2012 01:16 PM ET (US)     Profile for Tom W Clark  Send Email to Tom W Clark     
Oh, it's bottom paint all right. What happens I think is somebody starts painting without laying out he waterline or thinking about it and then they get tot he boat and don;t know here to stop.

They step back, see their line is horrible and then keep adding al little more, then a little more which makes things worse. For lack of a clear line to paint to, they just continue all the way up the smirk.

It could well be this particular job was just an attempt to cover up a previous bad waterline that rose up the bow.

Tom W Clark posted 07-12-2012 01:19 PM ET (US)     Profile for Tom W Clark  Send Email to Tom W Clark     
A level comes into play when you are trying to describe a level line as the waterline on a boat is. IUt's not a difficult concept to understand.

You can make a water level with a gallon jug and a length of clear tubing but in this day and age, I prefer to just use a laser level to project a laser line on each side of a hull and mask right off of that.

contender posted 07-12-2012 01:20 PM ET (US)     Profile for contender  Send Email to contender     
Maybe he is just a real fat person in the front of the boat, and while the boat was was in the water he bent over the bow and drew a water line....
dfmcintyre posted 07-12-2012 03:20 PM ET (US)     Profile for dfmcintyre  Send Email to dfmcintyre     
Tom -

Have you ever seen anyone using a spinning laser level to mark a waterline? I'd heard from a boatyard guy last year who said one was used in the yard he worked.

First launched the boat with a standard load of fuel and accessories, etc., marked with a grease pencil the corners of the transom, and again up at the bow. Pulled the boat and setup the laser to hit both marks, taped accordingly. Repeat on the other side and once more on the stern.

Thoughts? (since I don't use bottom paint on mine)

Regards - Don

contender posted 07-12-2012 03:27 PM ET (US)     Profile for contender  Send Email to contender     
dfm: If you mark the front and back why do you need a laser?...simple math, two points determine a straight line...
Landlocked posted 07-12-2012 06:07 PM ET (US)     Profile for Landlocked  Send Email to Landlocked     
the spinning laser would create a light line to follow when applying the masking tape saving the step of marking the line with a chalk or pencil. Would probably be more accurate too depending on length of boat and shape of the hull.
Binkster posted 07-12-2012 06:14 PM ET (US)     Profile for Binkster  Send Email to Binkster     
So if you are marking the bottom paint line to a level, I would assume the boat also needs to be level. Do you level the deck, the gunwale or what? decks are usually pitched to the stern, and gunwales go the way of the design. Unlike buildings and bowling alleys, boats aren't built using levels, although the building jig needs to be level. The last time I did it years ago, I marked the waterline with the boat in the water, and came up about an inch.
I could see a laser level could work, though.

rich

DVollrath posted 07-12-2012 06:41 PM ET (US)     Profile for DVollrath  Send Email to DVollrath     
I think you'll need to mark at least 3 points on the hull. 2 points define a line, but you are really looking for a plane where the waterline would slice through the boat. It takes 3 points to define a plane. Seems like you'd need to put the boat in the water to mark at least 3 points, and spin your laser level to join them on land.

Dennis

Tom W Clark posted 07-12-2012 06:42 PM ET (US)     Profile for Tom W Clark  Send Email to Tom W Clark     
Don -- Yes, that's how it's done at most yards. A spinning laser level or even just a point laser level will work, though a single point laser beam has to be moved along the hull as you mark it.

The laser level I have does not spin, it uses a prism to spread the laser beam into a line that can be projected onto anything you can think of. It has both a plumb line a horizontal level line.

To mark a boat's waterline you only need a point on the stem and a point on the transom. Level the two and away you go. Put the line above the waterline however much you want. Mark your boot stripe the same way too. Perfect every time.

If you can also park your boat in a level parking surface and use a stick cut the length of he distance between the ground and the waterline you want to mark. It becomes a bit of a pain under the cathedral hull of a Whaler, but it will work to the extent the surface is level too and you always hold the stick perfectly plumb.

Like I said, we used to use a good ol' water level and it works too, but with modern lasers, it is just so much easier and accurate.

My point was simply that with either modern technology or ancient Egyptian technology, there is really no excuse for not painting a straight waterline.

Tom W Clark posted 07-12-2012 06:55 PM ET (US)     Profile for Tom W Clark  Send Email to Tom W Clark     
Dennis -- You really only need two points because it is assumed you will paint the waterline level side-to-side so you set up the boat sitting level side-to-side. Once you have the point you want at side of the transom, you know where it will be on the other side too.

The last time I did a Montauk hull, I backed the boat into a shop space and used the tongue jack to raise the bow to the level where its mark was level with the mark on the transom. I used a jack to slightly lift the trailer frame on one side to bring the boat level side-to-side.

I set up the level far enough forward that it could shoot the beam under the hull in the cathedral portion while still reaching my mark on the corner of the transom. Repeat for the other side of the hull and again for the transom itself.

DVollrath posted 07-12-2012 07:07 PM ET (US)     Profile for DVollrath  Send Email to DVollrath     
Tom,
Understood. If there is an implicit assumption that the boat sits level side to side in the water, then you are golden. Seems like a reasonable assumption for bottom painting.

I just wish the guy who had painted my boat originally had been a bit neater about it. I think he used the "a single eyeball defines a plane" method. Must have been a pirate.

Dennis

Tom W Clark posted 07-12-2012 07:12 PM ET (US)     Profile for Tom W Clark  Send Email to Tom W Clark     
The second Montauk I bought back in 1986 had red bottom paint. It got a little high and wild at the bow; the original owner did it himself and did not seem to care.

I spent some time stripping the paint off of the areas where it was too high and buffed the gel coat and marked the waterline I wanted, perfectly straight and level. I used white paint which was much less visible that that god awful red.

Since then, I have decided Desert Tan bottom paint looks good on a Desert Tan Whaler hull:

[]url]http://home.comcast.net/~tomwclark/Desert_Tan_Bottom_Paint.jpg[/url]

http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/015309.html

Tom W Clark posted 07-12-2012 07:13 PM ET (US)     Profile for Tom W Clark  Send Email to Tom W Clark     
http://home.comcast.net/~tomwclark/Desert_Tan_Bottom_Paint.jpg
contender posted 07-12-2012 07:31 PM ET (US)     Profile for contender  Send Email to contender     
Bink is correct: Level to what? run some tape until you like it, then do your measurements to match the other side...I guess I lucky, I keep my boats on a trailer, never liked the bottom paint anyway...
Tom W Clark posted 07-12-2012 07:36 PM ET (US)     Profile for Tom W Clark  Send Email to Tom W Clark     
Level with the surface of the water. No math required.
dfmcintyre posted 07-12-2012 08:52 PM ET (US)     Profile for dfmcintyre  Send Email to dfmcintyre     
Tom, et al. -

Sorry, one point I missed in the earlier post:

Once in the water, mark the waterline with a grease pencil. You might have to adjust slightly if the boat is out of trim at rest.

Sorry about not a complete post...

Regards - Don

martyn1075 posted 07-13-2012 12:36 AM ET (US)     Profile for martyn1075  Send Email to martyn1075     
How about using the slime method? Just leave the boat in the water for a week or two and tape half an inch above the slime. I guess to be double sure you can use "the laser" for a nice clean sharp line. I think in this case maybe even 75% of the haul is paint. Might as well just put the poor thing out of its misery and cover what's left of the sides.

Martyn

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