Marking a boot stripe

[Hal]

Have any of you crafty ol' salts done boot stripes from scratch? Actually, the boot stripe is vaguely there on my typhoon but not clear enough along the whole side of the boat to follow. If I have two points (one towards the bow and one towards the stern that are pretty clear), would using a laser be "accurate"? Also, how does one keep those two reference points through a complete hull overhaul (repainting freeboard and bottom paint)? Any hints/tips are most appreciated!



ficadoor@aol.com

[John Vigor]

Hal, you need a hose pipe with short lengths of clear plastic hose inserted at each end.

First make sure your boat is set up straight and level. Then fill the hose, get rid of all bubbles, and hold up both ends so that the water level is displayed. Empty or fill until you get the level you want your bootstripe to be at the bow. Tie that end of the hosepipe up there, or get someone to hold it, and take the other end all around the boat and mark the water level every six inches. Don't joggle the hose too much, or the water will bounce up and down and take a while to settle.

Join your marks with masking tape, sighting along it as you go to eliminate unfair curves.

There are several other ways to mark a boot stripe, but this is probably the quickest and simplest.

John Vigor
CD25D "Jabula"



jvigor@qwest.net

[Bob Bundy]

I haven't done it but Don Casey in his book Sailboat Refinishing, describes how to do it. If you have a bow and stern point, level the boat so that those two points are level. Then, take your laser and use it to mark the bootstripe top and bottom borders. If you don't have a laser, use a water level with a hose and clear plastic tubing. This seems cheap and easy. There are level tubes that are used for setting cabinets in houses and such. The book outlines this pretty well and is worth having on the shelf anyway.

Bob B.



bundyR@aol.com

[john doyle]

Hal, you need a hose pipe with short lengths of clear plastic hose inserted at each end.

First make sure your boat is set up straight and level. Then fill the hose, get rid of all bubbles, and hold up both ends so that the water level is displayed. Empty or fill until you get the level you want your bootstripe to be at the bow. Tie that end of the hosepipe up there, or get someone to hold it, and take the other end all around the boat and mark the water level every six inches. Don't joggle the hose too much, or the water will bounce up and down and take a while to settle.

Join your marks with masking tape, sighting along it as you go to eliminate unfair curves.

There are several other ways to mark a boot stripe, but this is probably the quickest and simplest.

John Vigor
CD25D "Jabula"

Start the tape at the bow & unroll enough tape to reach the stern. Walk away from the boat & pull the tape tight. what you are looking for is a straight line. if you try to put it on a little at a time you will have waves going up & down. I just did a cape dory 31 that everything was sanded down to the gel coat so there was no water line.



redzeplin@yahoo.com