Bootstripe.....Is it a do-it-yourself project??

[Brianjohnson@hotmail.com]

Hello all,
I am living overseas with my Cape Dory and I would like to add a proper bootstripe. The previous owner put on an adhesive tape stripe which provides the visual illusion of tapering when viewed because of the curve of the hull. My questions are:

Is this painting a bootstripe a project that I can do??
Has anyone done this with a brush, if so how were the results?
If I make a mistake, how easy is it to "undo" the bootstripe??
Also, my boat is a CD 26D, how wide would you suggest for a bootstripe.

Thanks in advance.
Brian



karaandbrianjohnson@hotmail.com

[Jim Westpfahl]

Yes, you can hand brush a boot stripe, with care. I placed an 8" RED stripe around my CD25D the year I bought her. I hated the original cocoa brown they used at the factory. I wet-sanded the surface with very fine paper all the way down to the gel coat. Tapeing was the most arduous task. The boat was on popits at the time and I leveled the boat before taping the top edge, first. There was enough of the original stripe still visible for me to tape a similar line. Adjustments were easy enough. The boat yard painter encouraged me to use the "light green" tape, and I did. He also said lay out long sections and trust your eye. After I put down the entire side I went back and added 3-4' tape section to bring the line down a tad, when appropriate. The bottom line was raised up 1" from the original since the boat seemed to develop a scum line. Actually, I just met the scum line plus 1/2" more. The paint I chose was the Petit boot stripe and I did this on the advice of the boat yard painter. He felt it was the most forgiving, less likely to run and provided the best color density. I used the smallest diameter roller I could get at Sears/West Marine/ Boat US, and 1' sponge brushes to smooth out the roller marks. I did not try to lay on thick coats but rather placed three thin coats on the surface, with a very light sanding in between coats. I think that's it. Good luck.

Jim Westpfahl
CD25D- Belladonna
Lindenhurst, LI, NY



JamesW7644@AOL.COM

[Boyd]

I had painted a new green boot stripe on Tern last year and did it pretty much the same as Jim. A couple of ideas which may make things easier. I used Awl Grip and because the solvents in it will lift almost any other paint I had to sand the coco strip down to bare gelcoat. Before sanding I scribed a scratch in the gelcoat both for the top and bottom of the old stripe. After sanding the stripe off completely the scratch was still visible and made a great guide to retape. The materials for an Awl Grip stripe cost about $200.00. Kind of expensive but I dont haul every year so I wanted it to last a long time. Took 3 coats.. wet sanding and taping between coats. Looks pretty good moving by at 6 kts. Cant tell its not a spray job at that speed. I had a friend help with the taping. Its not easy to do by yourself. Eyeball the length of the tape and adjust by lifting with a knive and resetting as needed. The yard wanted $600.00 for a sprayed stripe. I adjusted the bottom of my stripe a bit higher so the not so water resistant boot stripe paint will be about 1" above the water line. Ran the bottom paint up over the bottom of the bootstripe so the bottom paint is actually above the water line a little. If you let the bootstripe go down to the waterline it may blister and lift.

Boyd

Yes, you can hand brush a boot stripe, with care. I placed an 8" RED stripe around my CD25D the year I bought her. I hated the original cocoa brown they used at the factory. I wet-sanded the surface with very fine paper all the way down to the gel coat. Tapeing was the most arduous task. The boat was on popits at the time and I leveled the boat before taping the top edge, first. There was enough of the original stripe still visible for me to tape a similar line. Adjustments were easy enough. The boat yard painter encouraged me to use the "light green" tape, and I did. He also said lay out long sections and trust your eye. After I put down the entire side I went back and added 3-4' tape section to bring the line down a tad, when appropriate. The bottom line was raised up 1" from the original since the boat seemed to develop a scum line. Actually, I just met the scum line plus 1/2" more. The paint I chose was the Petit boot stripe and I did this on the advice of the boat yard painter. He felt it was the most forgiving, less likely to run and provided the best color density. I used the smallest diameter roller I could get at Sears/West Marine/ Boat US, and 1' sponge brushes to smooth out the roller marks. I did not try to lay on thick coats but rather placed three thin coats on the surface, with a very light sanding in between coats. I think that's it. Good luck.

Jim Westpfahl
CD25D- Belladonna
Lindenhurst, LI, NY

Tern30@aol.com

[Kurt]

I raised and widened the boot stripe on my CD26 last spring. I used Rustoleum Alkyd Enamel ($5.97/quart on sale)and applied it with a 7" foam roller. I put two coats on almost wet on wet and it looks great. As I recall, the color was 'leather brown' and matched the original Cape Dory brown extremely well.



kjlgpw@aol.com

[D Mauk]

Brian,

On our CD30 which we sold, and last year on our CD36 we used Interlux Brightside for the bootstripe. We taped off (using the blue tape that is good for seven days) and sanded the origninal bootstripe and then painted three coats with light sanding between coats.....it looks great. Although I was starting to become concerned by the second coat it really looked rough, it was uneven and wavy and we were thinking of sanding it all off and starting over.....by the time we applied the third coat (using a small brush) it dried evenly and met our standards, which I confess is higher than most boatyards. The stern is flaired so you have the optical illusion of a straight line when you are looking at her. Good luck!!

Fair winds,
Della Mauk
s/v Ladybug #138



svladybug@msn.com

[sloopjohnl]

if you use the 1/8" fine line green 3m tape you will get a nice clean line with no bleed through. it's what auto painters use to get their jazzy paint jobs. you can make a circle with this tape and it never crinkles, just be careful not to stretch too hard or it will tear. you can stretch it out 3,4,5 or 6 feet holding it away from the surface and then just touch it to the surface to lay down the line.
smooth it out, then add a second layer of a wider tape - 3/4 to 1" green tape to catch the overpaint.

Yes, you can hand brush a boot stripe, with care. I placed an 8" RED stripe around my CD25D the year I bought her. I hated the original cocoa brown they used at the factory. I wet-sanded the surface with very fine paper all the way down to the gel coat. Tapeing was the most arduous task. The boat was on popits at the time and I leveled the boat before taping the top edge, first. There was enough of the original stripe still visible for me to tape a similar line. Adjustments were easy enough. The boat yard painter encouraged me to use the "light green" tape, and I did. He also said lay out long sections and trust your eye. After I put down the entire side I went back and added 3-4' tape section to bring the line down a tad, when appropriate. The bottom line was raised up 1" from the original since the boat seemed to develop a scum line. Actually, I just met the scum line plus 1/2" more. The paint I chose was the Petit boot stripe and I did this on the advice of the boat yard painter. He felt it was the most forgiving, less likely to run and provided the best color density. I used the smallest diameter roller I could get at Sears/West Marine/ Boat US, and 1' sponge brushes to smooth out the roller marks. I did not try to lay on thick coats but rather placed three thin coats on the surface, with a very light sanding in between coats. I think that's it. Good luck.

Jim Westpfahl
CD25D- Belladonna
Lindenhurst, LI, NY