Boot Stripe Colors

[Joe Montana]

Is there an "authentic" boot stripe look for Cape Dorys with brown bottoms? Didn't the original boats often come with brown bottom paint? On my Typhoon daysailer, I'm switching from a "shark (light) gray" bottom paint to a "Cape Dory" brown bottom paint. The boot stripe has been very deep deep green, which matched the transom lettering and contrasted well with the white hull and grey bottom. I'm wondering how other Cape Dory owners with brown bottoms have treated their boot stripes. I'm tempted to bring the bottom paint right up to the white hull, but I'm not sure how that would look. Does anyone have suggestions for a good "CD look"?

[tartansailor]

I'm wondering how other Cape Dory owners with brown bottoms

I would not touch that with a 10 foot pole.
However my boat has a light blue boot stripe and it will be changed to red.

Dick

[Paul D.]

Greetings,

On our 1982 CD33 there is a brown bootstripe which I believe original. It has the beige deck non-skid and brown sail covers so I think it works fine - one rarely sees the deck and bootstripe at the same time. On our old typoon which we refitted completely, I painted a black bottom with red bootstripe. The deck non-skip I painted grey. It got a lot of nice comments, but then again it is a Typhoon. I really loved that look and think it makes for a good CD style fit. The red bootstripe would also work with the light blue decks on many older CD's.

Best of luck in your choice,
Paul

[winthrop fisher]

hi, paint it what you want, i did...
my typhoon is sand stone on the deck and a white cockpit with kelly green on the sides with gold boot stirp and a red bottom and my cd22 is the same way and allot of people like the way they both look, side by side at dock. but this year i am putting the cd22 on a bigger lake...i like the old look in colors....winthrop

[Bob Luby]

If I recall correctly, the original bootstripe color on my 25 D was "Interlux Dado Brown", which was discontinued (I think).

My CD manual lists the paint that was on the boat when it left the factory. Perhaps others do as well.
________
Grape Ape Pictures
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Terios

[Steve Laume]

I considered getting rid of the 3/4" white stripe on our CD-30 and just painting up to the boot stripe. Like all else I figured I had best live with it for a bit first. It looks very sharp and really wasn't much trouble. We have a project TY that had it's boot stripe painted over to raise the water line, (to compensate for too much weight from too large a motor). That TY looks kind of frumpy and not quite right. I believe in keeping things original but I just couldn't do the brown stripe and brown bottom with our toast sail covers. I went black bottom and a very dark almost burgundy red boot stripe on the CD-30. The TY had bright red boot stripe with a blue bottom. The CD-10 has the exact same treatment as the mother craft and they make a most attractive pair. It's your boat and its just paint. If the next owner doesn't like it he or she can change it with no hard done. Have fun and make her proud, Steve.

[Joe Montana]

Thanks for the boot stripe suggestions -- and the grammar lesson (that error was the result of something misplaced, rather than dangling, wasn't it?).

[tartansailor]

Antares,
My humble apologies, sometimes I can not contain the dark side.
I sincerely hope that what ever you choose will turn out to be great.
Dick

[Bob Maguire]

Do any of you CD owners have advice on where to find or who makes a brown bottom paint that doesn't cost $200 a gallon? My last go-around with bottom paint two seasons ago resulted in the boatyard having to mix red and green with increasing doses of black to achieve something resembling a cape dory brown.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Bob Maguire
S/V Temerity
CD30 Anacortes, WA

[marilou]

Dadoo Brown was used. I believe that Z Spar Teak Brown (#52) was used as a replacement, which is still available. Have not seen actual product, but it looks like Interlux Toplac (Bounty YKJ92) would match the Dadoo Brown.

[Kurt]

Rustoleum 'Leather Brown' is a very close match to the the OEM Dado Brown that originally came on the later year Cape Dory's.

[Cathy Monaghan]

Hi Joe,

I tried to respond to your e-mail but my response was rejected. My ISP didn't like your e-mail address for some reason, so I'm responding to your e-mail here.

Cape Dory used two different color schemes and they used different brands of paint -- probably whatever was cheapest at the time of each boat's manufacture. (The vendor lists in the different owners manuals list different paints/manufacturers). So pick whichever brand you like or whichever brand has the colors your want. For what it's worth, we use Interlux Super Boot Top & Striping High Gloss Enamel, 390 BROWN, on our CD32.

Originally your Typhoon may have had the following color scheme:

• Non-skid: light blue
  Cove stripe: none or red
  Boot stripe: red
  Bottom paint: blue
  
  OR
  
  Non-skid: light tan
  Cove stripe: none or dark brown
  Boot stripe: dark brown (the color of dark chocolate)
  Bottom paint: dark brown

Be sure you use a wax remover before you do any painting.

The boot stripe can be painted as wide or as narrow as you like. I've not seen any two Cape Dory's with exactly the same width of boot stripe. The flair of the hull makes it tricky to paint the stern area where the stripe is the widest (you'll have to eyeball it when you apply the blue tape). But on the side of the hull, at midships, is where it is the narrowest, and you'll probably want a stripe 2 or 3 inches wide. There's a 1" gap between the boot stripe and the bottom paint.

I hope the bottom paint's already on the boat. That should give you a straight line to start with.

To achieve the gap, all you need to do is use 1" wide 3M Fine Line tape and apply the tape so that the bottom edge is even with the top edge of the bottom paint. Then use a roll of wide blue tape (the stuff that can stay on the boat for a couple of days) that equals the width of the stripe that you want to paint and line the bottom edge up with the top edge of the Fine Line tape. Remember to step back and look at it to make sure everything looks straight. Then use the Fine Line tape and line it up with the top edge of the blue tape. Then remove all of the blue tape and paint between the two strips of Fine Line tape (you may want to use acetone or a stripper to make sure you remove all of the tape glue residue). Make sure you press the fine line tape firmly in place so that paint doesn't get under it. Paint your stripe then peel off the fine line tape before the paint dries.

Hope this helps,
Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3

[Joe Montana]

I'm glad I checked back to this thread; I've been watching for your response via my email. The paint colors and your description are exactly what I was looking for. Thank you! My boat didn't have a 1-inch gap between bottom paint and boot stripe when I bought her: That's what's been missing all along. I'll remove all the paint down to the gel coat to achieve that. I do understand how the stripe widens as the flare increases, so no problem there. Thanks so much for spelling it out so clearly.

Best regards,
Joe

[Steve Darwin]

My '82 manual says the bottom was painted with U. S. Marine Coatings KL 990 Brown, the boot-top with Interlux Dado Brown #246.

[luffwoolly]

The previous owner of my CD allowed his boat yard paint over the boot stripe with bottom paint after barrier coating. When I later saw pictures of the original boot stripe I couldn’t believe how much nicer it looked with the original stripe. The picture shows the new restored boot stripe. It took some time and a lot of painters tape but well worth it. The white stripe was done with off white Interlux Brightside Polyurethane—an excellent match to the hull. For many of you seeking brown bottom paint I think the reds are great substitutes. Most of them are very subdued shades of red. As pictured, I used an ablative red Interlux Epoxycop---sort of a rust wine color

http://members.cox.net/bruceh/CD26_YD01a.jpg

Bruce

CD26, Constant Tides #1