Boot top smudging onto gelcoat?

[Tim Good]

I raised my waterline by adding a dark blue Trilux boot top about 18 months ago. It went on well and looked great.

However, it smudges like hell when mooring buoys or tenders run on it leaving horrible blue streaks in the white gelcoat which is hellish to get off.



I went from advice from the boatyard and plenty of people on this forum suggesting a hard antifoul like trilux was the answer. But I don't notice anyone else's boot top smudging like mine?

 

[Quandary]

Most boot top line are above water level and therefore do not need to be antifouling paint, a good two pack hull paint is very expensive but will last for a considerable number of years, as durable as gelcoat though not as thick. Since your purpose was to raise the waterline you had to use antifouling paint which is softer and intended to be renewed every year or two. Puzzled by why lines are coming into contact with it so much, perhaps you could look at your mooring buoy arrangement?

 

[James_Calvert]

Trilux does come off onto mooring lines and the like if rubbed. A couple of us warned about this in a thread here in January, pity you missed it.

I use long bow and stern springs on our boat and sometimes have to keep them hoiked up away from the boottop to avoid this. A loop in a light line amidships does the job.

And on my boat where the bow has a decent overhang, a mooring buoy can be kept away from the paint by pulling it up tight.

When smudges occur, I find those decorators' wipes handy. A bit of thinners on a rag will also do the job well, but will spread it around more initially.