Removing old embossed? name from transom

[bumblefish]

My dear old Elizabethan 30, 1972, needs a name change. The original name on the transom is slightly raised from the surrounding gelcoat. I was told this is probably because over the years the gelcoat has been raised by sunlight on the sticky lettering? I was told to approach this with progressively finer grades of wet and dry. Do I have to do this by hand or can I use some other mechanical assistance?

 

[Lakesailor]

How about having the new name carved on a nice piece of wood and bonding it to the gelcoat over the raised parts with Sika or something similar?

 

[RichardTaylor]

Ours was similar when we bought our Griffon and changed her name. I used 400 grade wet and dry and sanded by hand with a block until the lettering was nearly invisible, then used 800 and 1200 grade paper to finish off, followed by T-Cut

However I bottled out of fully removing all trace, and interestingly the traces appear to have faded away over the past couple of years or so.

 

[bumblefish]

That would depend on just how superstitious one was with regard to erasing all name traces prior to re-naming? Also if I was contemplating a wind vane it might get in the way?

 

[ex-Gladys]

We changed to Gladys from Gainsborough Lady. When the letters came off there was considerable visibility of the old name, but after just over a year, it has disappeaared of it's own accord

 

[oldsaltoz]

G'day Bumblefish,

Given your task I would jump in with a belt sander and a 250 grit to remove the raided area in a matter of minutes, then wet and dry with an 800 grit on a block to finish.

Cover the whole area with a decal from your local sign writer, add some nice graphics if the new name is too short to cover the old name area.

Complete the whole job in an afternoon.

Avagoodweekend.