Repairing damaged boat stripe decals

F

fredrussell

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 Mar 2015
Messages
4,342
Visit site
My boat has two stripes on hull just below gunwhales that have the odd bit of damage after 30 years afloat. They’re stickers/tape, (not painted) and I’d like to buy something to repair them with. I’m wondering if there are specialised companies that do boat decals, and what the procedure is. I assume I would need to send a sample of each stripe colour (yellow and navy). Has anyone done this before and if so who did you use? Any tips welcome.
IMG_4174.jpeg
 
Hi Fred. I bought new stripes for my Moody from Naughty Gull who do them for lots of makes Boat Makes | Moody | Beneteau | Fletcher | Sealine |
I had them applied by someone more skilled than me but didn't think the quality was great and certainly you need to be careful with a pressure washer. He thought that better would have been obtained from a firm that does van graphics.
 
When applying ... use washing up liquid / water mix .... an old car detailing trick ....

Allows you to position and get straight .... then press on hard to squeeze it out from under ... still sticks like sh** to a blanket ! Once pressed ... go over with a hard roller to make sure.

If unsure ... get some scrap plastic and a small piece of tape ... test and see it works !

IMHO - if you don't mind noting it close up .... I'd be inclined to match the colour with an enamel paint and touch it in .... if later you decide after more damage to replace ... the paint won't hurt the new tape.
 
Three very succinct replies! Many thanks. I did consider painting damaged areas Refueler, may still go that route as damaged areas are tiny in the grand scheme of things.
 
Naughty Gull supplied tape was a perfect match for the stripes on my Hunter but it deteriorated rapidly.

Just bought and applied some Coveline brand tape to replace it. That appears a better quality product and is advertised as marine grade quality which is supposed to have a service life of between 5 to 7 years.
 
fredrussell said:
My boat has two stripes on hull just below gunwhales that have the odd bit of damage after 30 years afloat. They’re stickers/tape, (not painted) and I’d like to buy something to repair them with. I’m wondering if there are specialised companies that do boat decals, and what the procedure is. I assume I would need to send a sample of each stripe colour (yellow and navy). Has anyone done this before and if so who did you use? Any tips welcome.
View attachment 171948
Click to expand...
I used Funkymonkeyboatnames.co.uk to get two different coloured and width tapes after I'd been a bit over zealous with the pressure washer. They have application instructions on their website
 
I had the same challenge on my previous boat, a Trophy. I masked the stripe and got a reasonably good match of paint. Worked until I sold it. On my current boat I wanted to add a stripe and bought some vinyl. Boy was that more difficult than I thought! Impossible to apply straight without adding a backing sheet, and worked out a lot more expensive than masking and painting.
 
I replaced the stripes on our current boat with vinyl tape bought on eBay / amazon. Still looking good 3 or 4 seasons later. I applied whilst afloat. I just waited till I was in a nice calm anchorage and spent the morning applying whilst sat in the tender.

Turned out very well and far easier than trying to do it whilst stood atop a ladder on a cold winter's day!
 
I replaced the racing stripes on my boat, along with the brand decals and name.
The stripes were far more difficult than I thought they could possibly be, they came as a pair on the same sheet but it turned out to be impossible to wrap around the contours of the boat without creasing so I applied separately.
Also it’s difficult to keep them parallel as when they are stretched they become thinner.
After a lot of head scratching we got it done and I don’t think I’ve had reason to look at them since. 14E52181-BF42-4429-A4B2-E0ACB3147295.jpeg
 
I used Naughty Gull for narrow replacement waterline stripe several years ago and they are still looking sharp and haven't been damaged by the jetspray or anything else.
Use masking tape as a spacer/spacers from an existing good line .
 
Another source of info might be westerly owners -I recall years ago that all centaurs had a tape line which you could replace -I even used some on a mirror dinghy which was spare . I guess many centaur owners as well as moody owners have had tape issues so the respective associations might know stockists
 
There's information on the Parker and Seal Sailing Association website about the supplier of replacement tapes. Can't remember the details at this instant, but if you look on there, or ask a question on their forums you'll get the answer.
 
rgarside said:
There's information on the Parker and Seal Sailing Association website about the supplier of replacement tapes. Can't remember the details at this instant, but if you look on there, or ask a question on their forums you'll get the answer.
Click to expand...
Indeed- I have the company bookmarked. Trouble is my Parker had a one-off colour scheme, different from both the red and blue normal Parker decals.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top