Shrinking boat

[Gordonmc]

Why is my boat disappearing?

It must be because now the old maid is on the hard the difference between the actual waterline and the topside line is about nine inches. Presumably when the topsides were first painted the waterline was about right.
Could it be than in forty-odd years of anti-fouling the line has crept up to cover mistakes?
Anyhow... am I best sticking to the painted waterline or compromising and going half way down?
BTW, no major change in ballast, engine etc. 8 ton dispacement, so no lightweight. (boat, not me).

 

[Peterduck]

I have the same problem with my 85 year old fishing smack. there is a difference in "Swallow"'s case of around 3 - 4 inches between the scribed and painted waterline and the waterline as marked by the water. I have always put it down to the prescence of a wet well in the middle of the boat when it was new, which has since been removed. This has increased the bouyancy of the hull, thus lowering the waterline. I continue to paint antifouling to the scribed mark.
Peter.

 

[Mirelle]

Me too. If anything she should have gone down a little, with diesel engine in place of petrol, bigger tanks, heavier windlass and so on, but she seems to have come up about two or three inches, if the scribed line is to be believed!

Maybe our forebears liked wide boot top bands?

 

[LadyInBed]

I have deliberately raised my boot top line by about 9 inches.
The boat is moored on a river and I found she got a build up of weed just above the waterline, probably due to the wash of passing boats.
The weed scrubs off the boot top with a lot less effort than scrubbing it off gel coat.