Raising the waterline

driftless went in the water yesterday with snow flakes falling down the companionway. We got the cover off, de-winterized, and a quick coat of wax on the boat on Sunday. We worked quickly because the high was in the low 40s and there were flurries.

As you can see, we've got a white stripe at the water line between the bottom paint and the navy boot stripe. driftless rides a little low in the water these days so that line is pretty much always wet, if not submerged. Even in the clear, oligotrophic waters of freshwater Lake Superior, this white line gets stained with slime and grime. It's very difficult to get clean again.

So I'd like to raise the waterline. My primary question is aesthetic - do I bring the bottom up to just cover the white, or higher?

Our bottom paint is VC-17 in navy. I plan to stick with that formula. It also comes in red and brown. Should I use a contrasting color for the stripe? Red, maybe?

And then a practical question - what surface prep is needed to paint over the gelcoat?

Starting the conversation now so I can plan ahead for fall haul out. Thanks!

P.S. I know the cradle is in dire need of paint as well. 2 of 3 of the boat's old names are still on there. I'll rustoleum it. I need new jack screws too. 1 thread at a time...

My previous owner raised the bottom paint to cover the white. Solved the issue. I think any laden E381 will have growth on the attractive white under the boot-top stripe, and this solves that while somewhat reducing elegance. (But hardly noticeable when in the water).



I figure the 'white' is just gelcoat, and no special attention needed for bottom paint. A bit of sanding, perhaps. Whatever the boatyard says.

Painting a new stripe would cost a bit more. On the 32-3, a new boot-top stripe was $1000 12 years ago.

In a casual conversation with a boatyard vendor he told me they can do stripes (boot, cove, whatever) in vinyl appliqué. If you decide you still want a white stripe in the mix after hitching up your britches a little. FWIW

Your picture helps me visualize it Christian. Thank you. I agree it's a little less elegant, but much more practical.
A new white stripe over the navy is an interesting idea. I imagine even vinyl an inch higher up would suffer the same grimy fate though?
That brings me back to thinking about a stripe of contrasting red bottom paint

driftless said:

Your picture helps me visualize it Christian. Thank you. I agree it's a little less elegant, but much more practical.
A new white stripe over the navy is an interesting idea. I imagine even vinyl an inch higher up would suffer the same grimy fate though?
That brings me back to thinking about a stripe of contrasting red bottom paint

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We use Micron CSC on the bottom, different colors different years. We always paint the rudder white, but they don't make white so we use Interlux Trilux 33 for that. Last year we painted our small white boot strip with the Trilux 33 and it stayed a lot more clean than just gelcoat. There didn't seem to be any problem with different paints adjacent. Photos below are from haul out last fall, before and after power wash. I was lazy and didn't scrub the hull while in the water so that's a season of buildup in coastal RI waters. I'm going to do the same paint plan this year.

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driftless said:

And then a practical question - what surface prep is needed to paint over the gelcoat?

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Ten years ago when we bought our 34-2 the stripes were in bad shape and I repainted them with Brightside polyurethane. Surface prep was a lite sanding and wipe down with acetone.
This year while rolling on our annual coat of VC17 I noticed that the bottom stripe needs redoing. Last year I painted my transom with Pettit two part EZ Poxy and will probably use it next year on the stripe.

Prairie Schooner said:

We use Micron CSC on the bottom, different colors different years. We always paint the rudder white, but they don't make white so we use Interlux Trilux 33 for that. Last year we painted our small white boot strip with the Trilux 33 and it stayed a lot more clean than just gelcoat. There didn't seem to be any problem with different paints adjacent. Photos below are from haul out last fall, before and after power wash. I was lazy and didn't scrub the hull while in the water so that's a season of buildup in coastal RI waters. I'm going to do the same paint plan this year.

View attachment 55189 . . View attachment 55190

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I’m near Jeff in the same yard and can attest that his hack of using a white paint stripe looks good. I’m also envious that while he appeared to have heavy build up in the photos there were minimal barnacles observed in person. I also used micron csc last season, a diver a few times with a gentle hand and still had a decent number of barnacles. I’m thinking that New Bedford where my mooring is located is a severe environment. I’m trying pettit odyssey hd this year so will see how that goes.

I also repainted the bootstripe this year using pettit primer and Epifanes Waterline paint. It did not turn out as well as I had hoped, Sanding and prep was a lot of work, but not as bad as the bottom. Roll and tip is a must and warmer weather 50+ deg F would have helped. I might try the Pettit ez proxy down the road. I’d recommend doing the bootstripe at a different time than the bottom or stretching out the schedule so you don’t have to retape all the time while waiting for a coat to cure.

The concept of white bottom paint, nor the existence of "waterline" paint, had ever occurred to me.
If it's warm enough when we haul out this fall I'll plan to paint it then.
Thank you all! I knew this armada of minds would have brilliant ideas for me.

We put up with slime growth on the "hull color" area strip below the factory waterline stripe for a few seasons, and then moved the bottom paint up about an inch, to the stripe bottom; a few seasons later moved it up halfway onto the WL stripe. This change seems to be common for many different makes of boats, looking at them afloat and on the water. While I certainly do not know the "answer" there is a suspicion that this eye-catching bit of trim, about six feet up from where I stand, observing the hull up on stands, started out as a sort of "sales tool" for hulls displayed indoors in January boat shows. Much like painted/applied striped on sides of performance oriented cars, we customers like the "look" of something that breaks up long monochromatic surfaces. That stripe was just Cool Looking, at the indoor boat show, at approximately height-of-eye.

Once that new vessel is launched, (almost) no one really looks at the WL stripe(s) again. The similar-idea of a cove stripe is a lot more visible all the time and also serves to lower the apparent height of the boat side. Some boats with lots of cabin height and freeboard also have stripe(s) down the side of their cabins. i.e. all this horizontal color banding is just promotional... !
Now that we have our boat repainted with a contrasting WL stripe that was... moved up a couple more inches.... it stays clean and attractive.

As for the original stripe being a little too low, I blame the manufacturer for trying to get the designer to state a minimum (and, by definition "unladen" displacement -- so they can promote the model as fast.
Then the builder promotes many profitable options that add weight and lower the boat in the water. And then the FRP hull soaks up another hundred # of moisture in the laminate after initial launch. I recall a travel lift operator saying that nearly all boats actually weigh more than that "brochure weight", and many, a LOT more.

None of these musings changes the way we like to look at our boat, but it might be useful to consider what led us down this particular path in the first place.

You can return to your regularly scheduled problem-solving now!
FWIW, we cheerfully dispensed with any visible hull color below our WL stripe, when planning the repaint. It's just a part of the hull we never look at. https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/ubs/launch-day.901/