Hull Stripe Decal - Damaged From Buffing

[Morelords]

Hi all,

We are having a haulout this week for bottom cleaning, paint, and hull waxing. The guys finished the hull waxing, and it looks great, but some of tan stripe decal near the stern was damaged by the rotary buffer. The section that was damaged is on the port side and just below the waterline and had a fair amount of marine growth on it (no barnacles, just seaweed and the like). My question to you all is, would this be considered unavoidable at this stage in the boat's life? The boat is not quite 4 years old, but is stays in the salt water year round. I'm just wondering if it's worth pushing back on the company doing the work to replace the decal, or is this just what to accept with a boat that has sat in salt water for nearly 4 years?

Thanks for any thoughts on this,

-Mike

 

[dbsea]

That's a tough one. If the rotary buffer didn't damage any of the rest of the stripe, I would wonder if the stripes integrity was compromised by the salt water / marine growth. FWIW, replacing the entire boot stripe is about 1 boat unit. I had prism graphics redo mine last year at my haul out.

 

[scross]

Prior to using a buffer, I cover the stripe with Scotch exterior masking tape. While not perfect, it seems to do a good job of protecting the stripe. When done buffing I remove the masking tape and use a strong cleaner to get any growth/scum off the stripe.
I use the same tape and on the stripe when bottom painting to get a clean edge at the bottom of the stripe.

 

[S. Todd]

Tape stripe on a 4 year old boat. I think I would just fix it.
My experience is that if you can live with the almost impossible to see joint and you can find the same style tape as the original, just tape over the damaged section and go boating.
If you want to replace the entire stripe, I suppose I would ask the folks that did your buffing and wax job if they had a person experienced with applying the tape stripes and if they would assist you in replacing it if you bought the material. Getting those lines straight can be a challenge which is why it might help if they had an experience person to assist you.

 

[Morelords]

Hi all,
Thanks for your replies. I emailed Ranger Tugs, and Kenny Marrs got back to me and said that stripe decal isn't meant to be buffed with any type of power tools or pressure washed. I believe he is going to send me a few feet of the decal, and we'll just patch the damaged parts for now and maybe replace the full stripe at the next haulout in 3-4 years.

Cheers,

-Mike

 

[Almanac]

I also had some of my boot stripe damaged. I had left my dinghy floating in front of the boat and it somehow rubbed on the bow for a while with the incoming and outgoing tides etc. Scratched through my stripe near the bow and scratched the gel-coat.

I had my boat ceramic coated by Kevin (Premier Ceramic Coating), he fixed the scratches and patched in a piece of the vinyl stripe as part of buffing the boat before the coating. He included this in his service and even fixed the scratches to the bow at my slip (granted, I was close by his location) while I was waiting on the schedule for him to do the rest of the boat.

In my opinion, the guys doing your rotary buffing should have had the skills to fix the vinyl stripe and done it for you. You can see a small line where my stripe was spliced together, but unless I told you to look for it the boat looks like new again.

Anyway, it can be repaired, and I'm sorry that the 'professionals' that buffed your boat didn't step up and fix the damage.