Winter 2008-2009 Refit | Wednesday, January 14, 2009
For years, I'd considered
adding a cove stripe to the hull. For a variety of
reasons, I never did; I'd alternately decide I liked it the
way it was or muse that I'd soon be painting the boat again,
"next year", and there was no point in doing the covestripe
until then.
With the hull now freshly
painted, it was time for the cove stripe. I'd located
some realistic-looking gold leaf vinyl striping for another
job, and, like the gold leaf vinyl I had used for the boat's
name before, the effect of this inexpensive and easy-to-use
product was convincing.
Soon after the paint was
complete, I mocked up a portion of the covestripe,
temporarily taping it in place to ensure that it was the
look I wanted on this boat and at this time. I was so
used to the look of the boat without it that I wanted to be
sure. As soon as I tacked the material in place,
however, I was sure: the gold leaf cove stripe added
an indefinable touch of style and class.
A few weeks later, with
time to kill in the shop while waiting for some materials, I
spent an hour installing the cove stripe permanently.
I positioned it 2" below the rubrail using masking tape as a
guide, and faired the vinyl tape by eye to ensure a sweeping
curve with no humps or bumps.
I left it overlong to
start, and then determined where to trim the ends for best
appearance. I think cove stripes look best when they
end a fair distance from stem and transom, with more space
at the bow than at the stern. To that end, I chose 18"
from the stern, and 48" from the stem. At the bow, I
cut a tapered arrow shape, and at the stern a swallow tail
to terminate the striping.
Better pictures will have
to wait till the boat leaves the shop. |
