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Okay, I am getting to the point where I can start thinking about how I want to paint this boat. I would like to paint it a dark color at the waterline. I have heard that to do this correctly, one has to level the boat. I am most definately in the dark on this subject. Can anybody explain how to do this?

Anybody.....?
Anybody.....?

When I did mine I had an idea of where the waterline should be on the bow and at the stern. I marked each end of the boat then used a water level hose and jacked the boat up till it was level. I then moved the hose down the hull marking spots about every foot or so then masked out the waterline. It worked well for me and I got a lot of positive comments on it. You can get an electronic waterlevel from home dopot or you can use a clear hose with marks on it. I also tried using a laser level but it didn't work well because of the curve of the hull. Good luck


Keith

Leveling the boat isn't very difficult, but can be time consuming.

Find a spot in your driveway that is level in one direction. Place the boat (on trailer or cradle) so it's transom is as parallel as possible to this as you can. Measure down from the corners of the transom to the drive way. Let air out of one of the tires (or shim up the cradle) until the transom corners are the same height. This is level athwartship (side to side). Getting fore and aft level requires a water level, laser level, string with a line level attached, surveyor's level or similar. Most just use a water level.

A water level (likely how the great pyramids were squared up) is a length of hose (clear hose is particularly handy) with water (add some food coloring) in it. Water will always self level (after some momentary bobbing up and down) in the hose. Tape one end to the top of the transom and dangle the length of it under or along side of the boat on the ground, up to the bow. A stick or microphone stand (bar stool, whatever) is handy to hold the loose end (make it quite a bit taller then the transom bottom or it'll splash out) as you adjust it around the boat. Fill the hose until water is flush with the bottom of the transom. The other end will be at the same height (level), regardless of what the hose has to wander through to get to the forward end of the boat.

Jack the bow up until the point of the planking (where the bottom meets the topsides at the stem) is even with the water level. Check the transom heights, adjust the boat, add water, cause you may have spilled some, etc. When the bottom of the bow planking is the same as the transom bottom, this is level, but is it where you want the waterline?

Most folks like the waterline a little above the actual water (a couple of inches) and a contrasting bottom color showing, which helps keep it cleaner longer too. When riding in a Weekender, the stern sinks down a couple of inches (or more, depending how much beer is left in the cooler) so this should be considered. Keith's looks nice, as do many in the galleries here and on MessAbout, check them out for ideas.

On fancy yachts, the bow and stern gets thicker (taller) by a small amount to compensate for the visual reduction perspective can cause. I did a 2" tall water line on a powerboat recently (26') and the transom was 2 1/8" tall, sweeping down to 2" within the next 6', then 2" until about 12' from the bow where it swept up to 2 1/2" at the stem. It's an eye ball thing, most don't notice it on small boats, but it's real noticeable on larger craft. This was my third one with a laser level and the straightest line I've ever done (real cool remote control), though laser setup took about an hour after I had the boat leveled. The sweeping part, effects just the top of the waterline (a boot stripe really) and is done by eye after the level is marked. The bottom of the boot stripe is level.

Hey Bret

I took the water line measurements off Angie’s weekender, bow and stern then used a laser level (the type used for installing drop ceilings). When you adjust the level to hit the marks on the bow and stern you only have to level the boat side to side.
It worked great.
Someone posted how to make a laser level using a laser pointer and a old record turntable.





Kayakarl

Or you could drop it in the water once done and mark the waterline with a grease pencil and work off of that.

That's to easy :lol: :lol:

FWIW, we don't bother even trying to mark our boats in the shop. We estimate how high to bring the bottom paint and once we launch and are happy with the boat's trim, we mark it and haul out for the stripe. This is for 25-42' yachts and crewboats. Cheers,

The biggest challenge is that no two Weekenders will have the same water line and any given Weekender will have a different waterline just about every outing depending upon how you stow things aboard and how you load it.

This is a little boat and balance is so variable that you can't put your cooler into the boat without changing the waterline. Vacationer is quite a bit heavier and still it changes with loading significantly. Consequently it will never be right on unless it is on the trailer. :roll: It will always be different as soon as you step into it and different still when you move about. Hence the solid colors to small boat hulls and generally no real concern about an accurte waterline placement.

But they do look good and add a little class! :wink: