March 5, 2025

Danusia Phase 2-42

Tuesday

To help space the cove stripe properly from the rubrail, I installed two widths of 1-1/2″ tape periodically beneath the rail, to simulate the 3″ distance required.  I’d measured the original cove stripe earlier in the project to determine this height.  At the ends, I installed longer lengths of tape so I could use them to make some marks for where to end the cove stripe.

I used the tape only as a general alignment guideline as I installed the vinyl covestripe tape along the hull on each side, fairing the line by eye.  At the owner’s request, I chose a blue color to coordinate with the boottop.  I terminated the line 12″ forward of the transom, and about 3′ aft of the stem (2.5′ aft of the forward edge of the rubrail), as I think it looks best if the cove stripe does not run too close to either end of the boat.  This small accent added greatly to the appearance of the boat and finished things off.

Now done with the staging, I gratefully broke it down and stored it away, opening space around the boat.  Next, I installed the new lettering on the transom to complete the hull work.  The style, placement, and size of the lettering was the same that the owner had chosen originally in 2016, but with a different color scheme:  blue lettering with a narrow black outline, tying everything together.

Up on deck, I assessed a couple of the last-remaining jobs to be completed, mainly the steering pedestal.  I’d repainted the pedestal 10 years earlier and now it required it again, as there had been complete failure of the remmants of the original factory coating at the pedestal base (including the repaint), and more minor and expected failures elsewhere.  I’d already scraped off all the failing paint on the base collar during an earlier stage of the project, but the remainder of the pedestal would require additional prep work.  This would be my focus next time.

Total time billed on this job today: 4.25 hours