Boat Name on Transom: Paint or Stick-on ?

[SabreKai]

Painted name board on one, Stick-ons for the other one.


Sabre

[cat man do]

Stick on

So easy, especially if doing shadows

[mikereed100]

CMD,

You get my vote for "best boat name ever". I would give my left cojone to hear the Coast Guard hail you on the radio.

Mike

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by SabreKai

Painted name board on one, Stick-ons for the other one.


Sabre

And what is your comparative analysis?

[lancelot9898]

I vote for paint. Not sure how well the plastic decals would do since the fiberglass on the boat has grooves to look like lapstake planking.(Tayana 37) Two years ago had the name and port changed and it cost 350 total to have both sides of the canoe stern painted(and the old paint removed) which was probably more than the decals would cost. The previous name on the boat was over 20 years old and still looked good so having it painted again was my choice. Just make sure you get a good painter which I did.

[feelsgood]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

OK, that's two votes for stick-on.

Do all of you guys really have stick-on letters on your transoms?

Does'nt matter if its a wooden or grp or steel boat Stick on lettering is the easiest to ut on and take off. to take off aske nicely if you can borrow yoour wife's hairdryer and heat the letters and they come off real easy.

[forsailbyowner]

I masked off the stern drew my lettering on with pencil, cut out with razor blade and sprayed with can. Total cost 5$ or so. I will be painting every 3 years or so so in time savings will add up.

[svaletheia]

+1 for stick on.

Only issue I've had was where a corner of one letter got badly abraded by a mis-mounted dinghy on the stern rail during a storm. Paint would have been scratched to hell too, though. What's amazing is that the vinyl did NOT break free, peel up, or anything, even with all the water flying around. It just shifted a few chips of it and dug rivets through the rest. That letter is still on, as firmly as the rest of them. That alone says a lot for the durability of vinyl if you ask me.

Its cheap and trivial to replace a single letter anyways - I just go to whatever local sign shop is around and ask for 3M dark navy outdoor vinyl. Works like a charm and is as best as I can tell the same stuff they use for "Marine Lettering" and charge 3x as much for. I too make a PDF or EPS file and take it on a USB stick or email to the local shop.

I've always used local sign shops for my vinyl and have yet to have a single issue with adherence or durability that would not equally be shared by paint. The ease of application and maintenance is also a huge win.

[goldbeard]

Originally Posted by forsailbyowner

I masked off the stern drew my lettering on with pencil, cut out with razor blade and sprayed with can. Total cost 5$ or so. I will be painting every 3 years or so so in time savings will add up.

Pictures?