Hey Jerry, I like that Mexican solution. It seems to me that the use of any type of transit or laser level requires that the boat is level. To me that's always been a problem, short of putting the boat in the water. The boat needs to be level in all directions and the only place I can think of that would possibly give an accurate reading is the v-berth and that's not guaranteed. On the other hand the Mexican method only requires that the boat be only parallel to the surface it's setting upon. Well, all that being said, I don't know how to get the boat parallel either. How did they do that? Rick M15 #337 Bluebird
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 11:34:07 -0800 From: "jerry" <jerry@jerrymontgomery.org> Subject: Re: M_Boats: idea To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Message-ID: <CB8AF67FEB1B4A7EB1353643CBE39F83@DDJ69SD1> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original
I've always done it with a transit, but a laser level should do fine. When you finish one side, without moving the level mark a spot on a wall that you can see from the new side, which will set the level up perfectly. Once I worked on a powerboat tooling project in Puerto Penasco, Mexico (I was a gringo wetback) and the Mexicans struck waterlines with a long string; a bit longer than the boat. They cut a stick to the len gth equal to the height of the waterline above the pavement, marked a starting place on one end of the boat and attached the string there, with the other end attached to the pole. The pole man slowly wrapped the string around the hull while the helper taped it into place. It worked surprisingly well, but it does take some skill and a good eye. Better to go rent a transit.
jerry ----- Original Message ----- From: "Arnold Sharpe" <afsharpe@mac.com> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 5:40 PM Subject: M_Boats: idea
M sailors, A couple of months ago I recall someone out there asking how one goes about accurately painting the waterline on a lapstrake hull....like my M-17 "Little Breeze". A good question because my last attempt was pretty sloppy (I had a difficult time treading water while trying to paint ). This afternoon while working in the shop I got an idea which I am anxious to try and wondered if anyone had already tried it. Among my many tools is a laser level. What if I put "Little Breeze" on her trailer.leveled her up fore and aft and athwart ships, set the laser level up about 20-30 ft away, adjusted it to match the existing waterline mark at any place and then penciled where the laser line was along the rest of the hull. As soon as I get a clear (not raining) day I'll try it and let you all know, in the meantime, if you have any comments, or have already tried it, let me know...Regards. Arnold Sharpe, M-17 #265, "Little Breeze"