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New lettering

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5397 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/12/2010 : 19:28:35

I plan to replace the lettering on Passage this Spring as part of my Poliglow update. I measured the existing letters and the caps are about 4" tall, and the name Passage is about 28-30" long.

The old home port has five letters which are about 3" tall and 10" wide. My current home port has nine letters.

I expect to look over dozens of fonts, colors, plain or italic and drop-shadow/non-drop shadow.

To get a good idea of what folks have on their C-25 C-250 Capri-25's, what do you have in terms of size, font, color and effects?

Any good and reliable graphics houses out there that you'd recommend?

Last - what lettering/decal technology is best? laser-cut vinyl letters, or something else?

Thanks

Bruce Ross
Passage ~ SR-FK ~ C25 #5032

Port Captain � Milford, CT

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3468 Posts

Response Posted - 01/12/2010 : 22:03:56

I forget the exact size of my lettering. The caps are about 8" tall w/tails making them overall 8+" tall. Postings/articles I read back when I was debating what to do about the lettering indicated to get larger letters so that other boats can read the name from a distance. The font may also have something to do with readability as well. My font has some letters a bit narrow at points but i know other boats can make the name out from a distance.

Rcmd to get some perspective on the size of the lettering, go down to the marina and take a look at some of the boat lettering close up to see the lettering size and then see how it looks from a distance (if possible).

Edited by - OLarryR on 01/12/2010 22:07:54

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 01/12/2010 : 22:11:11

for our boat name, caps are 6" tall and lower case letters are 4". Short name.

Edited by - dmpilc on 01/12/2010 22:14:10

DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2010 : 07:01:51

Font choices are endless. Do a general "font" search online. Many are free, some are $. Bring the font file to your local sign maker and tell him what you want to do, he'll select the correct type of stock to do the job right. I think I payed $45 for mine.

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2010 : 07:03:13

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Voyager
 Any good and reliable graphics houses out there that you'd recommend?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

[url="http://www.fastsigns.com/536"]FastSigns[/url]

I had my name graphic made at a FastSigns franchise. It was less than half the price of the BoatUS quote, and other marine shops, for the same thing. I matched the graphic color with the boot/cove stripes. I don't know how many years it's been on the boat, but it still looks like the day I put it on. You can use the BoatUS site to play with fonts and styles, or just do it in Word, then just take the information to FastSigns.

Edited by - dlucier on 01/13/2010 07:09:26

PCP777
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1225 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2010 : 08:19:44

Do you guys apply the letters themselves? I'm afraid I'd get it all crooked.

Edited by - on

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4024 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2010 : 08:48:45

Bruce, I used these guys http://www.greatlettering.com/ They just had a 35% off deal over the holidays. They are located in N.J so you would get them very fast. I think it was 2-3 days for me. Very good and I was completely satisfied. The vinyl lettering should be applied no later than 2 weeks after you receive them or they tend to stick to the backing paper after that. Its a lot of fun creating a name with all the choices. I went with 8" lower case for the name and 4" for the home port. They can be applied ether wet or dry. I did mine dry due to the cold weather last March. Have fun! Passage is a great name, I hope your not going to change it.

Edited by - islander on 01/13/2010 08:59:26

DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2010 : 09:14:58

Yes I applied them myself and my boat was in the water so it was a little problematic but I just tied off my dinghy nice and tight and worked the sticker from the inside out and had relatively no problem. The way it's done all you have to do is get the entire word straight. The individual letters will sit straight. You'll see once they show you how the decal is constructed.

Edited by - on

piseas
Former Treasurer

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USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2010 : 14:53:51

Bruce, I also used www.greatlettering.com. It was not that hard to put on but you must put on with in a week or so of receiving. Members of this association get a 25% discount I believe. Check mine out below.
Steve A

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2010 : 14:54:36

Scott, your rub rail looks great! What do you clean and/or treat it with?

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2010 : 15:01:25

I hope Frank Hopper will share a pix of his boat signage "Fellowship" . . . very tastefully done.

Edited by - on

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4024 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2010 : 15:02:27

Steve, The rub rail had all the usual black moldy? spots when I got the boat, A little M.E.K on a rag cleaned it up. Keep the rag good and wet with the M.E.K. Use hand protection.

Edited by - islander on 01/13/2010 15:20:05

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5397 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2010 : 20:59:05

Wow! I'm glad I asked. YES -- I plan to keep the name Passage - while I did not come up with the name, it has so many meanings and has become very significant to my family and me, especially as time goes by, as people come and go, and my family and I have some wonderful experiences aboard the boat.

I will take the advice on making the letters a little bit larger - perhaps 5". I plan to apply the lettering while the boat is on the hard.

While we're at it, I plan to repaint the bootstripe. What's better : one part Polyuethane or Acrylic paint?

After the ketchup treatment, the new letters and the new bootstripe, then I will coat the whole thing with several coats of with Poliglow.

Scott - I also like the use of MEK for cleaning the rub rail. It's an awesome solvent - any other uses for that stuff?

Edited by - on

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2010 : 21:31:05

It's really easy. When you buy the vinyl lettering at a local sign/print shop, they give it to you sandwiched between 2 layers of backing/wax paper. You line it up on the boat where you want it, use blue painter's tape at the top to make a hinge. Then peel off the bottom paper, smoothing it out with a supplied plastic spreader/smoother blade. After that, pull off the top layer paper and you are done. Piece of cake!!

Edited by - dmpilc on 01/13/2010 21:31:54

Unsinkable2
Captain

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USA
273 Posts

Response Posted - 01/13/2010 : 22:25:07

I used www.SayItWithVinyl.com Their website is really easy to use - you can type in your boat name and then click on the different fonts to see how it looks in those fonts.
When you get it, the entire word is printed on one long sheet of contact paper. You just peel the backing off it, and stick it on the boat all together. Since you aren't doing a letter at a time, it's automatically straight.
I went with 6" high letters.

Edited by - Unsinkable2 on 01/13/2010 22:32:25

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4024 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2010 : 12:31:50

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Scott - I also like the use of MEK for cleaning the rub rail. It's an awesome solvent - any other uses for that stuff?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
AAAHH......Martini's? I use it instead of Acetone because it has a slower evaporation rate. Bruce just remember when you order the name that when I said my letters were 8" that is the entire height of the graphic, from the bottom of my 'P' to the top of my 'L' If you went with all caps like NORTH STAR, 8" would be much larger. I played on the web sites till I got what I wanted then using the measurements from the web site sketched it out on paper and taped it to the side of the boat then stepped back to get a visual on the height and length. That really helps in determining what you like. If you go with 5" that would be from the top of your 'P' to the bottom of your 'g' leaving the rest of the letters around 3" if the only cap letter you have is the 'P' On a side note, UNSINKABLE 2 reminds me of a sailboat I saw last summer by Oyster Bay named ROCKFINDER 2. As far as the boot stripe goes, the only product I found that gets rid of that milky look is Turtle Wax's Carneuba Cleaner Wax applied with a buffing wheel. It brings the boot stripe back to new and lasts the season. I wonder if the PolyGlo would work, Tape off the stripe and apply it only to the stripe. I'm not a fan of painting anything if you don't have to.

Edited by - islander on 01/14/2010 13:25:42

Unsinkable2
Captain

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USA
273 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2010 : 16:30:04

Scott - "RockFinder 2" is a GREAT name. Almost worth going out and buying another boat just to use the name :)

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5397 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2010 : 17:04:17

I tried Greatlettering and I located the following

I really like it a lot.

Here again are the current letters:

Edited by - on

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4024 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2010 : 18:25:09

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I really like it a lot.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
That is ALL that matters!

Bruce, Greatlettering is always e-mailing me discount codes. They just had one for 35% off over the holidays. If you are not in a rush I will keep an eye out for the next one, Might be a month or two. They make them and ship the same day that you order and from NJ to Conn. is only 2-4 days to get them.

Edited by - islander on 01/14/2010 18:37:35

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2010 : 19:54:48

Bruce, the kerning on the letters looks off to me (spacing in between each letter). Either the S's are too close to each other or the rest of the letters are too far apart.

Edited by - on

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 01/15/2010 : 05:06:52

How about substituting dollar signs for the S's in Passage! LOL

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5397 Posts

Response Posted - 01/15/2010 : 18:42:36

I like the idea of Pa$$age, but I'm afraid I've got the smallest boat in the marina! I think it might have a boomerang effect.

I noticed the spacing between the letters and I tried several fonts - and of course, they're all different.
I think its the "stylistic" effect of the font.

My wife has a MAC and she has some kind of a Adobe software with every font you could ever think of.

If I can use her SW and create a bitmap version of the name, maybe the lettering company can accept that to create the actual logo.

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 01/15/2010 : 19:13:54

The place where we got ours done was able to show me exactly what it'd look like after it was cut. We too went through a million fonts before deciding on the one we have for SL. It was on on Windows instead of a Mac, but I'd think they'd be able to cut to a bitmap. If your wife has the capability, use a TIFF file type instead of a bitmap, it has far more information so you're less likely to get pixelation when they make the letters. The extra information gives you smoother curves and angles.

I think if I were to do it again, I'd go with a smaller size letters, but I like what we have.

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5397 Posts

Response Posted - 02/07/2010 : 13:17:01

So after trying a number of different fonts on paper, printing out different sizes and colors, I went to Greatlettering dot com (after receiving a discount coupon from Scott "Islander" thank you sir) and got 5" x 35" Monotype Corsiva in dark red/maroon (matches the bootstripe) lettering saying Passage and a smaller one for the transom saying Stratford, CT

It looks great but I have not applied the letters yet. My first task is to remove the old Poliglow coating, peel off the old letters with a head gun and plastic paint scraper and clean the entire hull with ketchup, then soap and water, lastly rubbing it down with Acetone to remove any hint of wax.

Next, I plan to apply the letters, and put on a new coat of Poliglow.

My question is: Can I apply Poliglow OVER vinyl letters, or will the Poliglow solvents somehow attack the Vinyl, causing the letters to melt right before my eyes?

If so, is there some kind of coating I can apply over the letters before I apply the Poliglow?. If not, and I need to apply Poliglow first, then once everything has dried, should I then apply the lettering on top of the Poliglow and overcoat with wax or something?

Like I said, I'd like to avoid a basic chemistry 101 disaster!!!!

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5397 Posts

Response Posted - 02/07/2010 : 13:34:37

Here's a shot of the new letters

and the former letters

Edited by - on

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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3704 Posts

Response Posted - 02/07/2010 : 13:55:57

I Poli-Glo'd over my vinyl lettering on our C22. Worked fine.

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