Hey there, I'm getting ready to complete the purchase on a '99 C36 MKII. One of my projects will be to change the name. Other than the ritual involved I need to remove the old name from the side and add the new name. Does anyone have any advice on taking off the old vinyl lettering in such a way that you don't injure the gel coat or leave a shadow? Also, I have been looking online at several websites that offer custom vinyl lettering. This seems to be the way to go. A couple questions:
1. Does anyone recommend a company for this, that has an online custom tool?
2. What should be the height of the letters for the typical mounting location on a C36 (side of the hull toward the stern).
3. Any other tips?
When going through the customizer at www.doityourselflettering.com, on first try I have 8.27"H x 36" wide, selecting the premium 3M Cast Vinyl. Is reflective better/must have?
Thanks again for the advice!
Mike
under agreement - 1999, C36 MKII, In-mast, wing keel, tall rig
Phinneys Harbor, MA
Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA
Mike;
First, Welcome to the forum ! We wish you good luck with the purchase of your boat and hope you'll be well pleased. You've come to the right spot for answers and we all love to share our experiences.
Depending on how long the old name has been on the boat, you are propably going to find it a bit difficult to remove the shadow of the old name since the older vinyl letters have protected the gel coat underneath them from rain, wind and sun & sand. Take it for granted that there probably will be a shadow. That being said, I'd get ready to design a new name and letter size (and perhaps a design) where the new lettering at least covers the old name.
If you use a design along with the name lettering, it will most likely cover the former name's shadow and the eye will be drawn to the design and not the shadow.
I removed my boats former name lettering using the 3M Adheive (chemical #08984) Remover, one 3M eraser wheel;
https://www.amazon.com/Remover-Adhesive-Adapter-Pinstripes-Stickers/dp/B...
and Plastic Razor Blades;
https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Double-Edged-Razor-Scraper/dp/B004623NU2/...
This is not as easy a job as many might think and you might ask a local sign shop for advice before starting. Many times auto parts store will stock the parts above.
BoatUS and and local sign shops can supply you with letters in various fonts, but I perfer the local sign shops. If you screw up applying a (new) letter- the local shop can knock out another for you. Not that easy if you order the vinyl letters by mail.
Good luck with your purchase.
Bill
Bill Dolan 1990 Catalina C-36 MKI - Hull #1041 'Williwaw'
Std. Rig, Walk Through, Wing Keel
M35, Oberdorfer Conversion,
Home Waters; Charlotte Harbor & The Gulf Islands of Florida
'You are never out of work if you own a boat'
Great advice Bill! I'll start measuring the rectangle that the current name occupies, and look for a sign shop nearby. Thanks again.
Mike
Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA
Hey Bill, what's an Oberdorfer Conversion? I saw that indicated in your signature block. The 99 MkII im buying has an Oberdorfer pump. Same thing?
Mike
Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA
Quick answer - the original raw water pump on the Catalina 36 Universal engine was made by Sherwood, and was almost universally hated for dependability and difficulty of maintenance. Many owners replaced these with a more reliable pump made by Oberdorfer, which was almost a plug-and-play swap. There's tons of stuff on this conversion on this site, for example the following two links. You should count yourself lucky that you don't have go to through the conversion as your new baby has had it done already.
https://www.catalina36.org/members/technical/upgrades/oberdorfer-water-pump-upgrade-m35a-and-m35b
https://www.catalina36.org/forum/technical-discussion/sherwood-oberdorfer
Hopefully, you're buying from a former member and he's done all the cool upgrades already. Did he already do the chip tuning so that the boat will get up on plane?
John Parsons
"Water Music" 1999 Catalina 36 Mk II - Hull 1771
Tall Rig, Fin Keel
Bay City, MI, USA
John, thanks for the insight (again). Chip tuning? No idea what you are talking about! The PO was/is a dedicated member of this forum and a fastidious yacht owner, so many upgrades have been done, to include fresh water head, battery charger and battery banks, all B&G nav/autopilot/radar/VHF-AIS/Oberdorfer pump/LED cabin lighting.... maybe more. I take delivery after the survey next month.
Whats Chip Tuning?
(in the aviation business we used to send new flight line guys back in to the hangar to get a bucket of prop wash..... this isn't a gag like that is it?! I am after all a new Catalina guy!)
Mike
Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA
Sorry for the attempt a humor - but you're right about the prop wash comment. "Chip tuning" or "chipping" is automotive hot rod slang for changing out the stock computer chip for one that tweeks the engine performance to be more aggressive, but also tears the engine up - trading horsepower for reliability. Obviously, you'll never get your C36 on-plane, hence the 'joke'. Looking forward to seeing you on this forum, and also Sailboat Owners, many times in the future. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_tuning
John Parsons
"Water Music" 1999 Catalina 36 Mk II - Hull 1771
Tall Rig, Fin Keel
Bay City, MI, USA
Mike-
In 2010, I used Boat US for our name: 12" tall x 39" long. $128 for both sides- Navy Blue, no sparkles. Been very happy. Take your time for the application and follow the instructions. Avoid applying on a day with wind! Having trouble attaching photo. Will try again later.
Paul & Wendy Keyser
"First Light"
Rye NH
2005 C36 MKII #2257
Wing, M35B
Photo Attached- 12"x39" Boat Name
Paul & Wendy Keyser
"First Light"
Rye NH
2005 C36 MKII #2257
Wing, M35B
Sounds good Paul. Thanks again. Mike
Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA
Mike.... I agree 100% about the shadow you will have and trying to cover it with the new name. I too got mine from BoatUS without a hitch.
To remove the old vynil I used a heat gun to soften it (not getting the gel coat too hot). With a small scraper you can usually get an edge to lift up and then big pieces peeled off. Took about 30 muinutes for the whole removal job on both sides. Again, previous post about doing it on a calm day (earlyAM or evening when the wind dies down). If the wind blows the vinyl once the carrier paper is off and it folds or hits the boat side, your toast.
Chuck Parker
HelenRita 2072 Mk II
2002 Tall Rig - Winged Keel
Atlantic Highlands, NJ
To remove the lettering use a 3M adhesive eraser wheel (check amazon, also made by other manufacturers but I've never used them).
You put the eraser in a drill and in minutes the vinyl is gone. No heat gun, no scraping, no gel coat damage. If you need to use scrapers and adhesive removes (etc) you have not erased enough. Any minor stuff left over is a 'flitz', or 'cleaner wax' job. Remove any wax prior to new lettering.
Awesome! Thanks!
mike
Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA
Oven cleaner seems to work as well for removal, along with very careful use of a razor.
The homeport of the former owner was on the stern, there is still a very slight "shadow" of it, but almost impossible to see.
The former name was on the aft topsides in the same place where the new name was put, so the "shadow" doesn't show up at all.
We got our name decals via West Marine, they have (or had, when we did it 9 years ago) a service that made them to order.
Matthew Chachère
s/v ¡Que Chévere!
(Formerly 1985 C36 MKI #466 tall rig fin keel M25)
2006 Catalina Morgan 440 #30.
Homeported in eastern Long Island, NY
Agree with the 3M eraser, and cleaning up with solvent. I ordered mine from BoatUS, which has an OK editing tool to order. 12" high, and name came out to just over a yard long. The original names from Catalina seemed to be all brushed script of some form, but it's your boat. You'll want to measure it out to make sure you avoid the stern cabin portlight on the starbord side. I did not mount mine myself as I was not confident. For a hundred bucks, the yard where I store her did a very professional job, and their folks do decals twice a day every day during springtime, whereas I'll mount something that big twice in my lifetime. Don't worry about the shadow - you'll never notice it once the new name's on. Remember, you don't read her name from 4 feet away like this photo, but from 500 yards away across the water, so relax.
What's her name going to be?
John Parsons
"Water Music" 1999 Catalina 36 Mk II - Hull 1771
Tall Rig, Fin Keel
Bay City, MI, USA
Hey John, thanks for the tips! The 3m eraser wheel seems to be the consensus. And I may enlist the services of the yard to put the decal on for me. Name is going to continue from my last boat - Jackfish GIrl, named after my grandmother who was from Jackfish, Ontario (now a ghost town on the north shore of lake superior). I was thinking of throwing a little subscript roman numeral "II" at the end of the name, as this is the second iteration.
Mike
Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA
Reminds me of one of the many clever boat names I've seen over the years -- "My Last Boat II"
Matthew Chachère
s/v ¡Que Chévere!
(Formerly 1985 C36 MKI #466 tall rig fin keel M25)
2006 Catalina Morgan 440 #30.
Homeported in eastern Long Island, NY
The other advantage to a local sign shop (Google will offer you a wide selection) is that they can do multiple colours, modifyied fonts and can add logos of your own, or their design. See ours below. (The Admiral doesn't think it is readable enough so I'll be peeling it off and reapplying this season...)
Kevin Lenard
"Firefly"
'91 C-36 Mk. "1.5" Tall Rig, Fin Keel, Hull #1120, Universal M-35 original (not "A" or "B")
CBYC, Scarborough, Lake Ontario, Canada
I don't know Kevin.......I like the name you've posted...quite elegant !
And I appriciated the aviation humor. Had not heard that one in years. Seems like old pilots buy sailboats. You'll find a bunch of us here.
Bill
Bill Dolan 1990 Catalina C-36 MKI - Hull #1041 'Williwaw'
Std. Rig, Walk Through, Wing Keel
M35, Oberdorfer Conversion,
Home Waters; Charlotte Harbor & The Gulf Islands of Florida
'You are never out of work if you own a boat'
**UPDATE** - The eraser wheel I purchased worked fairly well, with one painful lesson learned. Like waxing with a polisher, this is a LOW rpm operation only. I was using my cordless drill and it's max rpm was still low enough to be fine. When my only battery died I switched to the corded drill. The higher rpm, torque, etc took the first letter off with ease, but left a yellowish shadowing of the eraser material, burned into the gel coat. I was able to dim it down but not completely remove it with rubbing compound. It still passes the 50' rule. The rest of the decal came off fine with lower rpm (barely squeezing the trigger).
I ended up buying a cheaper version of 3M's eraser wheel called a Doca Disc. Youtube reviews were very positive. Maybe I shouldn't have chinced... Oh well.
I think the name decal from BoatUS came out well in the end.
Mike
Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA
Very nice, indeed. I love the shine you got with your buffing. I know that's a great amount of work, but it pays off for years.
John Parsons
"Water Music" 1999 Catalina 36 Mk II - Hull 1771
Tall Rig, Fin Keel
Bay City, MI, USA
Hey John, thanks for noticing. This time I didn't 'chince' and purchased a really nice Makita polisher. Used Starbrite premium cleaner wax. It came out pretty well.
Mike
Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA
Les & Trish Troyer
Mahalo
Everett, WA
1983 C-36 Hull #0094
C-36 MK 1 Technical Editor.
Commodore
Got the port-o-call on the transom as well. Transferring the CG number
Mike
Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA
Easy Off works well and is very "easy." It will leave a yellow residue that vinegar removes almost instantly. No need to sand or polish. Careful use of a scraper is all.
Captain Moon
Waxing Moon
2002 C36 MK II #2105
Port Charlotte, FL
Using a electrical heatgun / hairdryer would be my starting point to remove the old name. The adhesive remains to be removed with cleaner / adhesive remover. Never use mechanical means.
For the position also we left the name in the aft-section of the hull.
Durk Nijdam
S/V "SILER"
Catalina 36MKII - 2001 / hullnr. 2013
Stavoren - Holland