Boat name vendors

R

Roy & Dixie

New member
I just returned from a 2100 mi ICW and river trip. I did not yet have our boat name (C Way) on the CD and felt dad about that. BoatUS has a website that lets one design their boat name and order from them. Color, font, size shipping method, etc are all entered and the total cost is calculated. As all the design parameters are chosen, the design result is displayed. The order indicates the size as 8.5x30.11 in. for what I designed. I assume that the name arrives all on one film of some type and is simply applied to the side of the boat.

Has anyone ordered their boat name in this way and were the results as you desired? The total cost for my order would be under $50. A local sign painter stated that they could order what I want from the internet, so they are probably ordering from a similar supplier.

Any advice would be appriciated.
 
I did not use Boat US when I ordered my boat name and cannot recall the name of the vendor I used. They are all probably about the same. I believe the only difference may that one vendor may have different fonts than others. I was very happy with the product. It is easy to apply, however, take your time and be very careful so you do not create any wrinkles when applying. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the very quick reply. After my first post I went back to the BoatUS website and found that they have a vedio which shows exactly how to do the job. Looks straightfoward.

I'll post pictures as soon as I get the job completed.
 
We used the Boat US website when we renamed our boat. Once we had the design we liked and ordered it, the final product arrived within a matter of days. The name looks exactly as it had appeared on their design page, and the installation was easy. We were quite happy with their service. You can see a close up of the final installed product ("Freedom") in our photo album.
 
All of the name vendors I know of will send the name/numbers on a backing strip which you then apply as a whole. This keeps it from looking like a row of uneven "mailbox letters."

I think there may be some variation in vinyl brand/thickness/quality, but don't have details to report.

If you want to work with someone a bit more artsy/creative to come up with a design (letters and/or logo), there are designers/sign shops/creatives. Coho Design is one example.

Sunbeam
 
Check in my photo album. One of the first sub albums is Naming the Boat. It is a step by step slide show -- sort of.

Measure carefully. 12" high might be challenging to fit from what I remember. Good luck.

Harvey
SleepyC
 
Check in my photo album. One of the first sub albums is Naming the Boat. It is a step by step slide show -- sort of.

Measure carefully. 12" high might be challenging to fit from what I remember. Good luck.

Harvey
SleepyC
 
Not to change the topic, but I spotted you on June 10, 2013 going through the locks at Great Bridge, in Chesapeake, VA.
Next time that you go through the Hampton Roads area, look me up, as I have safe (free) mooring within sight of downtown Norfolk.
Best regards,
Steve Baum
 
We used Speedy Signs since they had a LOT of fonts and really liked the result:

http://www.speedysigns.com

We ordered cast vinyl, with no UV laminate -- it wasn't necessary from what I read. The 2 decals were about $60 shipped.

The application was a lot easier than I had imagined, with a helper. We mixed 1 tbsp into a large squirt bottle filled with water. Clean the side of the boat (remove wax), spray the boat with the soapy water mist, pull off the backing on the decal so the sticky side is exposed (there's a top film still attached) and spray the decal.

Place it on the boat, the soapy water lets you slide it around and get it in the right place. Use a squeegee to work the large bubbles out. Use something smaller like a hard plastic spatula to work the smaller bubbles out. Then peel off the backing. We waited a bit to rinse off the soapy water.

The trickiest part was getting first layer of material off the decals. They tended to stick to the sticky side cover more than the transparent cover that you leave on while positioning. We found that we had to lay the whole decal out on a table, sticky side up, and slowly peel up the sticky side backing at a sharp angle. Each corner of a letter that was exposed tended to want to come up with the backing, but by going slow and almost creasing the backing when that happened, we got it off without any letters coming up.
 
I have always used local venders in the 20 plus boats I have put names on.
There are several grades and weights of vinyl. I would get the best grade.
Be careful where you put the name on the hull--you don't want it any place where it might be damaged by the dock etc.

Most all of these venders use computer fonts, and can come up with any font you can imagine. I have avoided multiple colors (layers of vinyl), but if you want shadow, or multiple color effect these are available.

I usually put the name on the cabin side especially on the 22

Ferret gives you good direction for the application. I use a flexiable plastic spatchula/squeege, for smoothing out the vinyl. These are the same instrument I have used to smooth fairing compound and available from West Marine. If there are small bubbles, these will smooth out with time.

Mark lines in pencil where you want the bottom of the name to be. I cut the paper exactly where I can see/place these pencil marks.
 
I used our (almost) local Fast Signs when we ordered the name on Wild Blue. They offered a great-looking gold texture vinyl to go with the dark blue. I took the layout I wanted (with a "wave" under the name) on a jpg file. The gold isn't cheap, but it looks great; still less than $80 for both sides. It came on a single application layer and was easy to apply. It helps if you have one of the scraper tools (we used those all the time in our studio) to smooth the lettering in place.

I took the jpg on a flash drive, and they made the vinyl while I waited. Before taking the file to them, I printed it on regular paper and tried it out on the side of the boat, to make sure the fit was right for the space.

BoatUS is good (we have used them previously), but I wanted two different fonts for Wild and Blue, and that was not available from them. Plus, I had the name ready to go the same day by doing it locally. (You can see it in our logo below.)

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Thanks to all for the info and ideas. The vedeo on BoatUS web page shows that their method of installation is very simple. I liked the shadow effect on "Freedom" and am considering that.

Srbaum, I sure would have liked using that mooring the night you saw me in the lock. That was night of local tornado watch.
 
I just did this last Wednesday! I used the BoatUS online graphics to design registration numbers and the boat name and it worked out very well. I chose 5 1/2 inch tall lettering for Sea Wings, with a color of navy blue / gray shadow and centered the decal under the vertical window frame at mid cabin, and level with the window frame. It's almost a perfect color match and it looks like a talented person did it, even though I'm not...

The kit comes with a squeegee tool which was very effective at smoothing out bubbles. I still needed a pin to flatten a few small ones.

One tip: lay the decal on a large table, and using a pencil and yardstick, draw a grid on the top that runs to the edges of the decal to aid in centering and alignment. I also made reference marks on the boat with a china marker to line the decal up.

Otherwise, just get a roll of blue painter's tape and follow their directions...

Pete
 
I used "Doityourselflettering.com". Fun sight to work with, you can change things a hundred times before you make a decision. I did not do the application. Marc at Wefings had one of his people apply the name to the boat. Lettering arrived quickly after ordering. Would use them again. Once registered I may order my numbers from them so I don't put them on crooked. One number at a time.
 
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