32-26 water line

[rockybucci]

I'm refitting a 1990 32', which was damaged(not sunk)by Katrina, She'll be fitted out for cruising and that causes me to wonder about raising the water line. Does any one have experience with that. I'll be adding a dinghy on davits,as well as making good use of the cockpit locker.
Thanks,
Rocky-rockydi@earthlink.net

[Jim-SW]

Rocky,

I haven't raised the waterline on our 32 #1, but I did it on a previously owned Catalina 27. I suspect the simplist way is to just move the bottom paint up to the boot stripe; that would give you an inch more antifouling. If you want more, use the appropriate size masking tape down from the top of the boot stripe. The only place it may look strange is on the transom where the boot stripe is right at the water level.

Jim
South Wind

[rockybucci]

Thanks Jim, Do you think that raising the w/l on your 32 #01 is in the future?
Why or why not?
Thanks,
Rocky

[Jim-SW]

Rocky, Probably not. I raised it on the Catalina because we kept it on a mooring and the weight of the tackle pulled the bow down enough that I was getting growth above the antifouling paint. The 32 is in a slip on the Choptank River on Maryland's Eastern Shore so she sits pretty level, but I do have slime build up. That requires a different solution, maybe a more aggressive paint with a slimicide. I'll just have to see how bad it is after a full season.

Jim

[rockybucci]

I visited the factory in Largo today, and had a opportunity to pick Tom's brain. I questioned him regarding the water line and the advisability of raising it. Here's what I learned: The older IP's are planned to sit on the bottom edge of boot stripe when moderately loaded (read local/coastal cruising). Sometime in the late 1990's, depending on the model, the boot stripe was raised a distance equal to it's height. That boot stripe varies in height from mid ship to the ends, so you will be raising it between 3 & 4 inches.

Rocky