Vinyl Wrap

[DArcy]

The blue stripe under the toe rail on my boat needs to be refinished. I was planning on painting but someone suggested using a vinyl wrap instead of paint. This seems to be more and more common and there are companies that wrap boats but this seems like a fairly simple surface to wrap so a potential DIY. It sounds like it is more durable than single part paints, maybe as durable as two part. It's not cheap, probably as much as a good quality two part paint. A wrap opens up some more possibilities for colors and textures as well.
Does anyone have experience with boat, or car, wraps and how well they hold up to the environment?

 

[MikeHoncho]

I was looking at wrapping a enclosed trailer and the company gave a estimated life span of at about 4 years. I would expect less given the reflection on water and all the other conditions

 

[dlochner]

No experience with vinyl wrap. Look at pin striping tape for autos.

 

[sailnoproblem]

I have a stripe and used 1\2" wide gold metallic tape. The stripe is indented into the hull and the tape fit just right.
10 years ago I attempted painting the stripe but it didn't go to well so I switched to tape and it lasted 8 years before having to be replaced.
I purchased the tape from West Marine, and I don't remember the price but I believe it was under $20.00. That was more then enough for my 34' hull.

 

[Mikem]

Prism Graphics here in Seattle wraps boats. A live aboard friend of mine had his 50’ powerboat done and was very pleased with it. He said it was about 1/3 the price of a paint job. My daughter looked into it for her previous Catalina 30 and the quote was $150/foot and two days. Haul out and prep up to the owner.

 

[jssailem]

Wow that beats the 20K quote I got.

 

[sailnoproblem]

I guess the OP has to clarify what type or should I say how wide the stripe is under the toe rail. I miss understood, and didn't realize he was going to wrap the hull

 

[DArcy]

I want to re-finish the wide blue stripe which is about 6 inches. The hard part will be colour matching the cove stripe under it.

 

[jssailem]

DArcy. The crew aboard looks about as happy about the boat as Dad is thoughtful about the color of the stripe.
If an exact color match is the control then choosing the wrap method seems to drive the need to wrap both stripes. Not sure how that works.

Or the old school paint method will address the issue. Perhaps your crew will discover painting talents perfected on the boat.

Another but likely shorter term solution might be a vinyl stripe similar to the material used for boat names. It would likely need multiple crew members working together to apply such a long stripe. Cost for the material is lower just not sure they manufacture such long stripes.

 

[lehighsail]

Look at: MrLetter.com. They have all different colors and will cut the strip to any width you want. Seem to be very accommodating and will send samples.

 

[VisionPNW]

I do vinyl graphics but when it comes to wraps, that is another game entirely. Not a diy job for sure. If you are looking to just do a stripe... There are lots of options. Search Amazon for ORACAL Vinyl Striping Tape 651. They have all sorts of sizes and colors. If you are not the diy type, have a graphics company come do it. Should be a pretty reasonable price. Also Brad from Prism Graphics is a member of my yacht club... He does top notch work!