name boards

[Woodsong]

We are changing the name of our trawler from what it was when we bought her this summer. *We have already taken the painted name off the transom but have the sign boards to do next. *They are varnished teak but they are need of refinishing. *When I am up there next I am going to take them down so I can bring them home to refinish. *A couple of dumb questions (I know, I know, I am always asking dumb questions!! haha).1) They appear to be held in place by screws but the screw heads are covered up with little wooden caps that match the teak. I am trying to figure out how to remove without damaging the name board. *Do you just drill out the cover piece of teak to get to the screw? *Do they sell the caps in either home depot or somewhere already made?
2) Call me crazy but I am thinking that once I refinish the name boards that I may just have the name applied using vinyl letters instead of painting the name on as the name is done right now. *Seems it would last just as long and no one would notice really. Anyone else ever done their name boards this way? *I guess i need to call my sign guy to see if the vinyl will stick to the varnish! *

 

[Steve]

WAIT!
On my Monk the teak plugs cover the heads of bolts which are probably epoxied in. On the inside of the Flying bridge side were nuts and washers on the bolts I took the nuts off and was able to pull the boards off without damaging the board surface. I am not a fan at of teak at tall, I wish I could get rid of all of the exterior teak on my boat. I removed the boards, covered the holes in the flying bridge side with epoxy putty. Then I had a sign shop make me two black vynil "sticker" one right hand, one left, the same size and shape as the teak board and with the name of the boat in 4" white letters. I stuck one on each side of the F/B and it looks fine (to me) and the name stands out more than the gold leaf on teak did. My apologies to any traditionalist, lovers of teak.
Those teak caps are called "plugs" you can buy them*at*West Marine or other good marine store.
Steve W.

-- Edited by Steve on Wednesday 17th of November 2010 05:54:48 PM

 

[JMYSS]

On our boat we did not have name boards when purchased, so made some out of teak that also are shaped to hold the running lights. After a million coats of varnish, I had the local sign shop make some really nice quality vynyl stickers to put on them. We arranged the four stainless mounting bolts so that it would look good without have to put the caps or "bungs" in and we could remove them as neccessary , because it is much easier to refinish or add coats of varnish on a shop table then standing on a slippery oval aluminum railing balancing with brush and varnish. Note, if you leave the screw heads exposed, aling the heads so that the X are all in the exact same direction up and down. It makes it look extra "yachty" I'll post some pictures when I have time. It is the only teak or brightwork we have on the exterior, but it is a nice little touch on an aluminum boat.

 

[Marin]

I made new nameboards-- flying bridge and transom--*for our boat. The boards are held to the flying bridge and the transom*with stainless bolts with oval heads with stainless*trim washers under the heads. This is the standard attachment method used by GB. The two rear bolts are behind the running light. The name boards are glued and screwed together with teak plugs over the countersunk screws. I put about ten coats of varnish on them and then had a sign shop make and apply the vinyl lettering and drop shadow. I have recoated the boards with varnish every few years. My wife made covers for them so when we're not usin the boat the teak is covered which does remarkable things for the longevity of the teak and the vinyl lettering.

This was the first project we did on the boat after acquiring it. This photo was taken earlier this year so the boards and lettering are more than twelve years old now. The lettering has weathered some but the coats of varnish over it is keeping it from lifting.

One thing that is very important if you use finished teak for nameboards, and that is to stand them off a bit from the side of the flying bridge (or the transom).* If you don't water will become trapped between the board and the fiberglass unless you bed the boards in Dolfinite or whatever.* If moisture gets trapped behind the board it will eventually find it's way behind the finish no matter how well or thick you think you've put it on, and when that happens it will begin to lift the finish. Eventually the moisture will work its way around the edges of the board to the front and you'll be looking at a re-finish job.* We used nylon spacers on the mounting bolts to stand the nameboards off the fiberglass about an inch.**You don't have to stand them off that far--- all you need is an air space behind the boards--- but we had to accomodate a wiring run behind the boards.

-- Edited by Marin on Wednesday 17th of November 2010 07:50:02 PM

 

[healhustler]

Thanks for that info, Marin. *Those name boards look terrific, and I like the idea of some stand-off spacers too, as long as I'm not parking the boat under a sappy tree. *I have my gold-leaf letters done, and it's just a matter of refinishing the boards now. *I'm following your advice on this one.

 

[Marin]

FWIW here's another angle on the same name board.* The things that look like drops of water on the bottom are just that.* They aren't finish runs, not that I'm not capable of doing that......

-- Edited by Marin on Wednesday 17th of November 2010 09:00:45 PM

 

[Woodsong]

this forum ROCKS! Thanks all- I will check the backside of the flybridge fiberglass to see if bolts were used that I can undo from the back. I like the stand off idea- also gives a level of detail that looks nice.
Seriously- this forum is just an amazing resource.

 

[Tom.B]

I made my own and stuck them on with Velcro to avoid any extra holes in my boat (only one for the wires). Someone here suggested it and it's working great so far. Had them on for several months now without a hitch. Only thing I messed up was that I put the light in the front with the name aft. I see that they all hve the lights aft with the name forward of it. Ooops

Tom-

-- Edited by GonzoF1 on Thursday 18th of November 2010 07:46:34 AM

 

[Fotoman]

Funny coincidence, I am just working on the same project this week. I took the old name plate and planed it because the previous name was engraved. I then sanded smooth and cleaned the wood with mineral spirits to remove any trace of dust. I applied the vinyl directly on the wood and then varnished (Cetol actually). It gave the letters a yellowish color that I find really nice.

 

[JD]

GonzoF1 wrote:

*I see that they all hve the lights aft with the name forward of it. Ooops

Tom-

-- Edited by GonzoF1 on Thursday 18th of November 2010 07:46:34 AM

That would be to make the name visible at night Mate.

*

 

[Tom.B]

JD wrote:

*
GonzoF1 wrote:

I see that they all hve the lights aft with the name forward of it. Ooops

Tom-

-- Edited by GonzoF1 on Thursday 18th of November 2010 07:46:34 AM

That would be to make the name visible at night Mate.

*

*



Yea, but with a red or green light... So I didn't see the point. But hey... Whateverrrrrr

 

[Marin]

I don't know that the "tradition" of having the board extend forward of the light has anything to do with lighting the name. I suspect that it had to do with the earlier use of all-round red and green lanterns and the need to block off the view of them from the opposite side and behind them. So you made a "blind" with a pair of boards connected at a right angle. Then someone got the clever idea of extending the board inboard of the light forward and painting the name of the boat on it. Or something like that. But the red and green lights don't put out enough light to read much of anything by.

 

[Peter B]

Marin, I had some name boards done up, and used vinyl lettering, and set them out 1/4 inch with spacers for exactly the reasons you mention. It worked well. The only issue I had with that is it then provides the best of all places for spiders to set up residence behind them. I ended up with such stubborn ones there I gave up trying to get rid of them in the end and even gave them names. Do you have this problem, or it is just a Queensland thing, where spiders are rife?
Incidentally, since doing that, we had the cockpit canopy replaced and took it along the side decks rather like the new Europa sedans do, only in solid fibreglass, and the canvas now covers most of my nice name boards. I have nice new larger vinyl names and numbers now ready to attach to stern, and both sides of the flybridge as soon as we get a nice fine weekend. We are having the wettest spring here on record this year. Sadly, rain does not deter the spiders, but does wash away the Mortein rather quick, but they won't be able to get behind vinyl lettering, heh, heh, heh.

 

[Marin]

We don't seem to have spider problems up here. We have the occasional little one on the boat that builds a beautiful web in the corner of a handrail or (most recently) in the exact center of the roll bar curve on the Rocna anchor. Very pretty when highlighted by dew in the morning.

We just leave them be. They don't make a mess and any bugs they catch are bugs that won't be bothering us.

I've read posts on the T&T list by people who keep their boats in boathouses, mostly in the southern US it seems, who apparently have very frustrating problems with spider droppings on their boats. So far as I know boathouse owners don't have this problem up here.

The only things that can become a messy pest in this area that I'm aware of besides seagulls are mammals. Muskrats in the lakes have been known to crawl up inside the exhaust outlets of boats and then chew through the exhaust hoses at which point (in a few cases) the boat sinks. So you see a lot of boats in Lakes Washington and Union with stainless grills over the exhaust outlets for this reason.

River otters, which are as at home in salt water as fresh, can make an unholy mess inside any boat they can get into with droppings, urine, and fish and crab carcasses.

And we have the occasional run-in with rats that can get aboard from docks. Carey of this forum can tell you quite a rat tale of a rat that wreaked havoc inside his lobsterboat once.

But spiders don't seem to be an issue.

-- Edited by Marin on Friday 19th of November 2010 02:16:38 PM

 

[Steve]

Spiders around here eat bugs and cr@p out magic marker ink. Suspend insecticide works well on them.
Steve W

 

[Doc]

Anyone made name boards with the name routed in? I want some in the same script as on the transom. The decals eventually get old so I want some permanent ones with gold paint in the depressions. I wonder how one gets the gold paint in???

I wonder what type of equipment could do the wood work on these.

 

[Marin]

Several people on the Grand Banks forum have done this. In all the cases I'm aware of they used professional woodcarvers for the job. They generally had the carved letters painted with either gold or silver leaf.

In my opinion this is the first-class way to go, but it's not cheap if done properly. Most people on the GB forum seem to go with vinyl lettering as it's more pocket-book friendly. We had our lettering done by a sign shop. Our lettering consists of two separate components-- the gold name is one and the gray drop shadow is the other. I constructed and finished the name boards--- flying bridge and transom--- and we had the sign shop apply the lettering. That way if it got screwed up in application it would be their responsibility to fix it, not mine. For the transom I made a second board that has the hailing port on it.

 

[C lectric]

-- Edited by C lectric on Saturday 20th of November 2010 05:33:06 PM

 

[Egregious]

Doc wrote:

Anyone made name boards with the name routed in? I want some in the same script as on the transom. The decals eventually get old so I want some permanent ones with gold paint in the depressions. I wonder how one gets the gold paint in???

I wonder what type of equipment could do the wood work on these.

I'm having mine redone by a "pro" woodworker.* It will be routed in and painted.* It will either look awesome or like total cr*p.* I'll post a pic if it looks good, hopefully getting them tonight.

*

 

[Carey]

Egregious wrote:

*
Doc wrote:

Anyone made name boards with the name routed in? I want some in the same script as on the transom. The decals eventually get old so I want some permanent ones with gold paint in the depressions. I wonder how one gets the gold paint in???

I wonder what type of equipment could do the wood work on these.

I'm having mine redone by a "pro" woodworker.* It will be routed in and painted.* It will either look awesome or like total cr*p.* I'll post a pic if it looks good, hopefully getting them tonight.

*

*

Just a side note relative to boat names and font selection. There are a lot of beautiful fonts out there, but please remember that the most important reason for having a name on a boat is so other boats can hail you by name, to give you important information. If your wife were tangled in a line, and being drug behind your boat, you might want to be identified without doubt. I don't know how many times I have tried to hail a boat to warn them of submerged rocks in their line of travel and not been able to read the name, due to too small or too fancy a script. Just a thought. Also consider good contrast. Gold is very pretty, but not the most visible. Black on White is best.

*

 

[Egregious]

"but please remember that the most important reason for having a name on a boat is so other boats can hail you by name, to give you important information"

Yup, that was a consideration in choosing the name in the first place, that it be easy to make out on the VHF.

"Polly P." -- easy to understand and legible on the transom, nice and big.* Now we'll see how the plates work out.

 

[Carey]

Egregious wrote:

"but please remember that the most important reason for having a name on a boat is so other boats can hail you by name, to give you important information"

Yup, that was a consideration in choosing the name in the first place, that it be easy to make out on the VHF.

"Polly P." -- easy to understand and legible on the transom, nice and big.* Now we'll see how the plates work out.

Isn't that the truth. It seems that about one in three boat names are ridiculously hard to understand, much less say clearly and concisely over the radio. Great point!!!

*

 

[Steve]

I was in a marina with a sailboat named Zubenelgenubi, the Arabic name of a star.
Steve W

 

[Woodsong]

Woody- I checked last weekend- my name boards are not installed with through bolts that I can just remove from the backside. Looks like i will have to drill the plugs out and then refinish @ the house and when I reinstall perhaps I'll switch to through bolts with decorative donut washers and skip the plug thing.

 

[Phil Fill]

Is that the reason boats have names?* So they can call/hail you?* I thought it was required by the water gods to name the boat?* (0;

I was going to change the name to Ugly Trawler, but its too much of Hassel!* Eagle works well as now we have Eagle plaques/signs, pictures, mirrors, clocks, window decorations, hats, shirts, belt buckles, blankets, and other stuff.* The name board, stern, bow and Portuguese bridge have Eagle plaques.

I do not mind having spiders as long as they stay out side as they cut down the flying insects.* I heard it was good luck to have spiders on your boat, and if you kill them it will being bad luck? I do not need any more bad luck!* )-;


-- Edited by Phil Fill on Thursday 2nd of December 2010 10:22:41 AM

 

[reefdrifter]

Doc,
We had our name boards hand carved by the sign shop in Charlotte Harbor just north of the 41 bridge on the right side.* The name of the shop is Sign Design.* Jeff is the owner and they do real nice work.

-- Edited by reefdrifter on Thursday 2nd of December 2010 10:41:54 PM

 

[Keith]

The cheapest way is to find one of those guys at a fair or festival that routes names on wood for homes, farms, etc. Bring your own wood.

If you want top end stuff, see: http://www.springvalleysigns.com/quarterboards/index.html

http://lettercarving.itgo.com/index.html

 

[Woodsong]

the more i read these replies the more I am starting to lean towards just buying 2 new pieces of teak, routing out the edges and having my sign guy route in the new name and just take the old ones down and replace with new! Hmmm.....

 

[vjm]

If anyone is interested in splashing out a bit, I cannot recommend Dorr Woodcarving in Rockport, ME enough.

They made a two sided sign for my restaurant in 2000, and it was gorgeous. It also stood up to Maine weather extrememly well.

That sign was around 1K, but one sided signs are much cheaper.

 

[Woodsong]

Ok- decision time!! They are painting the topsides. I need make up my mind whether to refinish the name boards or just go with vinyl letters directly to the side of the fiberglass of the flybridge (similar to attached pic). Name board is a traditional look. However, they are small and you really can't read the name of the boat unless close up. It is also yet another piece of teak to refinish.
Or- just go with larger letters applied to fiberglass- easier to read, one less piece of teak.

Too sacrilege to skip the name boards?