Another naming topic: Teak quarterboards

We owned our previous boat for 17 years, and it was moored outside most of the time.

During that period, we had to sand down and revarnish the teak quarterboards three times. After replacing the lettering on the boards the first two times, I finally wised up. A local plastic shop cut two pieces of clear plexiglass exactly the size and shape of the quarterboards. The new lettering was applied to the plexiglass, and the plexiglass then screwed to the boards.

It was almost impossible to see the plexiglass between the teak and the lettering. We sold the boat before the boards needed to be refinished again, but had we kept it we would have been able to "save" the lettering while sanding down the teak. The cost of the plexiglass was about the same as the cost of replacing the lettering.

I've made teak and oak quarterboards for folks on my CNC router. The gold leaf can get pretty spendy quick, but I still thing there is no comparison.

If you just want the boat to be identifyible , paint the name on both sides of the bow the same as every commercial boat does.

I removed the teak board and had a sticker company make up a white letters on black vinyl sticker cut to the shape of the old board.
Not traditional, but low maintenance and very legible.
Steve W

Steve said:

I removed the teak board and had a sticker company make up a white letters on black vynil sticker cut to the shape of the old board.
Not traditional, but low maintenance and very legible.
Steve W

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Hey now... THAT'S pretty snazzy! I love that idea.

Tom-

Tom.B said:

Hey now... THAT'S pretty snazzy! I love that idea.

Tom-

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High jack alert!!!!

Are we moving the boat this weekend or waiting for an ice breaker?

We are moving her on Sunday.

Tom.B said:

We are moving her on Sunday.

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You go Gunga Din.

See you tonight.

I made our flying bridge and transom nameboards out of the same teak plank when we bought the boat fourteen years ago. Other than an occasional new coat of Bristol they have not been touched since we installed them. Their maintenance-free longevity is due to the Sunbrella covers my wife made for them. The boat lives in the weather 24/7/365 but the covers do a terrific job of protecting the boards. We only remove them when we take the boat out. This is what the boards look like today.

Here's a company that has a really nice interactive design tool for laying out and pricing quarterboards if you're interested:

Custom Made Signs - Personalized Signage | Danthonia Designs

Steve said:

I removed the teak board and had a sticker company make up a white letters on black vinyl sticker cut to the shape of the old board.
Not traditional, but low maintenance and very legible.
Steve W

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One problem. Without a quarterboard, your red and green lights are visible astern. The function of the bit of quarterboard that is perpendicular to the hull is to make sure that a vessel directly behind you at night isn't confused by your red and green nav lights.

The aft portion of the Hella light fixture itself is black and keeps the light from being visible from aft.
Steve W

Steve said:

I removed the teak board and had a sticker company make up a white letters on black vinyl sticker cut to the shape of the old board.
Not traditional, but low maintenance and very legible.
Steve W

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This what we did. Mounted it on MDO which is sign board and last forever.

Steve said:

The aft portion of the Hella light fixture itself is black and keeps the light from being visible from aft.
Steve W

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You would think that...but the more expensive and brighter incandescent fixtures are actually not really in compliance. Not sure about LED fixtures...not enough out there to make blanket statements)...so Chuck is correct in my experience.

The problem is on the brighter lights...the plastic lenses are so bright they can be confused with the actual bulb...therefore the housings are not enough of a determining shield/screen. Our assistance towing fleet had the hella 2984 series and the boss had me make screens for all the boats as he was amazed that you could see red/green so clearly from dead astern.

It's funny though, the screen's interior surface is supposed to be matt black finish (to prevent reflection and confusion), Very few on rec trawlers are (usually gloss varnish over wood) and Ranger "read way over priced" Tugs actually are dumb enough to paint the inside of their screens red and green. When bought to their attention...the reply was "looked sharp"...go figure...