re-establishing the waterline, trim, etc.

[jimmy]

Over the years of hauling and repainting my 32' sailboat (both myself and previous owners) I believe my bootstripe/waterline has drifted off from where the actual waterline should be. Most descriptions of re-establishing waterlines start with something simple sounding like " block the boat up level". This sounds simple, but what part of a boat is supposed to be level? Side to side isn't difficult, but fore and aft the only part I can think of is the cabin sole or cabin top, but I'm not sure about these. Even on a very calm day at the dock a level isn't much good, especially as soon as you step on the boat.

My next thought was to just try to mark where her actual waterline is while she is in the water, but then I remembered the trim ballast in the bilge around the mast and the fact that I still haven't figured out if I need to alter this after putting a new, heavier mast on the boat. The plans for this boat have been lost to history and I don't know how close she is to proper trim right now.

It kind of seems like a chicken and egg problem. Does anyone know any usefull tricks or guidelines for this sort of thing? I've been kind of hoping I could get rid of most of that trim ballast out of the bilge anyway. Could I just take it out and mark where she floats without it? Is it likely to make much of a difference?

I'm thinking about this more than normal right now because she is listing to starboard after being out of the water for repairs. Part of this is certainly due to moving and removing stuff from inside for the repairs, but I'm wondering if it is exagerated to some extent because the waterline isn't correct. I'm also trying to eliminate the posibilty that there might be a more sinister reason for the list.

Thanks,
James

[John B]

The first thing to remember is that an antifoul w/l should be well clear of the water.32 ft?. 2 inches I'd have thought at least.More if you're mooring out.
Second is that a waterline that plunges to the bow always looks bad , whereas one that drops to the stern slightly doesn't .
What I'd do is trim the boat how I wanted it , make some marks that can be understood or leave it to make its own marks over the season, and then make the w/l from that 2 or 3 inches up but allowing a fraction drop bow to stern.
Also, a ducks tail , where you pull it back up in a fair curve from say 2/3 back to a slightly higher point at the stern can look quite good and solve some fouling issues on a counter stern boat.

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

.
Apart from what John says (with which I agree,) I wouldn't do anything before taking out the internal ballast, restoring internal fittings to their proper places, properly rigging the mast, and then plumbing it. Paying no attention to the existing painted waterline, this should establish whether the list is real or imaginary. (And incidentally whether the waterline is painted correctly or not.)

If it seems the list is real, try to find out why. Has someone done some hull repairs at any time which have unbalanced it? Is she (let's hope not!) taking on water? Is an internal engine off-centre (in which case some internal ballast will be necessary?) Correct whatever you find, if anything.

Then take her out a few times in different conditions without the internal ballast (unless you need some as in the above paragraph, in which case it should be in place,) and see how she handles. Put any other ballast back if it seems to be necessary, and move it around till you've got its placement right.

Then you can start considering the waterline, and John's method of leaving it to establish itself over a season is probably as good a method as any.

Once it's been established it to your satisfaction, use a bradawl to punch a series of dots into the hull (which I'm assuming is timber) to mark it permanently for future reference.

Speaking for myself, I prefer the top of the antifouling to be horizontal and just above the LWL, and the top of the boot-topping to rise significantly at the bow and to a lesser extent at the stern. But that's an aesthetic issue, so personal preference comes in here.

Finally, do a search for earlier threads on this because I can remember at least one quite lengthy one from a few years ago.

Mike

[jimmy]

Thanks, I'll try searching the old threads again. I'm trying to figure out a few related issues, the most immediate of which is the list. I'm pretty sure it is real, but I guess I will have to wait until I have put the interior back to normal to be sure (which might be a while). The engine hasn't moved and the mast seems to be roughly centered (measured with a halyard) and straight, but somebody did just finnish working on the hull (me) so that is the main suspect. Shifting all the internal ballast as far outboard to port as possible doesn't quite compensate.

As for re-establishing the waterline, is sounds like after I have figured out the list I can just take out the internal balast and it I like the way she sails, mark the waterline as she sits and go from there. Is it that simple?
James