MacGregorSailors.com

Finally getting around to putting a name on the boat. I think 3 1/2 years is long enough to wait. I plan on putting it on both port and starboard, near the transom. Any suggestions on height of the largest letter? Any companies I should steer towards, or away from?

Thanks

Dan, I got mine through the following link.

http://www.boatlettering.net/boatletter ... ewForm.php

They wer a little more expensive than some of the others but the quality of the decals was very good and they come with a 5 year warrenty. The company also called me to recommend changes to what I had ordered. Good service and a good product.

As far as size goes, I have an and made the letters as large as possible to fit between the chine and the top of the blue hull - you will need to measure for yourself.

There is an earlier thread on this that has lots of examples and pictures.

Hope this helps

Dave U

Here's mine.

The boat name is 7", the port 3.5". It's not a hi-res photo so a little blurry, but you can get an idea on the size.

Before I saw it, I was concerned it was going to be way too big, but this size was chosen by the first mate, and after installation I agree it's just right. My own bias is that people have a tendency to go both too small and too ornate, so that you can't read it unless you're very close, and that defeats the purpose.

I got it from Letters Unlimited. I believe both sides including the rather long home port were about $30. I don't recall a warranty but they're three years old and good as new, and for that price I could change styles every couple years and still be ahead. Also, their customer service is outstanding.

Every Boat needs a name, now the "Enterprise Sea" can proudly show her name off. I originally called West Marine to order these vinyl letters, but after they sent me to their vendor to view their font options, I ordered directly from the vendor www.lendaproducts.com in St. Louis MO. I placed the order on a Wednesday morning and had them on my door step by noon the next day! Cost wasn't cheap, $11 for each CF registration number and $40 for each boat name (port and starboard), but the quality is worth the $. They were a piece of cake to install and with a little help from the Admiral (supervision) they were installed in about 30 min. They have hundreds of fonts and colors and I went with BOOST 4", which most closely matches the Star Trek font.

That's a good size Chip. I think mine are about 4" and I thought it was perfect. But when I look at some pictures I've taken, I can hardly make out the name so other boats on the water probably can't either. I'll probably change it to a much bigger size next season.

Isn't Home Port Lettering most commonly seen on the transom ?

Yep - except on Macs, where you can letter wherever you care too...

Isn't Home Port Lettering most commonly seen on the transom ?

Sure; the name is usually across the transom as well. But the only continuous flat spot on the Mac "transom" is across the top back of the seat, and that's neither tall enough nor wide enough to accomodate even a decent length name alone, never mind a name and home port. Plus, the motor blocks it when it's up.

Most owners I've seen with boats of this size leave off the home port, but even though I've no particular allegiance to my state of residence, I wanted to do it, for no other reason than it's required if you ever want to document rather than register the boat. And I admit it generates lots of conversation nearly everywhere I trailer. Even a lot of "thumbs up" on the road. Plus, at Letters Unlimited, it was cheap enough that if I decide I don't want it any more I won't feel bad about just ripping it off.

BTW, at Letters Unlimited I could have gone as fancy as I wanted in virtually any color; I just thought the relatively plain font in Mac standard black on white looked right. Same reason I went for the black sail covers.

Chip Hindes wrote:

Isn't Home Port Lettering most commonly seen on the transom ?

Most owners I've seen with boats of this size leave off the home port ...
I wanted to do it, for no other reason than it's required if you ever want to document rather than register the boat.

Just some points of curiosity regarding "home port" and "documenting" ...

• * I recall Frank M's strong endorsement of documenting the vessel, but has anyone else done so?
  
  * Is one's "home port" your city of residence or (assuming they're different) the city of normal dockage?
  
  * Who's the governing agency and what's the cost?

... getting a little annoyed with St of CA $160 annual stipend.

Good questions. I've never yet met anyone who documented.

- When I checked it out, for the Mac it seemed a gigantic paperwork nightmare for no discernable benefit; as far as I could discover, everywhere we might sail any U.S state registration is enough.

- I had the same question. As nearly as I could tell, the homeport is more a documentation formality than anything else, so it's strictly a matter of personal choice. I'm pretty sure no matter where you move the boat afterward, the homeport remains the same as on the original documentation and also pretty sure there is no requirement that it be changed. In order to change it you have to go through the hassle of redocumentation, which seems dumb. Also, I'm pretty sure there is a uniqueness requirement, so there can be only one documented boat with any given name and homeport, so it's fairly common to change the homeport name to avoid having to change the boat name. In any case, at the time I chose mine, my boat was homeported in my driveway, so I felt my hometown was most appropriate. Besides, I like telling people though it's the name of the town, there's no actual "West Sand Lake".

- On this you may be disappointed. I believe though you can use the documentation and avoid the need to display a state registration number, your state of residence is still free to impose its own requirements for displaying the state registration sticker and (of course) the annual registration fee. I sympathize with your annoyance with CA. As I recall my NY state fee is $35 ervery two years.

I don't think that a Mac 26 can be documented as the Pacific Sea Craft Diana 24 cannot be done now. Before you spend the $ 250.00 you should check it out to be sure.

Steve did mine, PM me I'll give you his #



Just kidding, heres ours. Got em at a hardware store.

Here is my boat lettering... and then some... hehe



Erik

A few years back a Mac sailor on one of the Great Lakes in Canada revealed himself as a graphics guy. He came on because he was flabbergasted at what people were paying for decals.

I got my boat name through him. Chose black letters in sort of a script. Six inches high, forty inches wide. He does this for a donation for the Humanity Habitats.

My home town and state are on the back of the helm seat. The transom is too cluttered with rudders and stuff.

HIs name is Peter and you can check to see if he is still at: [email protected]