We scoured local craft and hardware stores all over the East Coast only to find 3-inch letters that come individually and this likely would have been a bigger project trying to match each letter, evenly spaced, to my OCD-perfection. After asking the Universe for where to look next, a fellow blogger at TheBoatGalley.com suggested DoItYourselfLettering.com. Winner! After just a few minutes on the website, t'was a no brainer. Customization out the wazoo, with hundreds of fonts, more than a dozen colors, sizes and several grades of vinyl, depending on your specific needs.
Before beginning such a project, we checked the requirements for US Coast Guard Documented vessels. According to the USCG, the required letter height on a recreational vessel needs to be at least 4" tall. DoItYourSelfLettering had everything we needed, and we ordered it from the boat! No more traipsing around!
Since we only need a hailing port, we matched the font as best we could with her name. It costs $20, shipping included. Other signage companies can easily charge upright of $75-100 for similar apply-it-yourself lettering.
Denver, CO came in one long piece with easy, detailed installation instructions - fairly foolproof. They even guarantee "anyone" can install the lettering and if there are any problems with the installation, they will send a replacement at no cost. I'll admit I was a bit nervous, but we walked through our installation process a few times and it came out great! No need to request a replacement! Thank you DoItYourselfLettering for making me feel like a pro!
I highly recommend this company both for personal and professional projects.
Here are some pics of our install:
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| Step 1: Green tape applied as a "hinge" to set the location of the name |
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| Step 2: Remove the backing off the label |
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| Step 3: Pull taut and adhere to the surface, scraping the overlay to remove any air bubbles |
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| Fine-tuning |
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| Since we have drainage holes on the transom, we cut around to make sure the surface area is flat. So far, so good! |
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| It's working! |
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| Complete Success in about 10 minutes! |
That's one less project from the to-do list.
Love to all,
Nate & Jenn
TA-DA!!!!! Looks super!!! ....hope you are enjoying warm days and beautiful sunsets! Thinking of you with LOVE...Aunt Bev
ReplyDeleteWhat a fine job team work does, it looks perfect and proud to have CO floating with you. Looks like your tan is getting darker!! Hope you have pleasant sails ...xoxo mama
ReplyDeleteHow AWESOME! I think you need a colorado flag! Can't wait to see it in person! Kiss the ocean for me! XOXO Illisa
ReplyDeleteDenver? How the heck did you sail that giant schooner from Denver? Did you take the Platte in last year's flood?
ReplyDeleteBrilliant post - the step by step pictures are going to be so helpful for doing this on our new boat. Thanks for sharing! How are you guys doing? Shame we never managed to catch-up, but now that we have a boat (yay!), we can meet up on the water! Cheers - Ellen
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