Jimmiboy

In a nutshell the better the prep the better the finished job, same as everything. The vinyl is very thin so will show any imperfections underneath. But then again so does paint. If it’s not done in the rain then there’s no reason why moisture would be trapped underneath. I’ve never heard of a car being baked after it’s been wrapped? If it’s a tricky part of a vehicle then a heat gun is used to help form the vinyl but that’s it as far as I know. But having said that, perhaps it’s a new thing, there’s new products on the market every week it seems. Just bear in mind it’s NOT going to be like a paint finish, but it’s not going to take as long to do or cost as much either. My advice to anyone thinking about this would be to order a sample of wrapping vinyl about A4 and stick it on your boat.

I’m still here!

Thanks again for the info

Thanks for that?? Are they pretty much the same?

Hi, can anyone recommend the best book or map of the canals. Ideally one showing all the moorings and winding holes etc.

Thanks

My girlfriend and I have been discussing buying a boat for a while, we would like to stay in a few to get the feel for different sizes and layouts. Does anyone know of any boats that are available this weekend? I live in Rickmansworth but am prepared to travel upto 2 hours. I appreciate this is massively short notice! Thanks Jamie

Hi, thanks for your concern. But I’ve got to start somewhere. My plan is to look at plenty of boats to get a feel for them. Once I have my shortlist I’ll do my best to rent something similar. However at some point I’ll have to take the plunge, there’s no way I can possibly know if something will start to bug me later on, but to be fair the same could be said about, a house, a car, a bike, children! etc. Especially considering those with years of experience can still get it wrong.

That’s exactly what I want to do, in my mind I want a reverse layout cruiser. But I’ve been on so few boats I need to have a proper look around.

Can anyone recommend a boat brokerage where they have a large stock of boats. Ideally in the South

It works perfectly on GRP boats.

Potentially, but you could easily repair it yourself with a piece of vinyl. When seagoing boats on that they are given a “repair Kit” which basically consists of spare vinyl. It’s possible but I would need to see pictures to give you a proper opinion.

I wanted to work on a couple first to get some pics then approach the builders.

Thanks for your support Parahandy....In an ideal world I won’t be doing any prep! I’m the graphics man so I only want to do the graphics. Without having done a Narrowboat it’s going to be a learning curve for me. This is why I’m offering to do some boats for free so I can see what the issues are and what end result can be achieved.

Hi Stuart it’s hard to give an accurate figure as it would depend on which type of vinyl was used as the prices vary greatly. Also the amount of prep I needed to do would obviously be a factor. But as a ball park I would estimate it to be at least 50% less than painting.