Signwriting fail

[Keeping Up]

We spotted a nice new boat in Braunston this week, with a lovely paint job and some excellent signwriting and illustrations; except that the licence number was clearly painted in large letters as "251xxx".

 

I wondered if C&RT had started a new numbering range, but the licence itself confirmed the number as "521xxx". I guess the moral is to ask your signwriter if he has numerical dyslexia, preferably before he picks up his paintbrush ....

[Puddlejumper]

OOppps

[alan_fincher]

I have somewhere a photo of a "REGISTERED AT BRENTFORD" on an old butty where the "N" in "BRENTFORD" is reversed....

 

And, IIRC, another where it was omitted completely - I did wonder if a particular boat painter was advised to stop doing "N's!

 

Now awaits reposting of that beautifully painted "Slow passed moored boats" sign!

[Guest]

We spotted a nice new boat in Braunston this week, with a lovely paint job and some excellent signwriting and illustrations; except that the licence number was clearly painted in large letters as "251xxx".

 

I wondered if C&RT had started a new numbering range, but the licence itself confirmed the number as "521xxx". I guess the moral is to ask your signwriter if he has numerical dyslexia, preferably before he picks up his paintbrush ....

 

 

When we were caravanners we got talking to a guy and then noticed that the number plate on the caravan had two characters in a different order to that of the car. Apparently he had had the caravan for years and had never noticed - sometimes the brain sees what it expects to see rather than what is actually there.

[Mike Tee]

 

When we were caravanners we got talking to a guy and then noticed that the number plate on the caravan had two characters in a different order to that of the car. Apparently he had had the caravan for years and had never noticed - sometimes the brain sees what it expects to see rather than what is actually there.

I bet he never got caught by a speed camera while towing in all that time.

[dave moore]

Hi all

 

I've no idea who might be responssible, but they are not alone!! Several years ago I met a boater whose boat I'd painted (for a boatyard, not the customer themselves) at Thrupp while I was boating that way. He gently pointed out that on one side I'd transposed the last 2 digits of the index number, thus XXXX89 was XXXX98 on the other. I asked him to call me when back on his home mooring; I'm still awaiting his call!!

 

These things happen usually because the writer is concentrating on the mechanics of painting (what the brush is doing, how much pressure etc.) rather than the overall word or number. Or he may have been given the info incorrectly...a long time ago I lettered a truck cab, working from a slip of paper from the office. Next day I had a call saying that the middle digits of a phone number were reversed. Luckily I'd kept the paper and could prove that the fault lay elsewhere, but it took a few hours of careful work to remove the numbers with paint stripper, cut back and re-letter.

 

These days I double check, at least, where index numbers are concerned. As is usual around boats, sod's law is seldom slow to bite!!!

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[koukouvagia]

I have to say, to my shame, that when I first had the butty lettered, two digits of the Grand Union gauging number were reversed. I was amazed that an enthusiast (aka an anorak) noticed this and reported me the the Historic Narrow Boat club!

I'm glad to say that when Dave lettered the boat recently (excellent job, btw) all the numbers were carefully checked.

 

ETA Does anyone remember the Wyvern hire boat that went around for years named "Splended"?

Edited April 11, 2013 by koukouvagia

[andy the hammer]

My van was repaired after an accident and one night working in factory on a industrial estate 2 police cars turn up as there had been metal thefts on the estate and when they checked my index number it did not show on their computer.

After being questioned and informing me that my van did not exist on their system they left only to return a few minutes later to inform me that the number plate on the front was different to the one on the back.

 

The garage had reversed two numbers and I had been driving around for months with the wrong number plate.

 

Andy

Edited April 11, 2013 by andy the hammer

[Bullfrog]

My brother-in-law once lent me his Mercedes while he went off to the Phillipines on holiday, he is a bit flash.

 

I quite enjoyed swanning about in this great swish car.

 

Then I noticed that all the glass-ware right down to the head-lamp lenses and the interior driving mirror had been etched with an index number which bore no resemblance at all to what was on the plates.

 

I took it home and left it alone till his return!

 

David

[WJM]

There is a lot to be said for cheap cut vinyl lettering! ;-)

[Higgs]

I once made a sign a for the Hairesser in the Caleta Palace Hotel, in Gibraltar. I didn't notice the mistake myself until nearly the end, but decided to carry on making it because I needed the money and was going to Morocco for the weekend. The sign was fiitted and then checked by the owner, got paid and had the weekend away. As soon as I returned, started making the replacement. Almost finished, someone rang....., 'you've spelt the sign wrong !'. Luckily, I was able to fit the new one the following day.

 

Hairdresser.

 

It was a Moroccan cleaning lady that spotted it, too.

[DHutch]

 

 

When we were caravanners we got talking to a guy and then noticed that the number plate on the caravan had two characters in a different order to that of the car. Apparently he had had the caravan for years and had never noticed - sometimes the brain sees what it expects to see rather than what is actually there.

Bought the kitcar with Q### WRG on the rear plate and paperwork and Q### WPG on the front, took several months to notice.

[Maffi]

When Milly was sign written the was a bit of a difference.

 

This is the picture I sent which was taped to the boat

 

 

This is what was painted

 

Can you sopt the difference

[Guest]

The M's have got an additional 'squiggle' on them- top right of each...

[andywatson]

I once put an offshore drilling rig about half a mile from where it should have been!

Fortunately I spotted this before we started drilling and over a weekend got it back in the water, recalled the towing vessels and put it where it should have been. This was not cheap.

As one bit of sea looks like another I did wonder whether to keep my trap shut and drill where we were.

 

Whilst moving the rig I investigated the paperwork trail which showed that the geologists had changed their mind several times (after a deadline) about where they wanted the well and that the rig positioning specialists had worked with one of their old locations.

My report reflected this but I was ready to get fired although I got a pat on the back for sorting the mess quickly. Phew.

[Chagall]

There is a lot to be said for cheap cut vinyl lettering! ;-)

Oh No! your bug has died!

[dave moore]

There is very little to be said, in polite terms, about vinyl lettering. But then, I would say that, wouldn't I?!!

 

Seriously, I don't have a problem with it in some applications. Interesting to note that the writer in the photo above has amended the font slightly to make it easier to render with a brush, I expect he'll add the missing The above the M.

 

Dave

[Bullfrog]

Oh No! your bug has died!

Like my jumping frog, but not if you go to our profile pages

[Richard Fairhurst]

In 2010 we ran a WW cover photo featuring a boat called 'Pheonix'. I did wonder about Photoshopping the correct spelling but decided that would be a little naughty. Sure enough, the next month a reader wrote in to query it... followed by the owner saying that it was a typo from their first boat, but they got so used to it that they kept it for the second boat.

[Laurie Booth]

I just love this.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7702913.stm

 

[cheshire~rose]

My dear old dad drove round in his brand new car for three years - eventually he took it for it's first MOT and it was only then then MOT testing centre checked the registration number on the log book against that on the registration plates and informed him they were unable to test the car as there was one digit wrong on both plates. I often woner how many speed cameras he fooled in those 3 years! - No one would have suspected an octeganerian of driving a ringer!

[BruceinSanity]

There's a hire boat operating out of a large marina near Burton which is called Cymbeline according to her tunnel band and name panels, but Cymberline according to her bow flashes.

[Zayna]

Here you go...

 

 

[STUBAG]

That truck was in our yard last year,and I pointed out the error.....was met with a shrug of the shoulders!...Also, did anyone see the home-built boat on the cover of Canal Boat mag last month? Check out the spelling of "Taverners".....big difference between left and right side, but the signwriter still got three "greenies" in the text of the article! Don't they employ proof-readers any more?

[cheshire~rose]