Lettering Questions

A

AFT HOLE

New Member
May 1, 2020
24
NJ
Boat Info
2003 185 searay bowrider SRX
Engines
190hp 4.3l mercruiser
Good Morning Sea Ray Friends. My wife and I are in the process of buying our first new Sea Ray, SPX 230 and think we have a name picked out but are overwhelmed trying to pick a company to go with and what size letters to use. My name is Grant and her name is Lori and we’re from New Jersey so we’re leaning towards naming her “GLORI DAZE”. The problem is that we have no idea how to choose the size of the lettering or how to go about customizing a letter or two to create a more personal touch. Any ideas or references would be much appreciated.
 
AFT HOLE said:
Good Morning Sea Ray Friends. My wife and I are in the process of buying our first new Sea Ray, SPX 230 and think we have a name picked out but are overwhelmed trying to pick a company to go with and what size letters to use. My name is Grant and her name is Lori and we’re from New Jersey so we’re leaning towards naming her “GLORI DAZE”. The problem is that we have no idea how to choose the size of the lettering or how to go about customizing a letter or two to create a more personal touch. Any ideas or references would be much appreciated.
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Go to a company that does vinyl signs and have their experts help you. Take some pictures of your boat.
 
Gotta luv the Boss!

You can do some playing around online at a place like BoatUS, and just google for other online places. But like above, I think your best bet is going to be to go to a local graphic/sign shop. Take a picture of the area and also plenty of measurements of that area. I think you'll find a local place much easier to deal with if you're doing something more "out of the ordinary".
 
If you are going to do the install yourself there is a shop outside of West Point VA called Images in Art. They have done the lettering on every boat I’ve owned as well as my trucks. They are a family owned company. They have always been the best to work with.
 
AFT HOLE said:
Good Morning Sea Ray Friends. My wife and I are in the process of buying our first new Sea Ray, SPX 230 and think we have a name picked out but are overwhelmed trying to pick a company to go with and what size letters to use. My name is Grant and her name is Lori and we’re from New Jersey so we’re leaning towards naming her “GLORI DAZE”. The problem is that we have no idea how to choose the size of the lettering or how to go about customizing a letter or two to create a more personal touch. Any ideas or references would be much appreciated.
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Although i used a local shop to make and install, I first used this website to play around and design the style i wanted then printed it and took to the shop.
https://www.signspecialist.com/lettering/lettering.php

As for the size, if you look at my transom in picture attached, i measured the available height and width, then took those measurements to the shop and let him decide what would fit best and dont forget when measuring that the transom ladder takes up space so account for that as shown below.
And lastly, unless you are REALLY GOOD and have done this before i would recommend letting a professional local shop to the install because working with lettering that big across a transom and not get rips or bubbles is very difficult. While you are doing that, consider having your numbers made at the same time as shown in second picture. instead of those hardware store mailbox letters.



Name_artwork.jpg



Sunshine.jpg
 
Boat US is a good source. We bought ours from decal designers in NJ. It was a simple process, plus we got registration numbers to match.

Certainly, you have a computer. Decide on the name and font you want and print it out using MS Word. Scale it as necessary and then cut it out and scotch tape it to your transom. When you get it just right, you'll have the font, size and color to do the design.

We did our last 2 boats and it turned out awesome.

PC020010web.jpg


P6090873web.jpg
 
GypsmJim said:
Boat US is a good source. We bought ours from decal designers in NJ. It was a simple process, plus we got registration numbers to match.

Certainly, you have a computer. Decide on the name and font you want and print it out using MS Word. Scale it as necessary and then cut it out and scotch tape it to your transom. When you get it just right, you'll have the font, size and color to do the design.

We did our last 2 boats and it turned out awesome.

View attachment 98453

View attachment 98455
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That’s a great idea.
 
We do boat lettering at our print and sign shop. We offer to the customer a "Dry Print" on regular paper before we print and cut the vinyl. This allows you to take it to the boat and check the size, positioning, etc. It only cost a few $$ to do this and gets the final product right first time - every time. Deal local and let them do the final install.
 
AFT HOLE said:
The problem is that we have no idea how to choose the size of the lettering or how to go about customizing a letter or two to create a more personal touch. Any ideas or references would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Your Sea Ray dealer should have a local company that can help you.

I know most dealers and marinas "have a guy" that does just about everything.
 
I have had great luck with an online company out of Florida called DIYlettering dot com.
No affiliation but price was reasonable and I designed for the 3 boats so far. I matched many boat colors and had the registration numbers match. It was easy to install with a plastic tool.
 
I use the approach suggested. by Dennis, Henry and several others. The craftsmen/artists that do this work every day are great resources. They have a library of prior work for you to see and they are in a great position to guide you so you don't make an expensive mistake.

Like many of the folks that help us with our boat, the sign guy is a long term friend who enjoys working on our stuff because we are flexible on schedule and are willing to let him use us for his R&D. This is a unique approach and his first like this:

IMG_0001.jpg


This is gold leaf overlaid on black vinyl then covered with heavy gauge clear vinyl. The sun went behind a cloud just as this photo was taken, but gold leaf look like a $1.0 mil and sparkles in the sun. However, be careful with gold leaf and get pricing up front......there is $900 worth of gold on the back of the boat, but it has been on there 10 years and looks as good today as the day it was put on.
 
9CED88CA-9D4C-4C41-A5AE-C0A31598C029.jpeg


I’ve used namemyboat.com for that last couple and have had good results.

You can put your background color and dimensions on the screen and fool around with fonts, colors and shadows as much as you like.
 
Here’s a variation on Frank’s theme. This was designed and installed by New England Lettering. This was taken just as they finished. They also removed the old graphics without marking or damaging the Awlgrip paintwork.

A176A777-2E6E-4CCE-B831-ABA628240A17.jpeg
 
"Serenity" above looks nice. The applique comes in a roll with peel-offs on both sides. You unroll and and remove the permanent glue side as you roll it on to the boat. Then you peel off the spacing/protective paper. A heat gun and a plastic windshield scraper allows revisions. Be careful with "Glory."
 
Arminius said:
"Serenity" above looks nice. The applique comes in a roll with peel-offs on both sides. You unroll and and remove the permanent glue side as you roll it on to the boat. Then you peel off the spacing/protective paper. A heat gun and a plastic windshield scraper allows revisions. Be careful with "Glory."
Click to expand...

Not really. You call the nice lady and describe what you want. She does some stuff on the computer and sends you some computer generated "photos" of the possible finished product. You pick one and tell her. About three weeks later she and her assistant show up at your dock. About two hours later they're done. You hand the nice lady a check and that's all there is to it.
 
I shop on E-bay. This is funny as I view my boat as an ongoing project. The more I do myself and alter and remodel and maintain and understand, the more it becomes an extension of myself that I take pride in. I can't imagine having someone else do something as obvious and easy as lettering.

As I age, I realize some people by expensive crap to use up their money. I used to question them about principles and modes of operation but they seem to be getting dumber (Chapman?) and accuse me of cross examination. But there are other reasons to have a boat, I guess. A girlfriend once took me on a tour of her daddy's yacht including " the very bunk on which she had been deflowered!" Each to his or her own!
 
Eons ago my Dad was a graphic artist. I don't even think they had computer generated letters back then. He could do drawings that were amazing. I would trace the name to the transom and then hand paint the name in Gold Leaf. After he retired he got into wood carving. I bought the mahogany panel and he carved the name, and then I gold leafed the embossed letters.

Here are his last carving and his last design for our classic boat. Dad's last boatride was in the Florence & Mary II, named after Grandma and Great Grandma. When we sold the Tempest I removed the transom board and it now adorns a wall in my man cave.

P8190478web.jpg

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Well, I'm off to Home Depot now. Gotta pick up a piece of good one side plywood. I'm building a new cornverable top and i hate sunbrilla...
 
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