Harry Krause wrote in message ...
. wrote:

On Fri, 05 Sep 2003 23:35:07 GMT, "bomar" wrote:



. I have a 1986 Carver covered with factory decals,
stripes, letters, you name it. They have faded to gray. The local
detailers want almost $5,000 to remove them all. How the hell do I
get them off myself?


The decals may be holding your boat together.

Harry, that's rude!

Being a Carver owner, and love having a
fair-weather-dock-side-cocktail
cruiser-floating-condo-camper-without-wheels-aint-gonna-see-the
big-greenie-don't-go-offshore-you-know-what-Pascoe-said boat, I can
tell you the stripes aren't holding the boat together. We can prove
this is not so. Zimmerman-like lobster boats, however, are less easy
to establish proof of... ; )

Anyhoo...

I, too, have a 1986 Carver, and the stripes were getting tired,
damaged, and scuffed (Scuffing was by the previous owner, of course.).
I contacted a local auto pinstripe company, who removed all the
stripes (boot, cabin, & flying bridge), and replaced all the old ones
with exactly the factory colors and dimensions for about $600. I keep
the boat in heated storage during the winter, & it was a "do it when
you get around to it" agreement. They did a great job, and the boat
looks great. They did use some type of rubber "grinding wheel" one
some of them. The black ones came off easily, but the silver stripes
were a real bear to remove. I could never have done the job this guy
did. Laid 'em on perfectly.

Good luck.

Coff