Before putting the decal on, we had to first take the wax off so that the name would stick. We used Acetone, but there is also a compound called TotalBoat that works as well. A few rounds of applying the Acetone and we were good to start putting the decal on!
When putting the decal on, we took to the Google machine and YouTube to figure out how we apply the decal. Easier said (and viewed) than done! It involves using painting tape (or the equivalent thereof if you want to use something else) and taping each end of the decal to where we wanted to put the decal on the boat. We decided to go for the typical spot on the sides near the stern. After we taped both ends, we taped the top and bottom near the middle and started to peel the adhesive bottom from the stern forward starting in the middle of the peel. While I pulled, we used to spray bottle to spray water to ensure the lettering peeled with the top portion of the decal. When there was an issue with that, we would peel from the top or bottom. Once we got to the middle of the decal where the tape was, we took scissors to cut away the bottom portion of the decal. Next, we took the peeled portion of the decal and applied it to the boat and used the provided scraping tool (thank you for that as well BoatUS) to ensure the decal stuck to the boat. We then repeated the same steps with the remaining half of the decal. Now time to peel off the top layer of the adhesive!
When we pulled off the top layer of the adhesive, we used the spray bottle of water again to ensure the decal did not peel away with the top layer. If it happened to do so, we simply peeled from the top or bottom instead of the middle. A few hiccups along the way and a scraping tool to get any air bubbles out and the decal was applied!
We rinsed, washed, and repeated for the other side of the boat. Finally, we finished by waxing over the decal to prevent the sun from eating the decal. And there you have it, the decal was on the boat! A special thanks to Liz’s dad and my soon-to-be father-in-law, because if not for his help we would have been lost and would have an uneven or perhaps torn decal. We look forward to telling you more about our adventures not just with Sully’s Ride, but our adventures along the Chesapeake!