826 
FOREST AND STREAM 
How to Paint a Water Line. 
In going around the various yards aiid 
beaches where sailboats and launches are hauled 
out and wintered, there is one thing an ob¬ 
servant person will notice; that is, the irregular 
manner in which the line between the top and 
bottom paint is drawn. Nothing looks nicer 
than a clean-cut, level-painted waterline and 
nothing looks shoddier than one that is full o 
humps and ridges, for all these show up strongly 
when the boat is put overboard. The.water on 
a calm day is an absobutely true level plane, 
and then is the time to note the shape of your 
painted watfcrline. Trim your boat so that she 
is perfectly plumb. A plumbob hung at each 
end will show when she is so, or a spirit level 
on a straight stick across the boat will do the 
moving it in along the stick at the other end you 
can readily see how easy it is to mark a level, 
represented by the cross sticks, at any part fore 
and aft on the hull. As soon as. the stung 
touches the hull the second man drives a small 
brad in just below the string; a foot aft of that 
he drives another, and so on at intervals, the 
first man moving the string in toward the 
middle of he boat, the brads already driven 
holding the string from slipping down. Going 
around the sharp curve under the slanting stern, 
the brads will have to be driven every six inches 
or less, to get a true curve. By reversing the 
operation the forward end can be done the 
same way. , , , 
If, for any reason, the launch cannot be got 
plumb, as some amateurs dare not attempt to 
move their launch for fear of her falling.over, 
the two cross pieces can be tilted to suit the 
StitWJS* 
[May 25, 1907. 
point of an awl so it can be found again even 
after being painted. . . _ . t . 
Now, a word about painting. Don t put the 
dark green or red bottom paint up on the white 
and then try to even the line off by painting 
down with the white, because, the white will 
run down and smut, and besides it will not 
cover well over a dark color. Paint the white 
or black topsides first and go even a little be- 
wVufe paint above *«>ter line 
A CROOKED WATER LINE LOOKS BADLY. 
A STRAl&HT TRUE WATER LINE LOOKS NEAT 
same. Then get into the dinghy and row around 
her and see whether or not the line is level, it 
it is crooked, now is a good time to get the 
spots for painting it true. Take a pencil or 
an awl or nail and either mark or scratch spots 
at intervals of a foot or SO' along each side 
where the water touches. With these to guide 
you, there is no excuse for not painting the 
line true when you haul her out next time 
To paint it true before she has been put afloat 
5pi/it Level- 
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How to level across 
jrom st de. to side. 
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true 
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is another problem, puzzling to the inexperi¬ 
enced, but easy enough when you know how. 
All you have to do is to construct an artificial 
level similar to the water level by nailing a 
straight-edged stick across each end at the 
height desired. By sighting, so these two are 
always in line, another person with a pencil 
can mark spots all along the side in line with 
these two straight edges. . 
An easier way even than this is to nail the 
two cross sticks, leveling them with a spirit 
level, after the launch has been set up perfectly 
true, as determined by a plumbbob hung down 
Launch with leveled stick at jack end. 
The shaded side sHcwi W Sirius are stretched to mark w.u. 
angle of the hull. If this is not- done and the 
waterline struck in from level cross guides, the 
line will be high on one side and low on. the 
other. To find how much to tilt them, tie a 
string along each side so it just touches the boat 
amidship; then measure down from the deck 
and tilt the sticks so the lines measure the same 
each side, then nail the braces fast and strike the 
line in as before. 
To draw a continuous line between these spots 
so the paint line will be fair, take a thin batten 
a®**-* 
Launch that is not standing; plumb can have 
WATER LINE MARKED BT TIPPlNGi THE CROSS STICKS 
and tack it fast so its upper edge just touches 
the line of brads. This batten need not be very 
narrow so long as it is thin enough to bend 
around the waterline; in fact, it will give a 
truer line if it is a thin piece of wainscoting, 
say V&m. thick and about 2 j 4 to 3m. wide, but 
the knack of using it is this: Most amateurs 
will try to nail this flat against the hull, with the 
result'that the ends go up in the air m spite of 
them. Here is the secret: Keep the batten al¬ 
ways vertical and put the nails holding it to 
the hull all through it right at its upper edge. 
It will then bend around in a level plane as you 
want it A pencil mark will soon be lost, so it 
is customary to scratch the line in with the 
THE RIGHT WAY TO PAINT THE 
WATER LINE 
\A/Vut* paint 
THE WRONG WAY- To try Jo paint the 
thin while paint over the dark copper paint 
low the waterline. Don’t try to paint both 
colors so they just meet. No one but an 
amateur would attempt it. Then by holding 
the brush up the line can be accurately followed 
and paint will not run uphill and smut, and the 
dark bottom paint will completely cover the 
white paint. Any drops that do run down will 
only run on the same color and can be wiped 
off with the brush. 
The Gardner designed Class Q boat, for the 
Baltimore syndicate, is overboard and lying oft 
the Manhassett Bay A. C. house to be tried 
out by her designer, Mr. Gardner. 
* X, * 
Hyperion, the new yawl for Mr. Maier, is 
slashing around the Sound trying to break any¬ 
thing that will break now, before they get to sea. 
* *• 
Little Nemo, a 35ft- launch, was destroyed by 
fire recently off Eighty-sixth street on the Hud¬ 
son River. No one was aboaid at the time. I e 
fire engines from shore could not reach her, and 
by the time the fire boat New Yorker arrived 
she was completely gutted. She was owned by 
T. D. Semple, of Arlington, N. J. 
Death of Ford Jones. 
The death of Ford Jones took place at Sara¬ 
nac Lake. N. Y„ May 13. As a canoe sailer 
he was in ? class by himself, and was ownei 
of Canuck, with which he won. the championship 
of the American Canoe Association three years 
in succession. He studied law in Toronto an 
was a member of the firm of Jones & Gordon at 
Regina. He was thirty-eight years old, a son ot 
CG’IRn Jones, of Brockville, and leaves a widow 
and family. 
PLUMS BOB AT 5TERN. 
in front of the stem or by a straight edge laid 
square across the boat from gunwale to gun¬ 
wale. Brace these two sticks by an upright 
driven into the ground and another as a brace, 
so a string attached to one will not pull them 
out of line. With one end of the string tied to 
the forward cross piece, about the width of the 
boat out from the center, let one man pull the 
string tight enough to prevent any sag; by 
