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Just picked up a 1996 26x and need to find the water line for the barrier coat and paint. It looks like there's a barley visible molded in line that runs along the boat several inches below the black stripe. Do any of you happen to know if this is the true water line for the 26x? Thanks…

Hello:
I think it varies some year to year. On our recent trip Duane said my boat looked low in the water because it sits just a quarter inch below the black stripe with ballast in. Its a couple inches below without ballast. His sits way below the stripe and I'm pretty sure he has more weight in his boat.

The proper way to find the water line is to rig, launch and load your boat. Then swim around it with a grease pencil and mark it every 6" or so to get a line to tape. Done.

Dont mark it unless the craft is laden or it will be innacurate!

Also stand in the center of your boat and lay a level across the edges of the forehatch or edges of the companionway, if it is not level move some stores about until it will sit perfectly level.

Don's was certainly the lowest in the water I have ever seen. When he was pulling into the marina I couldn't even see the boot stripe. My boot stripe is close to 5" above the water with ballast empty and about 3" above with ballast full. The only other 26X I've seen so low was Kimbers, which also is a very early X like Don's. All the others I've seen throughout the years have had their boot stripes well above the surface. Perhaps they miscalculated in the early production boats and put the stripe to low in the mold. Maybe by when mine was made in '96 they had moved the line higher.

The comparison we need is not where the water is compared to the bootstrip but compared to some other fixed point on the boat such as the rub strip. From the bottom of the rubber rub rail staight down at the chainplate bolts it is 32-1/2" to the bottom of my boot stripe. If yours is the same Don, then your boat truely does sit much lower in the water. Perhaps it is due to how you described over filling your ballast. We stop filling ours as soon as the valve at the step starts to burp before the fountain starts. That still doesn't explain the height empty though. Our's is still 5" above the water line even very heavily loaded as we were for the 3-1/2 week trip.

Hello:
When I got home today I measured my boat at the same place as Duane. 34.5" to the bottom of the stripe.

Looks like they messed up when they first made the X design and had to move the stripe 2" higher for the later boats. Not surprising seeing how Roger is a MBA, not a naval architect.

mine is a '97 model, and with ballast full and people, water, food + beer on board the black stripe almost touches the water surface.

when i had bottom coat applied the first time some years ago the boatyard painted it to the molded line larry mentions. this may be the water line of the unloaded boat without ballast but far below where ripples come along. this year i painted it higher about 1 inch below the black stripe, but it seems still be too low!

i admit that i have a lot of stuff in the boat, 2 batteries, a 26 gallon water tank, and the boat sits not level in the water but heels 2-3 degrees to starboard. the beer is in, the house battery under the cooler, my library sits on the dinette table when we are moored, i should eventually check my weight distribution ...

You did not say specifically if you were doing the painting yourself or having someone else do it. Just incase the boat yard that did ours dipped the boat in the water with his crane and filled the water ballast to get the water line.

-Don B

Mine had the bottom paint applied below the boot stripe. With a white strip left between the two. The white strip is the same width as the boot stripe...
My boat sits with about four inches of hull exposed below the boot stripe. This is with all gear and ballast full. The boat is a 97'. Hull number 1250

Thanks everyone for the tips. Don – I’m going to do the bottom paint myself. I called the local yard to get a quote and nearly keeled over when they told me the price. I think I’m going to do the prudent thing and launch the boat this weekend and measure the water line out with full ballast. I was hoping there would be an easier way, but as with most DIY projects there rarely is.

After years of reading this board and looking for a 26x, it’s nice to finally pick one up and see if all the positive things I’ve heard about the boat is true. I’m going to use it primarily for Catalina Island cruising, which I understand it’s ideally suited for. Hope to see some of you there.

Larry W

Make it about 3-4" higher than actual especielly if you slip it. the wakes and waves will dirty up your boat above actual waterline.

So what is the average depth of the Pacific between Catalina Island and the Coast ?

The one time I made that trip was in a Ferry Boat.

-Don B

I placed 1 inch masking tape below the black stripe and painted up to the tape. this made a nice clean line and almost at the water line.
Hubert

Thats how I did mine hubert