Faded sheer stripe - repaint or vinyl?

[HJ51]

After several attempts to restore the oxidized sheer stripe along the side of my Compac with buffing I've just about decided it's not ever going to be brought back to life.  Has anyone repainted just the stripe?  Are vinyl stripes/decals an option?  And if I decide not to repaint it myself (I' have no experience painting a boat hull) about how much should it cost to have just the stripe done professionally?   

[Bristol14]

I repainted the stripe on Mudlark, my Com-Pac 23-2, dark blue last year and it looks great. I considered tape, but most are not wide enough so went with paint. 

[Bob23]

HJ: Do you mean the sheer stripe or the bootstripe?

[HJ51]

Bob: it's the sheer stripe.  The big fat one just below the deck line.  I believe the boot stripe is already a vinyl decal.  I'm trying to figure out what to do about heavily oxidized paint that in the sheer stripe that is part of or under the gel coat.  Maybe I haven't tried hard enough with the buffing, but it just keeps coming back...

[Bob23]

  Ok, gotcha now. It's brown, right?  When I bought my 1985 23/2, someone in her past had removed it and I really like the way it looks with no stripe. But to answer your question, I'd just repaint it. You can touch it up whenever it needs it and it will always look great.
  I tried a vinyl bootstripe on my 23 when I first got her and it was a disaster, so I painted it bright red. It's held up well with only a repaint needed every 2 years. And the bootstripe takes more abuse than the sheer stripe.
Bob23

[Reighnman]

I'm in the same boat;) and have a can of Interlux Brightside "Sapphire Blue" under the Christmas tree. Thanks Santa! YouTube "Roll & Tip" method and you'll be golden. The biggest things seems to be proper prep (don't go cheap on tape, change tape between sanding and painting, use right thinner to dilute the paint, etc.) and many thin coats.  The one area I'm debating is if it's worth the effort to remove the rub rail which seems like a real PITA. I have no idea what it would cost for a professional but I'd guess north of $500(I'm in NJ and everything cost over $500) which for me isn't worth it,  as that's a year supply of All-Day IPA's, or a mountain of PBR's or a new mainsail. 

[Bristol14]

I wouldn't bother removing the rub rail, a good taping job worked well for me.

[relamb]

Someone painted the brown stripe on my 1989 CP23 with Sherwin Williams marine enamel, dark blue.   After years of fading and scratches, it was time to make it pretty again.  I scuff sanded, masked off with tape, and used a brush and small roller to repaint it.  it flowed well, and I used two or three coats at least.  It was the same paint as the old, available at Lowes hardware in some areas.  After peeling off the tape, I  used 1/4" wide black pinstripe tape on the perimeter to clean up the edges and it looked great.

On my 1988 CP27, I used a rubber wheel to remove the old inch wide gold pinstripe tape.  The brown stripe buffed out very well with a power buffer and compound, but it was painted on and I actually buffed it too thin in some spots.  It appears that you could completely buff it off if you wanted to and were careful not to go deeper into the gel coat.   There were also several scratches.  I'm a zillion miles from any source of marine enamel, so I bought a can of brown Rustoleum spray paint. It was a perfect color match.  I masked off the areas, sprayed them, and then buffed them slightly after drying to blend in the edges of the old/new paint.  After I was sure it was well dried, I waxed the whole boat.  Going on 3 years later, I cannot tell where I touched up the new rustoleum vs the original paint.  It all looks fine.  I thought the rustoleum would fade, but its doing fine.   

[HJ51]

Thanks, everyone. I think I may try buffing with rubbing compound one more time and if not satisfied I'll paint it in the spring.  Appreciate all the good suggestions.

[Railroad Greg]

Jamestown Distributors sales a paint called "Wet Edge" made by Total Boat. Free shipping and you should be good with buying only a quart.  I used a quart and half to paint above water line on my 1978 CP-16.
I watched Jamestown videos on rolling and tip method. Everyone at the marina thought that I spayed the paint on. Anyway, it is $32 per quart with 20 colors to chose from.    JD number 800-423-0030
                                                                    ,Greg