No one in Georgetown will recognize Deja Vu when it arrives this December for the season.  In fact many will comment that “Joe will be pissed to see another Deja Vu in the anchorage,” until they realize that it’s Joe & Helen’s boat with an entirely new look they’re seeing.  Their green swoop on a cream colored hull has been replaced with a matte white vinyl wrap and new graphics.  Deja Vu’s cream-colored topsides of Awl-Grip paint has been wrapped with white VViVid Vinyl.

Joe’s always experimented with innovative construction and design techniques, and many of those idea’s are still in service on his 43′ catamaran.  After watching numerous YouTube videos on wrapping boats with vinyl he thought he’d give it a try.  This is where I fit into this post.

The online video’s show a crew wrapping various boats, but Joe figured he only needed a senior citizen with long arms to help, and his wife Helen thought of me rather than herself.

Stanna always quotes that  “The problem with learning by experience is that the exam comes first,” and we tested ourselves all around these 43′ hulls.  Just when we thought we’d learned how to handle a surface, the curves and panels changed, forcing us to re-train after every break.  Spray water before or only after, depending on time of day, humidity, size of the roll or some unknown variable.  Work the roll perpendicularly or in a convex arc depending on roll size and location.

Starting from the middle of a 43′ side or from one end depended on if you could align the roll angle so you didn’t miss the mark at the end.  Fortunately you could always pull back the vinyl’s adhesive grip to stretch out the waves, bubbles and creases.  It definitely took teamwork and lots of bantering to keep the vinyl flat and smooth.

It was surprising how malleable and stretchy the vinyl was with a little heat from a heat gun.  Joe had done his homework learning just what he could do to trim out the windows and thru-hulls.  They even sell a Kevlar string to place down before applying the vinyl to insure clean straight cuts.

Edges were a concern, but the manufacturer provides and number of solutions like seam tape and seam sealer. Lot’s of questions remain on the durability and quality, in Joe’s mind, that will only be answered after several seasons in the Bahamas.  It’s too soon to ask, “Would you do it again?” but he did get a lot of inquiries in the boat yard.

One of the most fascinating things about this Jacksonville boat yard, Reynolds Park, is that they have a surplus Navy travel lift that can walk a cat right on by another cat and park it parallel.

Fast warm week in Florida, where it only rained when we splashed.  Thanks Helen & Joe.