The dark blue hull of a Shrimper takes some bashing, mooring up, coming alongside, rafting up, sun/UV damage and in spite of polishing it soon looks tatty and forlorn.
You may have read of my experiment with helicopter tape which was successful in protecting the gel coat but in itself became marked and scarred and was quite hard to remove.
Having looked at Drascombes and their lower rubbing stake, they don't seem to suffer in the same way. The strake and the upper rubbing strake support any fenders that are used and also provide a good point of contact other than the gel coat itself.
The question is...
Is it a modification that will add or detract to the look of the boat?
And is it preventative maintenance that is worth doing to prevent damage and wear ?
Below are 2 "before" and 2 Photo Shopped "after" images that show what it could look like. I have reduced the width of the lower strake to just under half that of the top strake to prevent the boat looking boxy.
The hull is single skinned and access within is pretty easy so fixing is not the issue.
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| Before - Bow |
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| Before - stern section |
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| After - Bow |
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| After -Stern section |
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