Vinyl Lettering
Don't go to a store that advertises Vinyl Lettering for Boats. Chances are they will rob you blind. I went to one to put the Christopher Jin on either side, about 3 to 4 feet long and they wanted $250 for one side and $150 for the other plus installation if I wanted them to do it.
This is were Bob stepped up to the plate. I'm always teasing Bob that he's the cheapest guy I know...and it paid off. Bob rooted around and found Hardy & Sons Sign Service in St. Clair Shores, MI, (586-773-9773) a small sign shop just a stone's throw from where we dock our boats. He bought a small vinel logo for Sir Elador to put on the transome for...wait for it...$25.
Now my lettering is about 4 times as long so I figured about $100. So I went down and they looked at what I wanted and said...wait for it...$25. You could have knocked me over with a feather. Their bottom line was simple. They told me that they were making a neat profit on the vinyl sheeting because they buy it in bulk. The plotter/slicer uses 36" vinel sheets, and they charged a minimum of $25 and the 4 ft piece I would use cost less than that because it was in their trimed-off bin.
Now, they had a very sharp girl there armed with a computer and literally thousands of font styles. I picked out what I wanted, she previewed the lettering on the computer screen and after making a few quick adjustments she sliced out the lettering and then moved the lettering over to transfer paper.
When she was done she held up a 1x4ft piece of scrap from my sheet and asked if there was anything else I wanted lettered. Bob reminded me that I had forgotten my home port initials, GPW. I turned to Bob and said that I hadn't seen any on his boat and he told me that that was because he had forgot about it when he came in. So I look at the nice young lady and asked if there was enough vinel left for two sets of initials. She laughted and said, "Of coarse."
So the moral of the story is...go to a sigh company, not a marine vinyl lettering outfit.