@PiperPilotPaul it didn't always look sharp. Ours was a rescue. We found it almost capsized on trailer, full of water, leaf springs totally wasted. We rebuilt the trailer beneath it before we could drag it home to refit. I'm building a wooden boom for it now that will look really cool and salty when complete - repurposed from a section of vintage Comet Class mast. #sailing

@SYPerelandra Wow. The before and after transformation is amazing!

So you will be able to offer suggestions on adjusting my water line as originally "painted" (I'm assuming my fibre-glass has the colour pigments embedded).
Dandy Lion now sits about 3" lower in the water than the original black water line indicates. I don't mind that except Lunenburg harbour + mostly sitting at the mooring leaves a sludgy line on the yellow hull.
My amateur solution has been to elevate the black anti-fouling paint above the original line (usually only lasts a season or two).

The tricky bit is to arrange masking tape along the hull to provide a semblance of a straight and higher water line.

How did you determine the placement of a suitable water line when you changed colours?

@PiperPilotPaul What I found was that the original waterline was molded into the gel coat as a groove - yours might be hiding under there, too! Ours was so waterlogged they'd also moved the waterline up.

Goldbug is completely gutted inside now and sits where she should when afloat. I pulled a LOT of weight out of her in waterlogged foam.

PS I love Lunenburg, I sailed there on the schooner Bowdoin once and will return perhaps this fall.

@SYPerelandra I meant to mention earlier: It looks like Goldbug has a rub rail around the edge of the deck just like Dandy Lion.

When I did some repairs I found that under the rub rail the deck had separated from the hull in spots. There were several rivets that had rusted away. So I cleaned that up, installed new rivets, filled the rub rail opening with silicone and stretched it back on (I had the bow and stern ends screwed fast.)

If you haven't already, I recommend pulling the rub rail and having a peek.

@PiperPilotPaul Yes! I replaced mine. Do you have the original fiberglass caps for bow and stern? I was thinking of having them measured and drawn so they can be recreated in the future, probably even 3d printed.

@SYPerelandra
I'm not sure what you are referring to by caps. Here's some pictures I have of the bow and stern at the rub rail area which I think show the covers you mean.
I believe mine are plastic.
(Ignore the sock over the forestay connector - not required equipment 😂 )