@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?
@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 😂 )
@PiperPilotPaul the one on your bow looks just like mine - and mine is laid up in glass - I assumed it was a "factory" part
@SYPerelandra
Very hard to say with mine what is factory and not. I'm the third owner - at least - and the whole boat is very worn looking so wouldn't win any prizes.
My aim is to have the boat seaworthy for short sails in Lunenburg Bay. Not going to attempt any serious open ocean stuff.
@PiperPilotPaul haha, me too... although I've done battle with various birds.
@PiperPilotPaul Check it out... There is a groove (not visible) between the black bottom paint and white boot. I made the assumption that she'd sit higher when I was done. My intent was to make the lightest, tightest little Nordo around ;)
@SYPerelandra Excellent; I'm sure I have waterlogged foam (the rain leaks in somehow) but it will stay for now.
I can see the original waterline OK. What I would like to determine is the best way to apply masking tape a fixed distance above it to create a higher waterline. Eyeballing, and repeatedly shifting the tape seems hit & miss.
I assume from your comments that the groove helped you lay out a new line.... somehow. 🤔
If you get a chance to make it to Lunenburg again let me know.
@PiperPilotPaul I will! And you can see I was lazy about a boot stripe, so I just taped to the groove since I'm dry sailing, and... well you know the compound curves on that thing! near the ends the boot stripe width actually changes dramatically for it to look proper sitting in the water.
All the best resources I've ever seen on waterlines show it as an imprecise art... which I take comfort in but yikes... I was actually thinking about a laser level!
@SYPerelandra OK; feeling better about the "eyeball" method.
I think I'll run a line of tape along the top of the original line, and once I get that "nice" I'll run a second line of tape along the top edge of the first. When I take the first line of tape off I should have an even gap (tape width) to the second line, the bottom of which will be my new waterline. (I don't have a boot stripe.)
Now I just have to get the hull clean enough for the tape to stick! 😜
It's so cool that Asking for Help gets things clear enough in one's mind that the answer often just appears.
@PiperPilotPaul Conversation > advice !
@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.