Worked wonderfully.

I turned the boat around and backed it into the slip and then pulled it back as far as possible to the back end of the slip. Figured I could reach it that way and get the work done. I was wrong. I could reach the back end of the boat, but not steady enough to do anything precise.

So I cleaned the back end of the boat, first with water, then with mild rubbing compound... all the while with my arms too far outstretched. Eventually I removed all the wax and all the salt deposits. I then wiped off the back with alcohol to ensure that it was squeaky clean. At that point my arms told me this was just not going to work anymore. But I took another 15 minutes or so to tape the lettering on just to see how it might look. I took some photos and went home. At home I decided I needed to lower the letters a bit so it would look “right.”

The next day I decided to inflate the dink (which really isn't much of a dink... it is an old sevylor "toy boat" I have had for years) I put the dink in the water and securely tied it, bow and stern, to the "mothership." This stabilized it quite nicely. I then put all my tools in the dink and scampered in. I was right at the height I needed to get to the work, and the soft sides of the dink gave me just enough support, while not being in the way.

I untaped the lettering and wiped down the whole surface with denatured alcohol again. Then I put faint pencil marks in place where I wanted the lettering to go. I taped on the lettering, using the pencil marks as a guide and followed the instructions about working from the center out, one side at a time, working out bubbles as I went.

The dink offered me a nice place to relax, while still being a fair work platform (I was prepared to fall in though... had emptied all my pockets). The real advantage was that I was right at eye level with the work, able to really get a close look as rubbed the letters on... this enabled me to carefully inspect each letter for bubbles as I lifted off the front mounting material.

I think it turned out quite nice. Of course time will tell.