long term cruising boat out actually cruising has raised the waterline to some degree. The downside is that if the weight ends up in the ends of the boat you hobby-horse like crazy. I try to keep that to a minimum but it is what it is. I suppose that if you started with a big enough it might not be such an issue but we have a 38 footer and it has just so much room and no more. I don't really notice the difference in it's sailing ability. It's most likely that it has just creeped up on me over the years and that's why I don't see the difference. As far as I'm concerned, "cruising" is all about the comfort/safety level. If you don't load the boat so much that it becomes un-safe and the extra weight increases your comfort level and you're not trying to race everywhere and you don't mind the trim being off a bit and and and... then I wouldn't worry about it much. The way it works is that during your haul out you look and see where the waterline is in relation to your bottom paint and raise the new paint line accordingly.