Painting the stripe and clear coat

After several coats of the Mercer green bottom paint, it was time to finish the bootstripe.  I used Rustoleum Topsider marine paint in gloss white.  I masked along the line formed by the green paint and then masked another line 1 3/8" below that.  I used a gauge made out of cardboard to maintain the distance.  I wasn't too exacting since I didn't think you could detect small variations in the line thickness.  (Seems to be true since I think the line is fine.)

I used the blue painters tape as the top line and green auto body masking tape for the bottom.  The green auto body tape is supposed to be thinner, stick better and leak less.  I found the green tape a little harder to work with.  I think that was because I may have stretched it a bit as I was pulling it off the roll.  I couldn't get it to follow my line as I would have liked.  The blue tape was easier to maneuver and didn't leak either.   Here is the boat taped and painted.

The bottom and sides are dull because I sanded the hull and bottom with 220 sandpaper to prepare for the final gloss coat.  After two coats of the white stripe, (first coat had to dry overnight), I removed the masking tape and had a decent stripe.  I had to touch up two small spots that pulled up with the tape.

After drying another day, I sanded the stripe with 220 to ensure the clear coat would stick to it.  Here is the hull ready for the clear varnish, which is System 3 WR-LPU polyurethane in clear gloss. 

I took a day off work and applied 3 coats of clear gloss.  It dries fast and can be recoated in about an hour.  The temperature was mid 80's and it actually dried too fast.  I had a difficult time maintaining a wet edge.  After complete, I could see the overlap areas and wasn't completely happy with the finish.  Talking to tech support, they recommended thinning it some more and waiting for a 70 degree day.  Good luck with that in a St. Louis summer.
However, I was lucky.  Today was 65 in the morning and I was able to wet sand the hull and recoat and get better coverage.  I could maintain a wet edge and the overlap is much less noticeable.

I'm going to leave it like this for now.  When I finish the deck I am also going to wet sand and polish the sides of boat along with the deck to get a higher and smoother gloss.