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[minimariner]

                  Seeking advice on marking the Shannon Lifeboat waterline which
                  passes over various spray rails.

                  Has anybody used, and found a suitable Laser for this purpose.

                  I have looked at one of Stanley Lasers, but the line was not fine
                  enough or clear enough.

                                                           Bryan.

[RST]

Why do you need a LASER level? A pencil on a stand or block of wood has been used for an age. Or put in the bath, but sprinkle talc over the surface first and lift-out carefully/ pull the plug.

I have a cheap McAllister LASER level from BnQ which produces about the same fine line as a proper Dumpy level will at about 2-3 metres. I've never thought about it for a waterline though, maybe a good point but seems overkill.

[CJ1]

This is how I did my waterline....
I measured it from above, below and sideways to make sure it was in the right place and then lightly scored it into the glass fibre. First I marked out on the hull the exact position of the waterline at the bow and the two rear quarters. Then using these, I set the boat up square on it's stand on my flatest worktop so that the three marks were all exactly the same height above the bench. I put masking tape around the hull/stand join to keep the hull in that position. I used an engineer's combination set with a dental probe attached, which sat squarely on the bench and was able to slide around the clean worktop scribing a neat line into the hull. I then scored a second line above this to mark out the white boot-top stripe between the two. This setup can reach into the area around the hard chines forward, giving the correct width for the boot-top in that undercut.

[kinmel]

I usually use the scribed lines, but you definitely need a good self levelling laser  for the Shannon, the edges of the white line are a nightmare as they cross the rear side steps.
Aldi do a good one from time to time.

[RMH]

I normally use the method described by CJ1 but with a large model it does mean you need a large perfectly flat table with access all round which I don't have so for my 1/12th Severn I have bought a laser level to try out.