Angle the paint? I think you mean the boundary between the bottom treatment and the side paint, like where a boot stripe would go, right? The best way to do, best looking that is, is to have the line curve upward towards the stern and bow (like a smile) ...but not too much. Level the boat fore and aft (tops of the stringers level to gravity, not necessarily your shop floor ..use an actual level). Then use a water level (hose with water in it ...google it) to mark off a level line from stem to stern - a reference line. Then mark at about 2" above the line at the stern and maybe 4" up at the bow, and a mid point right on the line just about where the sides curve inward to the bow, e.g. near the front seats in the pilot house. The trick is to draw a smooth curve beween those 3 points. If it were me, I'd CAD it up and take offsets that i could mark above the level line and then use autobody tape to 'connect the dots' and commence painting. A curved boot stripe like this looks nice no matter how the boat is trimming ...kind of a little secret. If you want to use a straight line, noting that boats should trim a tad low at the stern and generally do gain 'junk in the trunk' weight over time anyway, a boot stripe that is slightly higher at the stern by 1" to 2" generally looks nice as well. Sloping it down at the stern exacerbates the 'stern low' look that boats sometimes get when loaded more heavily in the stern. As for where the level line goes, I'd put it at about 4" above the chine at the transom and go forward from there.
Brian
