i dont understand what you are getting at motor vessel smith?
He's "getting at" the fact that using the search button would have revealed that this very discussion has been had previously. The subject of "waterline" has been explained in great detail.
But for those of you too technically challenged or just too lazy to search for yourselves, "waterline" is the where the surface of the water is, on the hull of the boat. It changes with loading, salinity, temperature and many other things, according to how high the vessel floats on the water.
This is being confused with the line at which the antifouling coat stops. That's where the blue or red coating on the bottom of the vessel stops.
It is not the "waterline" although people who don't know enough about ships sometimes mistakenly call it that, much to the dismay of more knowlegeable folk, such as mvsmith.