Texsunfish
Member
Hello everyone! New here and new to sailboats in general. In fact this is the first boat of any kind I've ever owned. My dad had a 420 that we sailed a few times and I've been on some other small boats, but that's about it. How I came about owning this Sunfish is actually kind of a neat story.
I am into VWs (beetles, buses, anything vintage) and happened to score a free '66 beetle (for parts) off craigslist. The car was in an empty lot maybe 2 miles from my house. When my father and I arrived to drag it home we noticed a small sad looking boat covered in layers of old tarps and soft swimming pools. The guy had sold the property and was trying to clear everything out. So he literally said to us, "Hey, do you want that old Sunfish too?). I thought about it while we prepared the bug, and before we left told him that yes I would give it a new home. Turned out his parents had bought it new back before 1966. He didn't know the exact year, but guessed between 1963-1965. The tag is missing, so I may never know what year it is. They purchased it in Corpus Christi, along with the trailer.
I have always wanted a small boat, but it was never a very high priority for me. I have a 7 year old son, so now seemed like a great time to get into the hobby. About a week after we saved the beetle I went back and with the help of the owner cleared away the tarps. We also had to re-locate lumber, bags of hardened concrete, logs, 5 gallon buckets full of who-knows-what, and various other items. It had been there for a long time. The cockpit was full of water. The owner siphoned it out with an old garden hose. Then he removed the rear inspection hole cover and we dumped about 10 gallons of water out. I'm hoping it comes in somewhere under 140lbs, but I haven't weighed it yet. The inspection port has been open for a few weeks to let it air out as much as possible.
Finally got it empty and clear. I put an inner tube in one tire (temporarily just to get it home). The other tire held air. But just long enough to get it home, glad I live close! Hooked it up to my dad's truck and with many sincere "thank you!"s we were off!
Got it home without any issues. My side gate is too small for the boat or trailer, so we couldn't just wheel it through. We had to tip them both on their sides and take them back individually. Glad these little boats/trailers are so light! But, I am planning on a larger gate in the near future.
The next day my son and I started on the cleaning process. Hot soapy water followed up by a spray of 10% bleach/water solution. That got it pretty clean.
I didn't get before shots of the cockpit, but it was nasty! Old leaf sludge 2 inches thick. It's missing the metal bailer cap and the drain was so clogged the water wouldn't even run out. Lots of scooping and dumping to get it relatively clean.
And we discovered that it originally had two bright blue racing stripes on the front. We plan on maybe using professional Rustoleum and bringing it back to it's (close to) original colors. In fact I like keeping things original, so we'll be attempting to restore as much as possible. I even plan on keeping the metal bailer. Those plugs are hard to find! There may be some "hardware store" solutions used until original parts can be sourced.
The bleach solution didn't work as good as I had hoped, so I got a little more aggressive. 100% bleach sprayed over the entire boat and let it soak for a few minutes. That really helped! It's getting close to being clean enough to paint.
We also noticed that the original "Alcort Sunfish International" stickers are still on the hull. I'd love to find replacements for these. I searched online and couldn't find any available. I do have a graphic design artist friend, so if nothing else he can make reproductions for us. If anyone has any decent pictures, please let me know!
And what looks like a "Sportsman Trailer" sticker on the trailer's fender.
My dad is a retired fine wood worker and I have all the wooden parts separated and ready to refurbish this weekend out at his shop. All the brass hardware is bagged and tagged.
Thankfully everything but the boat and trailer were stored in the previous owner's garage. Lots of dust, but serviceable after a refurb.
Before cleaning.
After.
There are some pieces in need of repair and a couple of small things missing.
So there it is. I would like to get this out on the water soon, so hopefully work will go quick. We live in Central Texas, so there are lots of lakes around and the weather should be nice many weekends out of the year. I welcome any comments and/or constructive criticism!
I am into VWs (beetles, buses, anything vintage) and happened to score a free '66 beetle (for parts) off craigslist. The car was in an empty lot maybe 2 miles from my house. When my father and I arrived to drag it home we noticed a small sad looking boat covered in layers of old tarps and soft swimming pools. The guy had sold the property and was trying to clear everything out. So he literally said to us, "Hey, do you want that old Sunfish too?). I thought about it while we prepared the bug, and before we left told him that yes I would give it a new home. Turned out his parents had bought it new back before 1966. He didn't know the exact year, but guessed between 1963-1965. The tag is missing, so I may never know what year it is. They purchased it in Corpus Christi, along with the trailer.
I have always wanted a small boat, but it was never a very high priority for me. I have a 7 year old son, so now seemed like a great time to get into the hobby. About a week after we saved the beetle I went back and with the help of the owner cleared away the tarps. We also had to re-locate lumber, bags of hardened concrete, logs, 5 gallon buckets full of who-knows-what, and various other items. It had been there for a long time. The cockpit was full of water. The owner siphoned it out with an old garden hose. Then he removed the rear inspection hole cover and we dumped about 10 gallons of water out. I'm hoping it comes in somewhere under 140lbs, but I haven't weighed it yet. The inspection port has been open for a few weeks to let it air out as much as possible.
Finally got it empty and clear. I put an inner tube in one tire (temporarily just to get it home). The other tire held air. But just long enough to get it home, glad I live close! Hooked it up to my dad's truck and with many sincere "thank you!"s we were off!
Got it home without any issues. My side gate is too small for the boat or trailer, so we couldn't just wheel it through. We had to tip them both on their sides and take them back individually. Glad these little boats/trailers are so light! But, I am planning on a larger gate in the near future.
The next day my son and I started on the cleaning process. Hot soapy water followed up by a spray of 10% bleach/water solution. That got it pretty clean.
I didn't get before shots of the cockpit, but it was nasty! Old leaf sludge 2 inches thick. It's missing the metal bailer cap and the drain was so clogged the water wouldn't even run out. Lots of scooping and dumping to get it relatively clean.
And we discovered that it originally had two bright blue racing stripes on the front. We plan on maybe using professional Rustoleum and bringing it back to it's (close to) original colors. In fact I like keeping things original, so we'll be attempting to restore as much as possible. I even plan on keeping the metal bailer. Those plugs are hard to find! There may be some "hardware store" solutions used until original parts can be sourced.
The bleach solution didn't work as good as I had hoped, so I got a little more aggressive. 100% bleach sprayed over the entire boat and let it soak for a few minutes. That really helped! It's getting close to being clean enough to paint.
We also noticed that the original "Alcort Sunfish International" stickers are still on the hull. I'd love to find replacements for these. I searched online and couldn't find any available. I do have a graphic design artist friend, so if nothing else he can make reproductions for us. If anyone has any decent pictures, please let me know!
And what looks like a "Sportsman Trailer" sticker on the trailer's fender.
My dad is a retired fine wood worker and I have all the wooden parts separated and ready to refurbish this weekend out at his shop. All the brass hardware is bagged and tagged.
Thankfully everything but the boat and trailer were stored in the previous owner's garage. Lots of dust, but serviceable after a refurb.
Before cleaning.
After.
There are some pieces in need of repair and a couple of small things missing.
So there it is. I would like to get this out on the water soon, so hopefully work will go quick. We live in Central Texas, so there are lots of lakes around and the weather should be nice many weekends out of the year. I welcome any comments and/or constructive criticism!
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