hull deck joint

kdufton

New Member
I am new sunfish owner and am repairing an older boat before taking up to the lake, it is manufactured by Grew. I have removed a section of aluminum rail to repair the dent and replace some rivets, and have discovered the deck joint between the hull and deck is not bonded together at all. My question is what is the best approach to fixing this problem? Should I epoxy the deck to the hull then reattach the aluminum rail?
 
I'm not familiar with a Grew boat. Sunfish are bonded as part of the pontoon structure. Without a solid bonding they'd be a wet noodle. Your hull must be a much thicker and heavier construction. For Sunfish a ultra strong material equal to the original fiberglass fusion or an even stronger glassing epoxy is the rule. If the trim is all that held your hull together in the first place you might get away with simply caulking the joint for watertightness. In that case something like the 3M marine caulks could work.
 
Mike - How is a Grew-fish built if the hull wasn't originally cemented together and the trim is only cosmetic? I've never seen this brand copyfish so I'm interested to find out more.
 
On further investigation, none of the deck is bonded to the hull (I haven't tried to remove the deck ) Here is a picture showing the brand.
 

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Thanks for the photo that clarifies things. I didn’t realize Grew made Sunfish. It sounded like a knockoff by another boat maker. Mike, you must be on top of all these variations. I see where you are coming from now. Is this the Dutch made Sunfish? I agree with Mike, epoxy it back together.
Wind Line Sails hull split instructions - http://www.windline.net/joint.htm
Sunfish Sailor trim removal and deck assembly instructions - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunfish_sailor
 
Here is another photo from the cockpit, looks like part of a norwegian flag. I have located grew, they are a boat manufacturer in central ontarion canada who have been in the boat making business since 1882, I have emailed them as well for any info on the boat. Sounds like the epoxy system is the way to go.
 

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There have been a couple of years where the factory couldn't produce enough boats and First Alcort and later AMF did farm out some production, but I know none of the manufacturers ever allowed any other name on the boats. From the looks at the crooked sticker I'd have to say these were boats bought by Grew from what ever was the current Sunfish manufacturer at the time and had the labels added by them; or if they were a subcontractor slid some out the back door with their label on them. Definitely without the then current builder that subcontracted to them knowing about it.
Since bonding the deck to the hull is a MAJOR part of the manufacture it doesn't say much for their quality control...LOL
 
That deck edge looks a little unusual too. At least the ones I've fixed all showed some signs of having been attached at one time. A year or so ago a new (literally never setup) rolled edge Sunfish appeared on ebay. It was missing all the hardware which was strange for a newer hull and on closer inspection never had any of the hardware holes drilled. It looked suspiciously like a hull that had been spirited out of the factory prior to completion. Can you, would you, post some photos of the whole hull? I'm curious to see, your hull may have escaped final assembly too.
 

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Grew made Sunfish in Canada back in the '60s under license. They were made there for duty/importation reasons instead of supplying boats from the US. The sails were also made in Canada. I believe the Sunfish Book by Will White mentions that the sails were of slightly different construction than US sails - they had leather patches at the corners for reinformcment.

All that said, you need to get the deck bonded to the hull!!!! The Windline sails instructiosn on bonding the deck and hull together if you split them apart for repairs (which is NOT recommended) will be helpful. I agree - West Epoxy and whole lotta clamps will be needed to get it glued together. Good luck with your project. BB
 
Thanks for all the advice, borrowed 60 clamps and used the west system epoxy, with excellent results. Can't wait to finish up and get her out on the water. Kirk
 

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