Was Given a Sunfish--Works?

[candlrosen]

Hello. After obsessing about a boat, I received one for free!! However, I need to buy all the parts, all I have is the boat itself. It is an AMF 14 with a wooden (splashguard?). There is water in the hull and the brass fittings have turned green. The bottom is a smooth blue color, no chipping and the top is a white (fiberglass) which is crumbling off. Does anyone have any information for me? Year the boat was made? Can I repair it, remove the water etc? How do I find out if it is seaworthy? I learned to sail on a sunfish as a kid, but have not been on the water in 20 years.

I would like to restore this boat, but I have so few funds and want to make sure it is worth it. I attached some pics. Also, it sounds like something is rattling around in the hull!

Thanks!!!!

 

[4decker]

if all you have is the hull it will still cost at least $500 - $600 for all the parts if they still make them for this model or if sunfish parts are interchangeable...it does not look in too bad of shape, just needs some tlc and elbow grease. I don't know much about this style, sorry.

 

[Wavedancer]

Hello. After obsessing about a boat, I received one for free!! However, I need to buy all the parts, all I have is the boat itself. It is an AMF 14 with a wooden (splashguard?). There is water in the hull and the brass fittings have turned green. The bottom is a smooth blue color, no chipping and the top is a white (fiberglass) which is crumbling off. Does anyone have any information for me? Year the boat was made? Can I repair it, remove the water etc? How do I find out if it is seaworthy? I learned to sail on a sunfish as a kid, but have not been on the water in 20 years.

I would like to restore this boat, but I have so few funds and want to make sure it is worth it. I attached some pics. Also, it sounds like something is rattling around in the hull!

Thanks!!!!

You must have come to the conclusion that 'free' isn't free, unfortunately. You will need so many parts and, unless you find them second-hand really cheap, the cost will add up to more than what a decent old fish would cost you (~$500-1000). And you willl be spending a lot of time getting your free boat up to snuff. But some people enjoy doing that....

To get back to your hull, when the boat was manufactured is irrelevant considering the other issues that you mentioned. First, you need to find out if it's water logged; a hull weight of around 130 lbs would be an incentive not to junk it. You also need to find out about leaks. There is a lot of info about these topics on the forum (use the 'search' feature) and elsewhere on the web. The Yahoo! Groups site (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunfish_sailor/) has excellent info and pictures as well.