Can I leave Sunfish in lake all summer

jgbecket

New Member
New sunfish owner here. I was wondering if I could leave sunfish tied to a dock for the summer? Appreciate any ideas re covering boat or sail. thanks
 
With a dock, it's better to pull the Sunfish out of the water altogether, and leave it on the dock. Keep in mind that the plastic bailer is subject to damage when you step into the cockpit on a dock.


Exposed sail fabric coloring can be bleached by the sun, which also weakens the rigging lines (somewhat).

Rain has a way of finding its way to the cockpit floor. If there are cracks in the floor, then the rain water can seep into the hull. When the moored hull is lowered by rainfall, any daggerboard defect above the waterline will then allow water inside the hull. Not good.

As written often before, the Sunfish is happiest stored on its starboard edge, with the drain loosened or removed. Only a climate-controlled garage would be better.
 
With a dock, it's better to pull the Sunfish out of the water altogether, and leave it on the dock. Keep in mind that the plastic bailer is subject to damage when you step into the cockpit on a dock.


Exposed sail fabric coloring can be bleached by the sun, which also weakens the rigging lines (somewhat).

Rain has a way of finding its way to the cockpit floor. If there are cracks in the floor, then the rain water can seep into the hull. When the moored hull is lowered by rainfall, any daggerboard defect above the waterline will then allow water inside the hull. Not good.

As written often before, the Sunfish is happiest stored on its starboard edge, with the drain loosened or removed. Only a climate-controlled garage would be better.

Reading what you said about the bailer, I'm glad that mine has a metal "De-Persia" bailer, that was put in by a relative at one time, and I guess replaced the plastic one. I'm guilty of stepping in the cock-pit while I have the boat on a dock, and I do it all the time. :p

For answering the thread (there are already two great answers), I'm another person for saying it's not a great idea. A boat like the Sunfish is made to be pulled in and out when you use it and is light enough to do so, and has a sealed hull (unless yours has an access port like mine), and has no easily accessible bilge. This means it will start to crack as others have mentioned or already has cracked, and will take on water. You would most likely by the end of the season have a waterlogged hull that weighs fifty to a hundred more pounds than it should.
 

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