Uh oh! I knew Dollar General was not a buck for everything, but how long has Dollar Tree been that way?
'Since the first day I walked in. :cool: Four years ago (?) maybe much longer? :confused:

$1 is an easy number for comparative-pricing. Oh...and I forgot to mention their $1 Vise-Gripsone of which I've already modified—using a grinder for a special application. (Decent quality, cheaper, and more versatile than clamps).

I love that sail
Great old sail—I've got one, too—made in Hong Kong. :rolleyes:

I was removing some old deck stains yesterday, and used the only cleaner I had handy—"Dutch Cleanser". (Probably unknown in Holland :rolleyes: ). Combined with a green scouring sponge, which took off some unseen overspray, the cleaning went well. :)

.
 
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I’m going to have fun tomorrow
 
Im looking into inspection ports. Apparently Valkyrie no longer makes them. I like what I hear about the Beckson screw out but they don't come in a 5". is there any other brands you guys have had success with?
 
Looks like you had fun that day as well. What type of wood?

We've had good luck with ports from Annapolis Performance Sailing (APS), have used the RWO port a few times and bought the storage bag for one setup. They also sell ports with clear lids for those who want to see how fast they are sinking :)

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We've shared a lot of photos of HOOP's innards...her new epoxy fiberglass seam...

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...here she is during Sea Trials, she was a smooth sailer and went to a nice family in Tallahassee.

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APS Ports

While you're on their website, check out their Sunfish One Design Parts selection. They are pretty good about letting us know if an item is out of stock.

Other parts sellers we have used, Yankee Boating Center (a lot) aka sunfishsailboats.com, they answer the phone. Dinghy Shop had hats with Sunfish logo. Sunfish Direct. Laser Performance. APS. Intensity Sails. Our local Laser Performance Delaer. Ebay. Forum members. Craigslist. Facebook Marketplace.
 
Nice boat name! I assume your name is Dawn or are you a Star Wars fan? Wonder how many will catch the Star Wars reference? Clever!
I enjoy Star Wars as much as the next person, but I was unaware that They have a crimson dawn. With my name, a red boat and a red head Crimson Dawn just made sense.
 
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Just needs glassed. I’ve heard good things about west systems fiberglass does anyone have experience with it. What would you guys recommend for both fixing the hull and glassing over wood.
 
West is the most expensive but usually best in many ways. Watch building up your dagger board too thick. I'll let others suggest their favorite snake oil. That said, different strokes for different applications...
 
West is the most expensive but usually best in many ways. Watch building up your dagger board too thick. I'll let others suggest their favorite snake oil. That said, different strokes for different applications...
Varnishonly... :cool:
 
Wow, I didn’t even notice that hole until you pointed it out. I’m thinking since I’m going to have to cut holes in her to dry her out I might as well convert to the new rudder style. I’m going to call her Crimson Dawn. I’m in the Knoxville TN aria and as for sunfish klasse that’s just the resource I found when trying to figure out her age.
There are two major types of "late" Sunfish rudder components, and both can be found at eBay. (Check daily).

You'll pay a premium, but you want the rudder "cheeks" that are made of aluminum. (There should be two essential springs, and one stainless-steel spring attached).

The tiller-extension can be a simple piece of 1"x2" wood, a broomstick :confused: or an adjustable tiller-extension made of carbon-fiber :cool:—for extra money. :oops: Since expressing a comfort with working with wood, it'd be easy to determine the length of extension you'd eventually want.
 
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Just needs glassed. I’ve heard good things about west systems fiberglass does anyone have experience with it. What would you guys recommend for both fixing the hull and glassing over wood.
Agree with no glassing. But although the angle of the pic isnt good for seeing it, it looks like the leading edge needs to be much more foil-shaped. Right now it looks half-round. If that is the case, you should re do it with a 2 inch taper. You’ll get better performance that way. Trailing edge should taper too. 1 or 1.5 inches would be good and it should taper to a nearly sharp trailing edge.
 
Use a nice wood stain then finish with spar varnish.

Aluminum rudder cheeks show up on EBay once in a while, usually
not any more expensive than the plastic type but last forever.
 
, I'd suggest swapping over to the new style rudder. And plan on spending 300 or so for used parts, available from sellers here or on ebay.

For your daggerboard, you can go period correct Spoon Tip or choose a newer version, we recommend the Barrington.
A similar, but less desirable, board is known as the "Shadow" board.

I'm late with this suggestion, but if you have the room, buy a second Sunfish to part-out.

Transplant (or swap) the rudder parts, copy the tapers of the wood parts, sell-off the rest--offer as a "project Sunfish".
 
Take it easy going through that, those years do have a thick gelcoat layer but it is not endless. We finish up wet sanding with 3M Fiberglass Wax and Restorer. On light oxidation we skip the wet sanding.
 
Catching up to this thread... if it's not too late, get the inspection ports with the clear hatch covers, those are quite useful under way. And Signal Charlie is right, you can indeed see how fast you are sinking, LOL. :eek:
 
So life happened but thanks to Covid my schedule opened up and I have time for boat work.
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The thread on what I assume is the original sail was extremely brittle and would have blown out the first time I tried to sail. I used uv resistant thread so should be good for a while provided the 54 year old cloth lasts.
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I have a couple of spider cracks left to do in the footwell and I’ll be ready to paint.
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Oh and great news my 1966 model only weighs 149.2. I’d still like to get that down but she’s not near as heavy as I thought she’d be. I’ve heard that vintage is supposed to weigh around 140 so not bad at all.
 

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