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After heavy duty downsizing, my fleet is now at two Sunfish and two Sailfish. One Sunfish is blissfully stored in a nice safe place next to another, at the house next to where I grew up. Now I’ve got to find a cozy storage for the other three. I purchased a Harken Hoister and am planning to...

Received this message from Woodie’s owner, who has found a Michigan craftsman to finish her up. “I have a friend here who is a naval architect, who believes that the boat will be much stronger if the frames are epoxied to the top and bottom panels, although defers to anyone with more knowledge...

I saw these in this month’s Family Handyman, and just ordered a set of 8 of them. I’m thinking I’ve finally found an inexpensive racking platform tor the few remaining boats in my fleet! https://www.bucketbuilder.com/

Attention Oracles of Boatlandia: RRD (now Woodie) has been picked up by her new owner, who has lined up a craftsman in Michigan to complete her re-build. I was horrified to discover when pulling down her wooden spars from the rack in my garage that the boom one had snapped approx mid-length...

But if there were such a thing, I’d feel comfortable with this being in that category… If I have THOROUGHLY Thixo’d my plywood deck to my oax sides on my sailfish, do I have to put in the ring shank nails? Honestly, I’m not sure silicon bronze nails will go through hardened Thixo?

At what point do I stop really refinishing a boat and cross into building a new boat??? Red Rubber Duck (now re-dubbed “Woodie” has now had both her deck and hull complexly removed. It’s a terrifying sight seeing her skeleton in my garage…not much of a boat at the moment! But alas, I have her...

Sorry for my absence of late.. Spent some time in the hospital, but am now back at it, finishing RRD (now dubbed “Woody” by new owner to-be. In parallel, I’ve finally gotten the garage where I’m renting cleared out enough to start creating my wall-of-fish… Koova Garage Wall Organizer for...

Especially when wearing headphones and a mask with a relatively quiet Dewalt grinder hooked up to a dust extractor far away… Knees don’t like to be sanded with 220 grit :-( Going to have to dramatically increase my knowledge and use of clamps, not my knees!

I think I’ve gotten as close as I can to date RRD. She’s got an elephant ear rudder, mahogany plywood, wooden spars, fully marked as a kit build, but I think most tellingly, her rudder hardware is marked “Patent Pending”, not the usual number. Per the US Patent office, it was 1952 that the old...

It seems to me, that the level of drama that LP is engaged in regarding Sunfish and it’s components, I seriously wonder for a boat that in perspective is a tiny price point for a best of class brand new package, why do they even care any longer about the brand? Sunfish sailors are incredibly...

After tearing apart many many boxes post moving twice in 6 months, I finally found RRD’s original bow handle. I’m not sure if it was me, or perhaps a drag across concrete that put a nasty gouge in the aluminum. After two days, a lot of products, multitudes of high number sandpaper. two very...

Sooo… as I was busy cutting the hull off my sailfish, I learned the hard way just how close was too close when using my circular saw… I have three 1/8” approx slices in my pretty sides. One is so shallow, I think the new Wood colored Thixo 2.0 will work just fine. The other two are about an...

How did I get so enthralled with these early Alcort boats? Had a few minutes before bed tonight and I shined up these keel pieces for Red Rubber Duck. I had already seen the Port notation, and I know she’s 100% a kit build, but seeing these hand scratched on the backs of the pieces just gets...

Made some good progress over the past two days finally removing the hull completely, and sand everything flat. According to the original Sailfish instructions, it’s important to have a consistent bevel on the keel to make it waterproof, Im going to fill in some extraneous screw holes with Thixo...

I’ve got to get my order in to Jamestown Suppliers right away, but also wanted to confirm with folks here… The Sailfish kit original instructions don’t say what length bronze ring shank nails, but I’ve measured what I’m pulling out and it looks like they are 7/8”. I’m ordering Silicon Bronze...

I ve looked over the super sailfish plans but can’t find the dimensions or type of wood to replace the wooden strip that covers the hull halves and into which the aluminum rail gets screwed. I took the original one off the boat yesterday and the back half is dry rotted. I’m also concerned that...

Chicago is home, but I’m in Michigan this week taking care of my niece and nephew while parents are on business trips…. Lo and behold! I just picked up the two sheets of 1/4” marine plywood I have been trying to source locally with zero success, for months. This is to replace Red Rubber Duck...

I’m taking my very first vacation since the Covid-19 pandemic began, by spending 6 days in Daytona Beach FL, where my middle daughter is a junior in college. Im Having a heck of a time getting 1/4 inch mahogany plywood up in Chicago. Ordering online is also crazy, with shipping rates in the...

For my birthday this year, I bought myself Japanese pull saws and reverse turning bits to drill out RRD’s deck screws. Well, best paid plans and all that…. I don’t think those are screws on the edge of her deck at all. Of course they aren’t! They are most likely ring shank nails. So…because...

I just found an Ace Hardware going out of business - 80% off everything. What size brass screws were used on sailfish and other wooden boats??