$100 Sunfish?!

JackC1

New Member
I finally got to go checkout the $100 sunfish to see if it was worth picking up. The boat is a pre 1972 model based on the rudder but I don't know the specific year. The trailer is also in fairly good condition and will clean up nice with a grinder and a new coat of paint. There are a couple things I am hesitant about:
  1. The paint is pealing all over this thing. It looks like someone painted it with something they shouldn't have and I am not sure how much it would cost to redue the paint the correct way.
  2. It is for sure very waterloged. I would say it weights well over 200 lbs. Seems like I will need to split the haul and replace the foam.
  3. There is a hole in the bottom. The entire weight of the boat looks like it was sitting on one of the trailer rollers. This caused that part of the haul to bow in quite a bit (see pictures) and eventually give way. I have no idea how long it sat like this. I do not know the extent of the damage or how bad it could really be.
Any thoughts or advise would be greatly appreciated!
 

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The trailer is worth $100, but that hull looks like a lot of work and probably several hundred in materials by the time you turn the corner, not to mention time and labor but there is huge satisfaction in salvaging things sometimes.
 
If nothing else, for $100 you have a spare mast, booms and other hardware you can salvage for resale and/or use on the next boat you buy.
 
A pressure washer would get rid of that peeling paint job. (The original gelcoat finish is highly resistant to damage from pressure-washing).

Sure, it might need a new coat of paint, but it'd be a color of your choosing. The existing white deck color reflects glare from a bright Michigan sun. (Not so much in the UK). ;)

Most of these older boats will need a check for leaks and weeks of drying-out during the off-season.

The trailer damage to the keel is fairly common. To get out on the water, some hand-sanding and a patch will do the job. In the off-season, a proper repair will involve more work using the "Offshore" method. (As shown in videos at this site). Check out "Hole in spine/keel" thread submitted earlier (next page).

For a resale, a few hours of work could return your labor at $100 an hour! (While the gratification of a repair well-done is priceless). :)
 
You are right to be hesitant. She is definitely a project boat. Everything can be fixed though, it will take time and a little money if you provide the labor. The hull looks mostly intact with the keel repair mentioned above. And as Beldar mentioned, use one of the methods like forced warm air to dry out the foam, keep her in the sun with a dark tarp over her for a few weeks. If we had that boat we'd probably replace some of the yellow expanding foam inside, the stuff that holds the white structural blocks in place, but leave the white blocks alone, they are impossible to replace.

You can easily spend $600-1000 to get her back to sea, and have a boat worth $500. But oh what fun along the way, she deserves some TLC.
 

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